:en:In Trousers

The one-act musical In Trousers centers around a character named Marvin. In the production, he recalls his school years and the events that shaped him. He reminisces on his past relationships with, among others, his high school sweetheart and his English teacher Miss Goldberg. A pivotal point to the plot, however, is his realization of his homosexuality. Torn between his natural inclinations and his desire not to upset his family life, Marvin begins a struggle with his identity that continues to be a theme in the rest of the trilogy.

In Trousers, directed by Finn, was developed off-off-Broadway in 1978{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1992/05/10/the-truth-about-falsettos/866b1223-8673-4054-8a8a-5d540f8fcf7e/|title= The Truth about Falsettos|last=Brown|first=Joe|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=May 10, 1992|accessdate=April 12, 2020}} and mounted twice in 1979 at the off-Broadway Playwrights Horizons, opening on February 21 for 24 performances and again on December 8 for 8. The cast—Chip Zien, Alison Fraser, Joanna Green and Mary Testa—was the same for both productions. The play was next produced off-Broadway at the Second Stage Theater in March 1981, with Jay O. Sanders (Marvin), Kate Dezina (His Wife), Alaina Reed (Miss Goldberg) and Karen Jablons (His High School Sweetheart). Direction was by Judith Swift with choreography by Marta Renzi and Sharon Kinney.{{Cite news |date=March 4, 1981 |title=THEATER: 'IN TROUSERS' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/04/theater/theater-in-trousers.html |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The play was generally panned.

In 1985, a significantly rewritten version, with additional songs, a more cohesive storyline, and more defined characters (with Marvin's wife now named Trina), opened on March 26 at the off-Broadway Promenade Theatre, where it ran for 16 performances. Directed by Matt Casella, it starred Tony Cummings, Catherine Cox, Sherry Hursey and Kathy Garrick. (Cummings was replaced by Stephen Bogardus shortly after the show opened).{{Cite web |date=April 3, 2016 |title=IN TROUSERS |url=https://papermoonstheatricaldiary.tumblr.com/post/142172531474/in-trousers |website=Papermoon's Theatrical Diary |publisher=Tumblr}} In an author's note (dated April 1986) to this version, Finn wrote: "[A] lot of the material was about my learning to write the kind of show songs I want to write. So the show is about Marvin's education, and mine."{{Cite book |last=Finn |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zquYY6qUi2QC&dq=%22Promenade+Theatre%22+%22In+Trousers%22&pg=PA3 |title=In Trousers |date=1986 |publisher=Samuel French, Inc. |isbn=978-0-573-68153-0 |pages=7 |language=en |chapter=Preface}} In his review of this production, Frank Rich wrote: "As lovingly orchestrated by Mr. Finn's long-time collaborator Michael Starobin, the melodies linger well after the final curtain; so do running lyrical conceits built around phrases like breaking down and giddy seizures. Isn't it typical of this luckless season that the musical with the best score would be more enjoyably heard on a cast album than seen on stage?"{{Cite news |last=Rich |first=Frank |date=March 27, 1985 |title=THEATER: 'TROUSERS,' A MUSICAL |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/27/theater/theater-trousers-a-musical.html?pagewanted= |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

After In Trousers was "viciously panned," Finn considered abandoning musical theater and attending medical school.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1992/05/10/the-truth-about-falsettos/866b1223-8673-4054-8a8a-5d540f8fcf7e |title= The Truth about Falsettos|last=Brown|first=Joe|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=May 10, 1992|accessdate=April 12, 2020}} Finn also lost his singing voice permanently during a scene in the show. Finn felt that the negative reception to In Trousers was undeserved: "[I]f the critic for the Times at that time had been more responsible, it would have been a considerable debut. But as it was, he just said it was junk. So I just started writing 'March of the Falsettos'."

Finn eventually collaborated with James Lapine on two additional one-act musicals, March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, which further explored the lives of Marvin and his family and friends. These two later were combined for a two-act Broadway production entitled Falsettos.

