Falsettos Reviews

Jess from San Francisco, California

GREAT SHOW GREAT MESSAGE GREAT STAGING. AMAZING ACTING

I can’t say this was a perfect show but it was great. It had a great message still relative today.

Lola from San Francisco, California

!!!!!

Though I understand where these negative reviewers are coming from, I sincerely do not agree with them. Yes, it's not as flashy and big as something popular like Hamilton, but its simple production is extremely effective in telling this beautiful, heart-wrenching story. I've seen a lot of criticism of the set design, but I felt it was a genius way of reflecting the maturing of these characters throughout the show. These kinds of details are what make musical theatre so powerful. Everything down to the lighting was intentional and well thought out. This and the wonderful acting and music are what made Falsettos so beautiful. Seeing this show felt like being a part of true art and I left Golden Gate theatre in awe.

A. Klein from San Francisco, California

WONDERFUL SHOW. DON'T MISS IT.

I don't understand the poor reviews here. I've seen many productions of the musical, including the one on Broadway last year. This is equal to any I've seen in the past.

Suzanne C. from San Francisco, California

I ENJOYED IT

I can honestly say I don't understand all the 1 star reviews. It may not have wowed me like some shows I've seen, but I really enjoyed myself. The performances were good and I thought a lot of it was very touching. So maybe people felt it was too "real" but that's something I appreciated about it. Life and love are messy and beautiful at the same time. That came through for me.

Anonymous from Chicago, Illinois

UNDERSTAND THESE REVIEWS

Interesting to see reviews here *after* seeing the show. Agree with much of what they say here: would have left at intermission myself had i been there alone. The clear storyline in first act felt week - i wanted to care about the characters and story yet just didn’t get there. Agree that ‘Dance of the Falsettos’ was bizarre and disconnected from the story. — seemed like it was there to explain the title and nothing more. Might have made more sense in Act 2 as a wild dream of Whizzer while he was ill. The neon-and-smoke filled number was well-performed yet just did not fit. Act 2 gets serious: understand why show was groundbreaking in 1992. To appreciate revival at all, one must watch as if it’s still 1992. In that context, it’s incredibly important work and again-well performed, just harder for present-day audiences to connect without a bit of time-travel

Suzanne from San Francisco, California

FALSETTOS

2 stars for acting only. Depressing and much much too long. Save yourself the trip and do something fun.

Lucy from Charlotte, North Carolina

THIS SHOULD BE A PLAY- NOT A 2.5 HOUR MUSICAL

First I'll say- the cast was GREAT! Holding a stage for that long with such a small cast and band is no easy feat. Second, the story is wonderful. It is not often we see non-traditional families represented on stage. A blended family, a Gay couple, a Lesbian couple, an interracial couple, and 5 Jews to boot! -How often do you see something like that in Charlotte? Now for the cons. Holy Cow the music is bad. There are no melodies. The actors are basically talking along with staccato guitar plucks. Far too many words and forced rhymes stuffed into quick 'musical' numbers. The show lacked the dancing, the musical swells, and the ear worms that make us love musical theater. Had this story been told in a play, I think it would have done well. As it stands, it's poorly executed attempt at being a musical led to many of the audience members to leave at intermission and my date to fall asleep.

Kristen West from Sacramento, California

HALF THE THEATER WALKED OUT

This is the worst musical. It seemed like half the theater walked out at intermission. Story was depressing and sporadic. I felt bad for the actors because their performances were great. They just had very bad material to work with.

Craig from Sacramento, California

FALSETTOS

Worst presentation ever at Community Theater - Broadway Sacramento - at least in the last 8 years I have been attending as a season ticket holder. Story line was weak, sets were boring, audio was weak, singing was poor and we left, with many others, at halftime! A waste of money!

Carlene from Sacramento, California

DEFINITELY AWFUL

We left at intermission with a whole lot of others — sort of an exodus! Story was too real and not entertaining. Liked the vocals but felt bad for the actors as I’m sure they played to a half empty theater.

Bill Bean from San Francisco, California

FALSETTO 3.19.2019

Seriously a lost effort, for all the accolades that was provided me in making my decision to see this it was a complete failed attempt at entertainment. I am not mad at the loss since I support theatre, it just flat out sucked and I am gay.

Becca from San Francisco, California

FALSETTOS—WALKED OUT AFTER FIRST ACT

This play was unbearable and we left after the first act. We would have felt worse about leaving, maybe, if so many others weren’t walking out with us, echoing our feelings about how horrible it was. The music was terrible, the characters were dreadful, the story was awful. We’ve been season ticket holders for several years and this is the worst play we’ve seen by far. Save yourself time and money and skip this play.

Steven Wohl from San Francisco, California

UNBELIEVABLY BAD AND BORING

Barely made it through the 1st act. We attend theater regularly, and Falsettos may have been the worst ever for us. Many others joined us in leaving. Shame on SHN for subjecting subscribers to such drivel.

Carol from Sacramento, California

FALSETTOS

As a season ticket holder for more than a decade, I was extremely bored by this musical. The actors were great, the material they had to work with was disappointing and I found myself waiting for something good to happen but it wasn't in the script. Many left during the first half, we waited for intermission to leave as many others did as well. I would not recommend this play to anyone.

