High Notes
Ganymede Arts presents a new production of the Tony-winning gay play Falsettos in a space carved out of Go Mama Go!
Falsettos is about a gay man – a father – who divorces his wife but vows to keep the family together. In 1992, during the musical’s Tony-winning run on Broadway, ”that was very unconventional,” says Ganymede Arts artistic director Jeffrey Johnson. ”Yet it’s still a very interesting way to look at how we define family in this modern day, where in some states [gays] can get married and adopt kids.”
Also interesting: the venue for a new production of the show from Ganymede, D.C.’s only GLBT-focused arts company. Ganymede has chosen to mount the production in Go Mama Go!
”It’s a very cool space,” says Johnson. ”We’re taking the whole back third of the Go Mama Go! space and transforming it into a theater.” Johnson, who doubles as the store’s manager, says owner Jonathan Chudnoff invited the struggling theater company to fill the space while the downsized store stays open only until its lease expires in the spring. The Ganymede area has been rechristened Noi’s Nook, after the store’s late founder, Noi Chudnoff. The space will also serve as home to Ganymede’s fall festival, which will incorporate a Sept. 27 show from arts_entertainment/stage.php?ak=5416“>Special Agent Galactica (Johnson’s drag alter-ego), an Oct. 4 new play reading, and a visual-arts exhibit during the run of Falsettos.
As for Falsettos, the show incorporates two parts of composer William Finn’s ”Marvin trilogy,” focusing on a gay man struggling to come out but keep together his family, which includes a son. The first musical in the trilogy, In Trousers, is not included. The evening is comprised of the well-known March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland.
”Falsettos is a show that a lot of people really love,” says Johnson. ”But they don’t get to see it a lot because it’s very rarely produced.”
Somewhere, Noi is smiling.
Falsettos opens Friday, Sept. 10, at 8 p.m. Weekends to Oct. 10. Noi’s Nook, 1809 14th St. NW. Tickets are $30. Call 800-494-8497 or visit ganymedearts.org.
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