Where I Watched It: Broadway HD

English Audio Description?: No

once again, I’m still covering Broadway HD. This airing of Falsettos was part of the live At Lincoln center series, and featured Christian Borle in the lead role. I’m a fan of the original show, and really all of the various forms this productions has been under, like March of The Falsettos or falsettoland, as composer William Finn has tried to tell this story through song a couple of times. This is also a revival cast, of course, just in case you are not familiar with the show.

Marvin (Borle) is a father and a husband whose life is turned upside down when he falls in love with Wizzer (Andrew Rannells), and realizes he needs to make this major change in his life. He’s also doing this at a specific point in time, though you’d be forgiven to believe this show could take place anytime as many of the ideas here transcend decades. but, as the show moves into the 80’s, AIDS looms large over the show, and the ensemble continues to try and move forward in this new normal Marvin has thrust everyone through with his choices. This obviously affects his wife, who starts seeing their therapist, but also Marvin’s son, who plays a very integral role in the musical.

When I take a look at Broadway HD and what they present with these taped musicals they seemingly refuse to provide accessibility for, I ultimately always ask myself the question of will you get more from watching the show than listening to a cast recording? And as terrific as these performances are, without audio description, the answer here is no.

At least if there was audio description, we would get some context about where things are taking place, the craft and time taken to stage this show, block it, costume it, light it, and build a flexible set to accommodate the many scene changes. But, Falsettos runs song to song, so it basically becomes, for a blind or visually impaired viewer, a cast recording. And for the subscription rate of Broadway HD, you could just buy the CD and own it forever.

I’m certain that for a sighted audience this is an exceptional show. I’m a huge fan of Christian Borle. He’s easily a Top 5 music theatre actor for me. If I had lived in the area, i would have loved to see this live. But, I’m here to try and open up the idea about normalizing and mainstreaming accessibility, something this streaming service seems unlikely to do. While some of their shows are worth watching because they offer more than just the cast recording, this is a great example of a show that offers nothing I couldn’t get from my Apple Music subscription.

If you are totally unfamiliar with the show, I would say listen to Father To Son, and tell me there isn’t a message in this show worth embracing. The problem is, you can listen to that recording without a Broadway HD subscription.

Final Grade: unwatchable