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;1979

• Very Opening - Marvin and CompanyFinn, W., Lapine, J. and Rich, F., 1993. Falsettos. 1st ed. New York: Plume.
• Marvin's Giddy Seizures – Marvin and Company
• How the Body Falls Apart – His Wife, His Sweetheart, and Miss Goldberg
• Your Lips and Me – His Wife
• My High School Sweetheart – Company
• Set Those Sails – Miss Goldberg and Company
• My Chance to Survive the Night – Marvin
• I Am Wearing a Hat – Miss Goldberg and Company
• How Marvin Eats His Breakfast – Marvin and Company
• A Breakfast Over Sugar – Marvin and His Wife
• Whizzer Going Down – Marvin and Company
• High School Ladies at Five O'Clock – Company
• The Rape of Miss Goldberg – Marvin, Miss Goldberg, and His Sweetheart
• The Nausea Before the Game – Marvin and Company
• Love Me for What I Am – His Wife and Company
• How America Got Its Name – Marvin
• Your Lips and Me (Reprise) – His Wife and Company
• Marvin Takes a Victory Shower – Company
• Another Sleepless Night – Company
• In Trousers (The Dream) – Marvin and Company

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;1985

• In Trousers
• I Can't Sleep
• A Helluva Day
• I Have a Family
• How Marvin Eats His Breakfast
• Marvin's Giddy Seizures
• My High School Sweetheart
• Set Those Sails
• I Swear I Won't Ever Again (Part 1)
• High School Ladies at Five O'Clock
• I Swear I Won't Ever Again (Part 2)
• The Rape of Miss Goldberg
• I Swear I Won't Ever Again (Part 3)
• Love Me for What I Am
• I Am Wearing a Hat
• Wedding Song
• 3 Seconds
• Wedding Song (Part 2)
• How the Body Falls Apart
• I Feel Him Slipping Away
• Whizzer Going Down
• Marvin's Giddy Seizures (Part 2)
• I'm Breaking Down
• Packin' Up
• Breakfast Over Sugar
• How America Got Its Name
• Another Sleepless Night
• Good Night (No Hard Feelings)

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;1993 Plume Edition (published only)

• Very Opening
• Marvin's Giddy Seizures
• A Helluva Day
• I Have A Family
• How Marvin Eats His Breakfast
• My High School Sweetheart
• Set Those Sails
• My Chance to Survive the Night
• High-Heeled Ladies at Five O'Clock (A Calypso Fantasy)
• The Rape of Miss Goldberg by Marvin (A Fantasy Which Is Better Abstracted)
• I Am Wearing a Hat
• Wedding Song (Part One)
• Three Seconds
• Wedding Song (Part Two)
• I Feel Him Slipping Away
• Whizzer Going Down
• A Breakfast Over Sugar
• The Nausea Before the Game
• Love Me for What I Am
• How America Got Its Name
• Been A Helluva Day (Reprise)
• Marvin Takes a Victory Shower
• Another Sleepless Night (Reprise)
• In Trousers

The original cast album was released on CD on the Original Cast record label. In reviewing the original cast recording, William Ruhlmann wrote: "Since Finn turned out to be the most impressive songwriting talent to emerge in the musical theater in the 1980s, this record, a cast recording of the 1979 production, is of more than passing interest, even if, in comparison to its successors, it is slight. Still, the music is lively and melodic, the lyrics often provocative and surprising, and the performances, notably that of Chip Zien, who appeared in the later shows in a different role, arresting."{{Cite web |last=Ruhlmann |first=William |title=In Trousers [Original Cast Recording] Review |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/in-trousers-original-cast-recording-mw0000915312 |access-date=March 16, 2025 |website=AllMusic}} The album made some changes for reasons of time, like cutting the opening number, "Very Opening", and abbreviating several songs, most noticeably "The Rape of Miss Goldberg". The number "How America Got Its Name" was also cut, except for Marvin's final words. "How America Got Its Name" was later significantly altered, with the original off-Broadway version only being preserved in the original liner notes included with the vinylrelease of the original off-Broadway cast recording.{{Cite book |last=Finn |first=William |title=In Trousers: The Marvin Songs |date=1979 |publisher=Original Cast Records |chapter='How America Got Its Name' liner notes}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.iobdb.com/Production/4124 First 1979 production at Internet Off-Broadway Database]
• [http://www.iobdb.com/Production/4127 Second 1979 production at Internet Off-Broadway Database]
• [http://www.iobdb.com/Production/2684 1981 production at Internet Off-Broadway Database]
• [http://www.iobdb.com/Production/1937 1985 production at Internet Off-Broadway Database]

{{William Finn}}

Category:1979 musicals

Category:Off-Broadway musicals

Category:Original musicals

Category:LGBTQ-related musicals

Category:Sung-through musicals

Category:Musicals by William Finn

Category:Musicals set in New York City

Category:One-act musicals