A musical and a Halloween concert are set for Oct. 30 | Entertainment/Life

Marvin is the main character in “Falsettos,” but he doesn’t carry the story by himself.

Then again, most main characters never do. But in Marvin’s case, his story is just one in the the Musical Theatre Club at LSU’s fall production of William Finn’s musical.

The club opens “Falsettos” on Oct. 30 in the Louisiana Digital Media Center theater, 888 S. Stadium Drive on campus. The show runs through Nov. 2.

The Sunday matinee begins at 2 p.m. All other shows begin at 7:30 p.m.

“The show was actually a series of one-act musicals the composer-lyricist called the ‘Marvin Trilogy,'” said Callie Ancelet, the musical’s director.

The three one-acts premiered on off-Broadway between 1981 and 1990 and were combined into a two-part musical, which premiered on Broadway in 1992.

And the show will make its LSU premiere on Thursday, opening with Marvin living happily with his wife, Trina, and their two children. That is, until he realizes his family life isn’t true to his sexual orientation.

“So, he meets a man named Whizzer, and they fall in love,” music director Johnathan Thomas said. “They marry, but he’s still dad to his children. And in the second act, there’s a lesbian couple, who becomes part of their circle.”

And each of these groups has its own story to tell.

“Though Marvin is the main character, you have so much going on around him,” Thomas said. “This is definitely an ensemble piece.”

“I think the beauty of this show is how incredibly real it is,” Ancelet adds. “Everything is so incredibly matter-of-fact, so I think there’s something really refreshing and human about it that brings me so much joy.”

Take, for instance, the storyline about Marvin’s son Jason. He’s just a little boy navigating life.

“I think Jason’s is one of the lightest storylines to follow,” Ancelet said. “You’re watching him grow up, and I always love the perspective of a child in a musical. You see him at his baseball game, then you see him planning his bar mitzvah and practicing his Hebrew. It really shows the sweetness in life.”

But then not everything is lighthearted. This show is set in the 1980s, when AIDS has appeared on the horizon.

“Whizzer is diagnosed with AIDS,” Thomas said. “So, you see how he and Marvin deal with this.” 

The cast for this show is small with Don Fields as Marvin, Anthony Burton as Whizzer, Kamryn Hecker as Trina, Nikki Normand as Jason, Josh Wickell as Mendel, Madi Berg as Charlotte and Morgane Campbell as Cordelia. The cast will be accompanied by a four-piece orchestra led by Thomas.

“Falsettos” won Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score in 1992. It also won a Theatre World Award for Best Actor that same year.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students. Visit lsumtc.ludus.com/index.php?.

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Halloween with ULL Symphony

Also on Oct. 30, the ULL Symphony will perform its annual Halloween Concert.

The performance, designed to put concertgoers of all ages in the Halloween spirit, begins at 7 p.m. in Angelle Hall Auditorium, 601 E. St. Mary Blvd., Lafayette.

Orchestra members will wear costumes. Audience members also are encouraged to show up in their favorite Halloween costumes.

Program highlights will include Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” Leroy Anderson’s “The Typewriter” and Hector Berlioz’s “March to the Scaffold.”

The show also will feature a guest appearance by dancers from “The Ballet Studio.”

So, put on your costumes and join the symphony in this musical celebration of Halloween.

All tickets are $10, which can be purchased only by cash or check at the door. Tickets will go on sale at 6 p.m. the night of the show.

All proceeds benefit the UL-Lafayette Symphony Orchestra Program. For more information, call (337) 482-6050.