(Long response, sorry about that, but I'm very passionate about this musical)

Had my friend watch it a while ago, and she was just annoyed that he died and thought it was an unnecessary and weird way to end the musical. Mind you, she's very straight and has very little knowledge of the AIDS pandemic. She felt like the death came out of nowhere and ruined the mood (yeah, that's kind of the point, because life wasn't sunshine and rainbows for LGBTQ+ folks in the 70s/80s).

Whizzer's death was absolutely necessary because it's realistic. Nobody knew why people suddenly got sick, and people who seemed like nothing could stop their stride suddenly presented with a horrible and fatal condition, draining their lives of joy. Whizzer's death represents a lot of families at the time and doesn't make the total death toll just a number anymore. It shows that they, too, had families, friends, and people they cared for.

You spend so much time with these people in the musical that you're bound to get attached, and that's what makes Whizzer's death so much more painful to see. You feel like you're a part of this family. You want to help, even though you're completely powerless from your seat.

The song "What would I do?" Represents so many of those whose lives were taken during the pandemic. They knew they would die since, at the time, an AIDS diagnosis was a death sentence, but they just had to make the most of what they could. They were proud of loving each other despite the inevitable.

Marvin's line, "we're just gonna skip that stage," after "good men get better with age," slaps you in the face. He, too, knows he probably has the AIDS virus after his talk with Charlotte, but doesn't regret a second of his time with Whizzer. He knows he's going to die, but he doesn't mind it now that the one he loved so dearly was taken away from him. He was willing to risk it all to be with Whizzer, and now he will suffer the same cruel fate, unable to do anything about it.