Welcome to Falsettoland

Last night, CS and I met at a Persian restaurant called the Orchid Bar and Grille. This nondescript little restaurant sits between a dentist's office and a Chinese take-out place in a little strip mall just south of South Coast Plaza. I drove right by it on my first try and almost missed it a second time after hanging a U-ie at the next light. CS sat reading in his car as I pulled into the space next to him, and soon we were inside the vast space of the restaurant.

The exterior is very deceiving as you only see a few tables along the windows while the rest of the place is hidden behind dark salmon-colored walls. The inside is cavernous, with a ceiling painted dark blue, dirty yellow walls with oil paitings tacked up here and there, rows and rows of dark wood tables and chairs, and darker carpeting. A mural painted behind the buffet area depicted some ancient Persian scene with women dancing and men playing various musical instruments. To the far right, after passing long, white-clothed banquet tables, was the bar area, complete with a glaring neon Budweiser™ sign. The very quiet maître d' sat us by one of the windows and promptly disappeared into the kitchen. I glanced over the menu, reading the descriptions and trying to pronounce the names. (And failing miserably at the latter.) CS chose the beef barg kabob which was marinated filet mignon served with a roasted tomato and basmati rice. Never having tried Persian food before, I took a chance and ordered the gheymeh bedjam (sp?), an incredibly delicious stew of fried eggplant, white corn, tomato sauce, fried potato strings and roasted veal shank served with a gigantic bowl of basmati rice. I only managed to finish three-quarters of the stew and half the rice, the portions were so huge!

After that satisfying meal, we dashed to the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse to see a staging of the rarely-performed musical Falsettos, staged in conjunction with The Names Project. (Two panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt hung in the lobby, and it still amazes me how quiet and reverential everyone becomes once they see the Quilt. People take the time to read/view each of the panels carefully, sometimes quietly or, like me, with tears welling up.) If CS hadn't seen the ad in The Blade, we would have missed this little gem. Falsettos combines two one-act musicals -- March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland -- to tell the story of Marvin who discovers late in life that he is gay. This throws his Jewish family life into turmoil as Marvin tries desparately to keep his family intact and to learn to love someone during the first outbreak of the AIDS crisis in the early 1980s. This completely sung-through (i.e., no spoken dialogue) show won two 1992 Tony® Awards for Best Book of a Musical and Best Score, and it's very easy to understand why. The songs are sharp and witty, running the gamut from tear-jerker (What Would I Do?) to hilarious (Four Jews in a Room Bitching) and, like some Sondheim shows, employ a lot of fast, verbal trickery.

The cast of this local production performed together remarkably well, nailing the songs, the comedic timing and the choreography. Cathy Petz made Trina (Marvin's ex-wife) big and brassy and what a voice! Christopher Diehl's Whizzer (Marvin's lover) and Kyle Myers's Marvin were the perfect image of a gay couple struggling to deal with the fragments of a disjointed family and relationship. For me, Paul Pakler stole the show as Marvin's 11 year old son Jason -- equal parts charming, funny, nerdy and sad -- trying to deal with his Dad's new relationship and his own upcoming bar mitzvah. The cast worked incredibly well together and had me in tears during the finale, pouring their hearts and souls into this production. I just felt incredibly bad that only 6 people were in the audience.

CS and I are trying to get a small group together to see the show next Friday. (Yes, it was good enough to see again!) If anyone's interested, the tickets are only $15!!

Image from the Little Theatre of Fall River.