Sex and games in Brooklyn Park— gotta be played with flare and passion! Songs and dance at Chesapeake Arts (Center)— gotta be played with flare and passion! Welcome to Falsettoland! It’s so much more than just a ‘march of the Falsettos’ it’s the whole damn show— Falsettos— a half-decade in the making for The Maryland Theatre Collective, currently in residence at CAC. This brilliant production is the perfect close to their first, full season as MTC and it couldn’t be more resplendent. Directed and Musically Directed by Rachel Sandler with Choreography by Jamie Miller, this emotionally charged, evocatively profound musical is a truly stunning performance that gives you laughs, tears, tugs at the heartstrings and so much more. It’s a rarely produced theatrical gem and MTC has put a radiant polish on their production that will readily outshine them all.
An artistically inspired, two-tiered set— by way of Scenic Designer James V. Raymond— is the eye candy of the evening before the players enter the stage. It’s rainbow picture frames of all shapes and sizes, not quite abstract but perfectly disorganized in a sense that fully embodies the chaos of living the lives of the characters that you encounter in Falsettos. A ‘picture-perfect’ life that’s actually a raging clusterbang full of moments that you cannot understand because life is never what you planned. It’s difficult to imagine a more encapsulating set once you’ve seen Raymond’s work, especially as it’s functional— giving the players a second story to exist on when the ground-floor of the stage is busy. Raymond also utilizes stacking boxes, which are literal and figurative jumping-off points all throughout the musical. Augmenting this playful and almost whimsically distorted set that perfectly imitates the lives of Marvin, Trina, Jason, Whizzer, and Mendel is the light design of Jaeden Arrington, as co-designed by Rachel Sandler and Atticus Boidy. Arrington, Sandler, and Boidy provide unique colors to fit the mercurial moods of both the musical numbers and the characters singing them. Aesthetically, it’s a win and the overall design and use of lights in this production is a boon to the show’s scenery and general verve.
“…and a teeny, tiny band!” And that line, delivered superbly by Mendel, was received to thunderous applause and rightly so with Matthew Dohm as the pit conductor on keys. Featuring Dohm as well as Ginny Moses on synth, Andrew Nixon and Mari Hill on reeds, and Mike Feathers on percussion, the band delivers flawless live music that is meticulously timed, expertly balanced against the microphones of the performers (sound consultant William D’Eugenio coming into play here), and ultimately carries the undercurrent of the show’s emotions at a perfect speed, whether its perpetually pulsing or slower and calmer. Dohm and his four musicians are stellar in providing the score due justice and make this production every bit of perfection that it could hope to be.
Serving as the show’s musical director and director, you gets excellence from Rachel Sandler in both departments. The blocking, the pacing, the carefully crafted relationship dynamic between each of the characters— the intensity of emotions and morass of pathos that just flies in perpetual motion all around the theatre, splattering against the audience over the course of the evening— all of those things comes together in this finely tuned, well-oiled machine as if Sandler had the directorial experience of a seasoned veteran. All of that and it’s her first time directing. Sandler is no stranger to being a show’s musical director, however, and her credentials and expertise in that arena show in spades. Perfectly blended harmonies, particularly quartet moments— of which this musical has numerous— superbly pitched singers working their way through a strikingly beautiful and complicated score; Sandler delivers tenfold what one might expect from any small, professional company and it’s a pure delight to hear it, in addition to seeing all of her directorial vision in action. Sandler tames the black box space of CAC, really bringing the emotional tsunami that is Falsettos right into the audiences’ laps.
The musical is in perpetual motion; it’s a beautifully exhausting experience to watch these seven performers frenetically racing about the stage, often times whirling their way through Jamie Miller’s impressive choreography. The opening number, “Four Jews in a Room Bitching” is an astonishing feat pulled off by the Marvin, Whizzer, Jason, Mendel characters and the amount of rotation, cane-flipping, and literally racing circles around one another in that song is just wild. Miller adds to the dizzying circus that is Falsettos by balancing the dance routines throughout the more fervently charged numbers, allowing for precious few moments of stillness, which only amps up the emotional current rushing steadily along in the ether as the play progresses.
