Marvin Trilogy

About the show

The Marvin Trilogy is a trilogy of one-act musicals created by William Finn. It consists of In Trousers (1978), March of the Falsettos (1981), and Falsettoland (1990). The musicals center on Marvin, who has left his wife to be with a male lover, Whizzer, and struggles to keep his family together. The first act of the trilogy (In Trousers) focuses on Marvin's life as an adolescent, the influential women of his life, and his struggle to accept his sexual identity. Much of the second act (March of the Falsettos) explores the impact his relationship with Whizzer has had on his family. The third act (Falsettoland) focuses on how family dynamics evolve as Marvin and Trina plan for their son's Bar Mitzvah. Central to the musical are the themes of Jewish identity, gender roles, and gay life in the late 1970s and early 1980s. March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland were later combined into one musical titled Falsettos with music and lyrics by Finn and a book by Lapine. When referring to Falsettos, March of the Falsettos is thought of as the first act, as opposed to In Trousers, which is act one in the Marvin Trilogy. The 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos is the most widely well-known rendition of any play in the Marvin Trilogy. As for the first musical in the Marvin Trilogy, In Trousers is the most obscure musical of the three.