Sierra Stages presents Falsettos Nov. 5-22 in Grass Valley

THIS FALL, SIERRA STAGES PRESENTS the groundbreaking musical Falsettos for ten performances from November 5-22 at the intimate Off Center Stage in Grass Valley, next to The Center for the Arts’ main theater. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m. and Sundays, 2 p.m.

Falsettos is the final production of Sierra Stages’ seventh season and is directed by Sandra Rockman, with dance direction by George Jayne and musical direction by Ken Getz, who conducts the live band.

Part intimate family drama, part neurotic urban comedy, and part keenly observed meditation on a shifting definition of the American family, Falsettos is the 1992 Tony Award-winning musical by William Finn (who wrote music and lyrics for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, presented by Sierra Stages in 2011) and James Lapine (who wrote the book for Into the Woods, presented by Sierra Stages in 2010).

The story of Falsettos focuses on Marvin and his struggles to create a “tight knit family” out of his eclectic array of core relationships (including his ex-wife, his new boyfriend, his adolescent son, his psychiatrist, and his lesbian next-door neighbors) amid a series of monumental life changes. During the course of the musical, he is forced to reckon with his own views on love, responsibility, and what it means to be a man.

A musical-theater benchmark for its candid depiction of a gay relationship, Falsettos is a pairing of two one-act musicals by Finn and Lapine: March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, which were produced Off Broadway in 1981 and 1990.

Falsettos features an all-local cast of Nevada County actors Jonathan Hansard, Danny McCammon, Ken Miele, Nancy Haffey, Kate Haight, Tinley Ireland and Graham Bennett. The set design is by Pamela Hodges, costume design is by Jill Kelly, and lighting design is by Casey Burke.

Falsettos returns to Broadway for the 2016-17 season. The original Broadway production opened to positive reviews. Frank Rich of The New York Times called it “exhilarating and heartbreaking.”

(Photo: Samuel French Inc.)