Playing a character who isn’t even introduced until the second act can be daunting but both Alyssa Wellman Houde and Bridget Makowski make their presences felt and add gorgeous vocals to the blended harmonies of the cast of seven. Makowski’s character— Cordelia— is one half of the next-door-lesbians; her facial expressions are simply a delight as she’s trying to funnel her less-than-stellar cooking down everyone’s throats. You really get to hear the compassion in her voice during “Unexpected Lovers” as well as her bit of “Something Bad is Happening.” Houde’s Charlotte, is the other half of the next-door-lesbians and doubles as one of Whizzer’s doctors, giving her just slightly more stage time and a larger chance to showcase her vocal prowess. With emotional fortitude to bring the walls down, you get a brilliant sampling of Houde’s vocal capabilities during “Something Bad Is Happening” as well as during her feature in “The Year of the Child.” Both Houde and Makowski have excellent chemistry with one another and a keen camaraderie with Marvin, Whizzer, and Jason.
Making a remarkable impression on the audience as the boy-turning-turning man, McKenzie Nace does a stellar job of portraying the tweenage-youth character of Jason. With a churning maelstrom of emotions that you really get to see erupting from Nace when Jason announces he’s cancelling his Bar Mitzvah, the audience fully experiences the perpetual turmoil of feelings during puberty with her invigorating performance. The solemn “Another Miracle of Judaism” solo is really tragically beautiful and the control that Nace presents over her voice is both consistent and powerful, a rare feat for such a young performer. There’s a spirited connection that Nace brings to “Everyone Hates His Parents”, a duet with the uproariously riotous Mendel, and she holds her own— like a seasoned performer of the stage— when racing around during “Four Jews In a Room Bitching.” Like the other six performers in this production of Falsettos, McKenzie Nace has a clear understanding of the narrative and leans fully into her character arc as Jason, really tugging at the audiences’ heartstrings every step of the way.
Blessed with vocal serenity and lusty, clear peels of belting beauty, Emily Mackay is a wondrous sensation in the role of Trina. She’s the only female character in the first act and gets caught in the chaotic somersaults of her ex-husband, her ex-husband’s lover, her son, and her ex-husband’s therapist…who becomes her husband. And Mackay takes each step of that journey with sheer vivacity and emotional intensity that pulls the audience along in utter enchantment every step of the way. “I’m Breaking Down” is hysterically enthralling as she delivers this completely unhinged ballad with fully-invested body language and goes for broke to belt her face off at the end. Mackay also gets one of the rare moments of complete stillness in this production during “Trina’s Song” and the juxtaposition of the physical quiet to the emotional cacophony ringing through this number is truly astonishing. Her dulcet tones resonate with brilliance through her duets with Mendel, her harmonizing quartet parts with Mendel, Marvin, and Whizzer, and essentially every note she sings is bliss.
It’s a hard-stop three-way tie between Whizzer (Alexander Conte), Marvin (Tommy Malek), and Mendel (Matt Wetzel) for whose story this really is here in Falsettoland. William Finn and James Lapine wrote it as Marvin’s story with Whizzer and Mendel as more background characters but with these three sensational performers you get a trifecta of attention splitting across the narrative and it’s a true delight to the story presented in this way. Conte, Malek, and Wetzel have this effortless connectivity between the three of them; even when their characters are in conflict— which is most of the performance— you get this sense of shared acceptance; this trio understands the emotional responsibility, the balancing of humors and feelings, the overall importance of pacing, tempo, and perfection in vocal delivery; you get a truly sensational piece of theatre with these three leading gentlemen in their respective roles.