Eva from Palo Alto, California

SHOULD HAVE READ REVIEWS BEFOREHAND

Just left the show at intermission. I’m really surprised that this show would tour. Actors were good, but show (music and staging) Is so dated. Perhaps when it came out originally the story of a gay man leaving his wife would have been shockingly interesting, but it didn't hold our interest. There were no songs that were hooks. I am a season ticket holder with SHN and had made the assumption that all shows are good (rest of the season excellent). Would have been better off enjoying the beautiful spring day today and giving up the tickets.

Pisces Girl from San Francisco, California

SO, SO BAD

Disjointed, boring, contrived - a complete waste of time. We left at intermission, along with more than half the audience. We could not believe this was a "revival." As my husband said, "they should have let this one die the first time around."

Trask from San Francisco, California

WHY SHOULD WE CARE?

Utterly disappointed in this unnecessary revival. I wanted to enjoy it, but I couldn’t care less for any of the adult characters. They were all too introspective and selfish. I agree with the reviewer who commented that perhaps 20 years ago the subject matter was fresh and vital. But, come on, don’t we all now have caring lesbian neighbors? (If not, you should!) Don’t we all know someone who died a tragic death, and we stood beside that person through the worst of it? The show provides nothing revealing regarding such experiences. Maybe if I could recall any of the songs it might help with the depression of recalling my wasted afternoon at the Golden Gate Theatre. But alas, as James Lapine’s sometime collaborator wrote, “There’s not a tune you can hum.”

Wendy from Petaluma, California

FALSETTOS

Sorry to add another bad review. I have a season membership and enjoy all the plays and musicals that SHNSF have offered, but this is the first time my guest and I walked out at intermission. We were truly disappointed.

Kimberly N from San Francisco, California

DISAPPOINTING

Season ticket holder with a BA in vocal performance. Love the theater but this show was a huge miss for me. Story seemed disjointed and dull and while I respect the huge amount of energy and and time expelled by the actors to put on a show day after day, the singing had glaring pitch issues which was very distracting.

Jonathan from San Francisco, California

AWFUL

Walked out at intermission after a far (far) too long 1st act. Bad songs. Bad story. Bad writing. The actors voices were the only thing better than abysmal in this show. But not nearly enough to hang on to. I’d have left after the 1st really, really bad song if I had known how dreadful this was going to be.

K from San Francisco, California

WALKED OUT AT INTERMISSION

Although I feel bad for the cast to have to play to an audience that is far smaller by second half than it was in the first, I couldn’t force myself to stay (for similar reasons to those listed by other reviewers). I’ve disliked other musicals, but have never left a show before. It is hard to watch.

Curtis from San Francisco, California

TERRIBLE, DULL, DATED

My wife and I left at intermission and it was a struggle to get that far. The acting was awful, the characters completely unlikeable. The script was dated and did not age well at all. The Falsettos Hymn made no sense within the context of the show. I’ve never walked out of a show before but I couldn’t wait to eject from this one.

Scott Johnson from San Francisco, California

BIG DISAPPOINTMENT

I’m a huge fan of musical theater and regularly see plays and musicals. This is the first one I’ve seen that I could not wait for it to be over. A big chunk of the theater walked out during the show, but I held out hope that it would eventually get better. Sadly it just kept getting worse. The story was hard to follow and seemed very dated and unrelatable. The music was terrible and the singing was often off key and cringeworthy at times. The actors appear to be pretty seasoned, so I’m not sure what was going on. Maybe the material they were working with was just terrible to begin with? This show is a “revival” that probably should have stayed dead.

David Simon from San Francisco, California

WORST PLAY IN YEARS

A deep disappointment. The characters were shallow and unsympathetic. The music was meh and some of the singing was off key. We left after the first act, something I have not done in 25 years.

from San Francisco, California

MAKE IT STOP

Long time season ticket holder. I've endured much, but this one beat me. Disjointed, rambling, continuously off-key, and emotionally barren in a tossed salad of WTF. The staging is distracting to the point of infuriating. For the love of god, stop making the actors rebuild the set every 30 seconds into yet another unidentifiable pile of children's blocks that look basically like the last set of blocks they spent ages rearranging a few minutes ago. I found myself feeling sorry for the cast and crew who have to perform this train wreck night after night. They seem to know it doesn't work and to be longing for it to be over almost as much as the audience. It's possible they left at intermission also. I can't be sure.

Liz from San Francisco, California

VERY DISAPPOINTING

I have seen many, many shows through SHN and this is the first one that I have actually hated. The writing gives you know reason to care about the characters. Story elements seem to happen at random and don’t feel connected at all (don’t get me started on the terrible opening number or the bizarre falsetto song in the first half.) The singing was weak and weirdly off key. The songs are almost indistinguishable from one another. We thought about leaving at intermission but were tempted to stay by the promise of two new characters. This was a mistake. The lesbian neighbors show up in act II and suddenly are part of the family with no explanation. This show simply doesn’t earn any of the emotional beats it tries to hit which is a shame giving the highly charged nature of the material. The only thing I liked about it was the set design. The big foam blocks were sort of interesting, though an awful lot of time is spent rearranging them for no discernible reason. Skip this one.

Yvonne Bee from Vacaville, California

WORST EVER

So disappointing! As season ticket holders, we've enjoyed every play we've attended so we were shocked- this was just plain awful. Horrible music, ridiculous plot, and the acting was all over the map. Walked out at intermission but wish we'd left before that. A truly disappointing bore.

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