My Favorite Background Moments In Falsettos (2017)

my favorite background moments in falsettos (2017)

this is purely because i am insane. it's a very long list. i might make a similar post for the bootleg of the original broadway cast because they are also very dear to me. anyway, list is below the line!

3:50 ("four jews in a room") during the last chorus, whizzer + mendel starting spinning in a circle as opposed to dancing normally

3:54 ("four jews in a room") trina accepts a piece of the block from marvin and grabs at the back of his head, seemingly picking something out of his hair and tossing it to the ground

17:16 ("marvin @ the physiatrist") following whizzer's "part two", marvin looks over at him and smiles (i can't tell if this is christian to andrew or if it's supposed to be in character)

21:55 ( "my father's a homo") as jason says "my mother's no wife" and "my father's no man, no man at all", both trina and marvin react to their relative assessment. trina stops for a moment and shoots jason a stern look, while marvin turns back at each repeat of 'no man' to stare desperately at him.

25:34 ("everyone tells jason to see a physiatrist") whizzer grins at jason encouragingly following his line "absolutely, jason"

43:16 ("a tight-knit family reprise") following mendel's line "it's embarrassing" marvin looks to whizzer and says "you're watching embarassing" (i'm like 90% sure on this one haha)

43:18 ("a tight-knit family reprise") as marvin's pushing jason away as he's on the cube, he says to him "i can't look at this jackass"

43:55 ("a tight-knit family reprise") after mendel and marvin arm wrestle, whizzer and jason exchange a look

49:50 ("trina's song reprise") trina reemerges having changed costumes, her outfit now including a beaded bracelet we see mendel wearing earlier on in the show

54:57 ("the chess game") as whizzer is yelling at marvin (and the audience) about marvin's absurd expectations, marvin says "come on" and "is that all you got?"

56:00 ("making a home") jason retreats to the background to set his chess board down as well as push in a looser block - not sure if this is just anthony fixing the set or if it's supposed to be in character. he then proceeds to watch trina + mendel setting up the couch before looking up/out to the audience as they do (with the lines "what it needs is people/men and women talking"). he does the same thing at 57:30 during the second chorus

56:23 ("making a home") whizzer is pulling out his clothes from inside one of the blocks, similar to how trina retrieves the couch throw pillows later on

57:08 ("making a home") the photographs they set on the mantlepiece appear to be historical family portraits; the one in the back is most likely trina as a child with her parents, and the one in front are mendel's parents (judging by the era of clothing)

1:03:40 (marvin hits trina") rather than use an instrument (like a clapper), whizzer uses his hands to make the slapping sound

1:05:22 ("i never wanted to love you") marvin and whizzer's eye contact lingers after whizzer's part. i'm curious what you all think christian's trying to express here - to me it looks like he's about to start crying before he turns away.

1:20:00 ("miracle of judaism") when the family erupts to tell jason the second ball is coming, marvin says something along the lines of "there's a...there's a what, what's happening - he's not looking". also, each character reacts in their own unique way. i love cordelia in particular because when jason looks over, she waves first before pointing to the ball

1:21:18 ("the baseball game") this is similar to the previous, i love focusing on what each character says.

cordelia: you're kinda choking up, buddy (motioning to the way jason holds his bat)

charlotte: next inning, jason, next inning

mendel: get your head in the game, think about the footwork a little bit

marvin: it's alright buddy, you'll get 'em next time

trina: you have eight more innings, my love!

1:22:40 ("the baseball game") cordelia + charlotte realize who whizzer is and are shocked, and then quickly try to appear nonchalant about it (1:22:50 you can see charlotte rest a hand on both cordelia and marvin's knees before all three adjust in their seats and separate)

1:23:16 (during "the baseball game") the lesbians nod encouragingly at marvin after whizzer asks "is he still queer?" (i absolutely LOVE this detail it's so cute lolol)

1:30:24 ("a day in falsettoland") cordelia reacts to charlotte's line "...lightbulbs up the ass" by dropping her smile + staring off into the distance in horror

1:30:33 ("a day in falsettoland") following charlotte's line "people overdosed and i saved them", cordelia nods at her + says "yeah, you did"

1:31:06 ("a day in falsettoland") charlotte laughs in shock when cordelia says "...and i save chicken fat"

1:35:25 ("everyone hates his parents") following trina's line "you have paintings of dicks/don't talk to me about taste", she + marvin have the following interaction:

marvin, smug: those are french

trina, exasperated: really?

1:43:15 ("something bad is happening") charlotte holds a copy of JAMA aka the "Journal of the American Medical Association". i'm unsure the larger magazine is

1:50:55 ("days like this") prior to the song beginning, whizzer says either "marvin" or "mornin'" to marvin

1:52:45 ("days like this") marvin turns and says something to whizzer (i can't figure it out and its KILLING ME) as mendel sings "go ahead, be good and pissed/how can i help, says the wiry pyschiatrist"

1:54:00 ("canceling the bar mitzvah") as jason gets up and walks downstage, trina nods in his direction - can't tell if this is her communicating with mendel or marvin, or perhaps both

2:01:30 ("unlikely lovers") following whizzer's line "i love friends that hover", charlotte reaches over and playfully pinches his shoulder

2:09:30 ("jason's bar mitzvah") while trina is singing "probably it's doubly useful/at a time like this", mendel says something akin to "you don't have one/you don't have some?", most likely to jason in regards to the champagne

2:09:38 ("jason's bar mitzvah") after saying cheers, marvin first looks to whizzer and then to jason - presumably because this is jason's first time drinking alcohol. my guess is that he says "good?", asking for jason's opinion on the champagne

2:09:50 ("jason's bar mitzvah") while whizzer sings "please excuse me if i interfere", mendel and marvin have a brief conversation about the cubicle curtain. it's fairly inaudible so i'm not sure of the exact wording

2:12:00 ("jason's bar mitzvah") as marvin is fixing jason's tie, he whispers to him "relax, relax". while the cast sings "like marvin", marvin continues speaking to jason by saying "is that so hard?"

feel free to reblog and add any i've missed! i tried to include those i discovered on my own/ones i haven't yet seen talked about