As the jaded, sex-icon Whizzer, Alexander Conte is a wild ride, a good time, and really gut-punches the audience late in the back-half of the second act with the shift of gravity in his character’s story arc. Delivering a self-assured confidence, particularly when sniping, biting, and playing against Malek’s Marvin, Conte is the epitome of suavely charming. “Thrill of First Love” is enacted between them as this embittered passionate circus, danced out on this visceral level and Conte is slinging as hard as he gets slung at, whole body, full voice, and all that emotional intensity. “The Chess Game” is another high-octane example of Conte’s extreme emotional intensity, getting right up in Malek’s face to really bring those intense pathos to the forefront of his character portrayal. Watching the flaming vivacity of Whizzer fade during “Racquetball” in the second act is stunning and really hits hard on the heart. Conte is brilliant in the role and works perfectly opposite of Tommy Malek.
As Marvin, Tommy Malek is bringing one of his most memorable, deeply impressive, and fully developed characters to the stage (possibly since owning and slaying the role of Emcee in Silhouette Stages’ Cabaret some years ago) in raw and unapologetic fashion that just leaves you gobsmacked. Mastering just that hint of ‘New York Jewish’ in the way he sings, Malek brings an impeccable balance to the dervish that is the emotional morass of Marvin. The role is well within his vocal wheelhouse and each song sung is more superb than the last, but what’s more is the way Malek connects on a deep and visceral emotional level to each of these numbers, each of these moments shared with his other co-stars on stage. The way Rachel Sandler and Jamie Miller have blocked the show gives the audience an extraordinary insight to all of these little moments— particularly in Malek’s case with Marvin— to really feel the raw, nitty-gritty pathos of the character and see it up-close and personal. Get your tissues for the ugly cry when Malek delivers “What Would I Do?” at the end of the production. On the other hand, try not to erupt in laughter whenever he pulls a face of exasperation, which in this show is quite often, and gets all up in everyone’s face with his frustrations. The emotional fortitude that Malek imbues Marvin with is utterly remarkable and you get this sense that this character exists beyond the bounds of the stage, has always existed in the outside ether and will exist in the world long after the bows are taken.
Stealing the show at times with his high-octane antics, Matt Wetzel as Mendel is a crowd-pleasing sensation who keeps you gasping with laughter, loving every minute of his frenetic motion, and then crashes into you with an emotional atom bomb at the most unexpected of moments, which completely upends your experience with the Mendel character. “Marvin at the Psychiatrist: A Three-Part Mini Opera” is one of the more hilarious sequences in this show where Wetzel gets to shine. Add to that all of his humors and chaos during “A Marriage Proposal” and you’ve got a barrel of laughs to help balance out all of the more intense emotional clouds forming all around the production. Wetzel has a superbly controlled voice, which floats exceptionally well through William Finn’s music and lyrics. Showcasing his stellar versatility in this role, Wetzel brings tears to the eye when singing to Jason the line “…we can’t be sure when he’ll get better, or if he’ll get better…” as well as his finale line, which is a runner-up-contender for second-most tear-worthy moment in the show (topped only Malek’s “What Would I Do?”) You get such an effervescence radiating out of Wetzel’s duet “Everyone Hates His Parents” that you almost feel like you have to pop up out of your seat and bounce along with him. It’s always a thrill, and this time on a deeply emotional level in addition to all the comedic genius, getting to watch Matt Wetzel own a role in this way.
The team of seven— Tommy Malek, Emily Mackay, Alexander Conte, Matt Wetzel, McKenzie Nace, Alyssa Wellman Houde, Bridget Makowski— are bringing you the miracle of musical theatre. Under the superb direction of Rachel Sandler, the entire team of MTC’s Falsettos has created an unmistakably memorable production that is truly a theatrical gem and must not be missed this season.
Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes with one intermission
Falsettos plays through May 5th 2024 with Maryland Theatre Collective in Studio194 of The Chesapeake Arts Center— 194 Hammonds Lane in Brooklyn Park— Baltimore, MD. Tickets can be purchased at the door, though they are strongly recommended to be booked in advance online.
To read the interview with Tommy Malek and Rachel Sandler, click here.
