Whizzer Comes Back, Andrew Rannells and Falsettos at Carnegie Hall
Ten years after the revival opened, its original cast reunites on 57th Street, and one night has already turned into three
Come seven o'clock on Sunday, October 18, at Seventh Avenue and 57th Street, Carnegie Hall fills with a crowd that bought its tickets in a hurry. On the Stern Auditorium stage, the six principal actors who opened the Falsettos revival on Broadway a decade ago walk out to sing it again. One of them is Andrew Rannells, back as Whizzer.
The night was meant to be a one off. When the reunion was announced in July, it was billed as a single benefit concert for the original cast of Lincoln Center Theater's 2016 revival. According to BroadwayWorld, that October 18 performance sold out in under two hours. A second concert, on November 2, was added and went even faster.
This week the producers added a third New York date, Monday, February 8, 2027, at 7 p.m., also at Carnegie Hall. After that the company crosses the Atlantic for three performances at the London Palladium, on February 23 and 24, 2027. WhatsOnStage reported the same dates.
Marvin, Whizzer and Trina
The full company is back. Christian Borle plays Marvin. Rannells plays Whizzer, Marvin's lover. Stephanie J. Block is Trina, Marvin's wife. Tracie Thoms plays Dr. Charlotte, with Brandon Uranowitz as Mendel and Betsy Wolfe as Cordelia completing the six. For the first concert, the announcement promised a special guest appearance by Anthony Rosenthal, the revival's original Jason.
Falsettos is the work of William Finn and James Lapine. It was originally produced as Falsettoland in 1990. The story follows Marvin, his lover Whizzer, his wife Trina and the rest of their extended family from the early eighties into the first years of the AIDS crisis. The 2016 revival opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre on October 27, 2016, earned five Tony nominations including Best Revival, and was filmed for PBS's Live from Lincoln Center.
That filming matters. Block said in July that a whole new generation had found the show through the PBS broadcast. The reunion is a chance for those fans to hear it live.
"Being part of the 2016 revival remains one of the proudest moments of my career, and bringing it to the stage of Carnegie Hall feels both surreal and deeply meaningful," Rannells said.
Rannells earned a Tony nomination for Whizzer. He had already been nominated for The Book of Mormon, which also brought him a Grammy. Television audiences know him from Girls and Black Monday. On stage his range runs from Hairspray and Jersey Boys to Hamilton, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and The Boys in the Band.
A Busy Season for Rannells
The Carnegie Hall night is only the start of a crowded run for him in New York. BroadwayWorld reported on October 1 that he will lead It's a Wonderful Life, A Live Radio Play at the Broadhurst Theatre this holiday season, as George Bailey opposite Megan Hilty's Mary. Tituss Burgess, Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna round out the company. Jerry Zaks directs. Previews begin Wednesday, November 4, and the limited run closes Sunday, January 3, 2027.
So the man who played Whizzer a decade ago will spend his winter in Bedford Falls. First come the Falsettos nights, with a show he counts among the proudest moments of his career.
Who Gets Helped
The concerts are not only a reunion. The October 18 night benefits the BroadwayEveryDay Foundation and Family Equality. A portion of the proceeds from the February New York concert goes to the TDF Wendy Wasserstein Project.
Wolfe is also one of the producers, with Colleen Cook and Cynthia Rose, under the banner Table for Three Productions. Ellenore Scott, who was assistant choreographer on the 2016 revival, directs the added performances. Vadim Feichtner returns as music director and conductor, leading a band that includes most of the revival's original musicians.
"Ten years later, it turns out there's still more of this story for us to tell," Wolfe said in the announcement.
For anyone without a ticket to October 18, there is still a door. A presale for the February concerts in New York and London opens Wednesday, October 14, at 11 a.m. Eastern, with sign up for Carnegie Hall at the reunion's website. General sales begin Friday, October 16, at 11 a.m. Given how fast the first two nights went, the sign up is worth the minute it takes.
Our story on Cameron Winter's Carnegie Hall night on film is another reminder of what that room can do to a performer. The full reunion announcement is on BroadwayWorld.
