With a title like Fun Home, one might imagine that this new musical is set in a carnival (i.e., “Fun House”). Well, in a way, it does resemble the otherworldliness of a carnival, especially if one considers the fun-house mirrors one finds at such attractions. The distorted mirrors and their odd refractions are not unlike one might find in a memory play like this.
And Fun Home is indeed a memory play. Alison Bechdel, a writer and cartoonist, looks back at her family life. Bechdel’s popular graphic novel (by the same name) is amazingly transformed into a musical by Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron. In the process, they have stretched the boundaries of what makes a musical. In essence, Fun Home is a lesbian's coming-out story, complicated by a tragedy involving her closeted gay father. But let’s back up a bit. First, the audience learns a great deal about Alison’s family. She has two parents and two siblings (boys). They live in a meticulously decorated home. Restored Victorian antiques lend a formal quality to the environment. The lovingly restored home is the pride of Alison’s father, Bruce (Michael Cerveris). He states early on that he appreciates “the finer things”–good books, exquisitely crafted antique furniture, etc. Alison’s gay father has an odd gamut of businesses and interests. He runs a mortuary inherited from his father (which the family refers to as the “fun home”) and is also an English teacher. Throughout the musical, he struggles to find his authentic, true self. One of the things Alison’s recalls from childhood is presenting a “perfect family” image to guests. The audience knowingly chuckles as Alison’s mother (played by Judy Kuhn) scurries around the house, plumping up pillows and dressing up her children. Once this is accomplished, Helen (the mother) and children pose like statues in front of the living room couch. They seem unfazed as Bruce rearranges their positions into a tableau. To fully embrace Alison’s complex character, she is split into three: Small Alison (Sydney Lucas), Middle Alison (Emily Skeggs), and adult Alison (Beth Malone). In Fun Home, it is the adult Alison who narrates the story of her past. In doing so, she tries to figure out how various influences made her into the person she has become Fun Home gestated for quite awhile prior to its Broadway engagement. After a number of workshops, it opened Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in 2013. Following a long run, in 2015 it transferred to Broadway at Circle in the Square. The show earned five Tony Awards, including the award for Best Musical and Best Actor (Michael Cerveris). Judy Kuhn also was nominated for her role. The old adage about appearing onstage with kids and dogs certainly comes to mind in the first act. Although Sydney Lucas (who was only 10 when she started playing the role of Alison) doesn’t try to upstage the other actors, she is clearly the focal point around which the rest of the family revolves. In her show-stopping number, “Ring of Keys,” Sydney is riveted by the sight of a delivery woman. The woman is dressed in “men’s clothes” and wears a man’s hair style. Unable to understand or articulate how this relates to her, Alison keeps referencing the woman’s large key ring. (Lucas makes her revelation seem impossibly fresh at a performance several months after the Tony win.) All the actors seem comfortable navigating the musical’s non-linear timeline. Several scenes are revisited from a different point of view, as new thoughts come to Alison’s mind. In a heartbreaking, second-act scene between Alison and her father, the two go for a car ride. Alison knows that she should say something—anything—about her own sexuality and how it relates to her father’s closeted sexual behavior. As Beth Malone and Michael Cerveris portray this scene, it’s clear their characters have much to say to each other. Yet, as is often the case in real life, neither knows where to begin.
