Based on Alison Bechdel's best-selling graphic memoir of the same name, Fun Home, the 2015 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, features music by Jeanine Tesori, book and lyrics by Lisa Kron, and direction by Sam Gold, all of whom won 2015 Tony Awards for their work on this production. Fun Home began previews March 27, 2015 and opened to rave reviews at the Circle in the Square Theatre (235 West 50th Street) on Sunday, April 19, 2015.
Featuring a cast led by 2015 Tony Award-winner Michael Cerveris, as well as 2015 Tony Award nominees Judy Kuhn, Beth Malone, Sydney Lucas and Emily Skeggs, Fun Home also features Roberta Colindrez, Zell Steele Morrow, Joel Perez, Oscar Williams, Lauren Patten, Gabriella Pizzolo, Marrick Smith, Jim Stanek, and Nicole Van Giesen.
Fun Home introduces us to Alison at three different ages, revealing memories of her uniquely dysfunctional family- her mother, brothers and volatile, brilliant, enigmatic father- that connect with her in surprising new ways. This intimate and emotional theatrical experience is performed entirely in the round, bringing audiences closer to Alison's story than ever before. Hailed as "the best musical of the season" by both The New York Times and New York Magazine, Fun Home "demonstrates how much our world has changed and reflects just how far we've come" (The Wall Street Journal). Fun Home is a refreshingly honest, wholly original musical about seeing your parents through grown-up eyes.
Fun Home was also nominated for 2015 Tony Awards for Best Scenic Design of Musical (David Zinn), Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Ben Stanton) and Best Orchestrations (John Clancy). The creative team also includes Danny Mefford (Choreography), Kai Harada (Sound Design), and Chris Fenwick (Music Direction).
All three Alisons share the same refreshing kind of naturalism, and each actress makes the part her own without showboating or selling the story's knottier sentiments short to reach the cheap seats. A little bit of nuance inevitably gets lost when subject matter this dark is set to song; death and deep family schisms, after all, aren't always fit for jazz hands. But like the book, Fun Home manages to use an oft-unserious medium to deliver something seriously, singularly moving.
And aside from a couple of upbeat, spot-on pastiches of the Jackson 5 and the Partridge Family, Tesori's score is a comforting blanket of acousti-pop. In this rather daring project, a final anthem about flying seems rather old-fashioned. Still, 'Fun Home' is an important show. That it managed to make it to Broadway at all is a reason to rejoice.
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