From the moment it starts, “Falsettos” at Ground Floor Theatre is a marvel.
The musical, which premiered on Broadway in 1992, follows a Jewish family in New York through a divorce, a bar mitzvah, therapy, and the 1980s AIDS crisis. With more than three dozen songs, it is heavy, chaotic, hilarious, and warm.
It felt almost unbelievable that the show I was watching was in a small theater in East Austin instead of Broadway or the Tony Awards or the dang moon. It was during Megan DeYoung’s performance of “I’m Breaking Down” as family matriarch Trina that I thought to myself, “This is just happening over here?”
Trina is processing the fact that her ex-husband Marvin, played by the remarkable Jacob Rosenbaum, is leaving her for a man, Whizzer, played by Nicholas Hunter. DeYoung sings while rollerskating through the theatre, pausing to chop a carrot and a banana, all while wearing a clown-esque apron. It was incredible.
Ground Floor Theatre is tucked away behind Austin Bouldering Project along Springdale Road. Tickets for the shows are “pay what you can,” and even then, the suggested payment is just $35. The amount of talent radiating out of the room is indelible.
Juno McQueen plays teenager Jason and had the room cracking up during his rendition of “My Father’s a Homo,” and had my ears perked up during the opening number, “Four Jews in a Room Bitching.” I combed through my show program to read McQueen’s biography and whispered to my friend: “He’s only a sophomore in high school.” McQueen’s control over his voice was impressive and I felt underaccomplished in his presence.
Most impressive of the show, though, was how it tackles Whizzer’s AIDS diagnosis, which Hunter takes great care with. Much art has been made about the crisis, which was on display via Keith Haring drawings on props, and a light sculpture over the stage.
The way Ground Floor Theatre gets through it in the second act is crushing and touching. It felt like the actors were reaching out and holding my heart with their hands.
Go experience it for yourself through Dec. 21.
