‘ Fun Home’ proving to be the right show at the right time
NEW YORK— Some of Broadway’s biggest musical hits are on the road this season, like “Matilda,” “The Book of Mormon” and “Jersey Boys.” Then there’s one show that few initially thought would thrive offBroadway much less go on a national tour.
“Fun Home,” the 2015 Tony- winning best musical, has begun its America journey as the first Broadway show with a lesbian protagonist, one who is dealing with a parent’s suicide and her own sexuality. It’s also joyous, loving and poignant enough to bring red and blue staters alike to tears. The show arrives in Chicago next week, for a run at the Oriental Theatre Nov. 2- 13.
“It’s mind- blowing to think we get to take this all across the country. Every step of the way with ‘ FunHome’ it’s felt like, ‘ It’s so risky. It’s so new. It’s pushing boundaries,’” said director Sam Gold. “What we keep finding at every step of the way is that the show has something so true and deep and emotional at its core that everyone opens up to it.”
The musical— with a book and lyrics by Lisa Kron and music by Jeanine Tesori— is based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel memoir about growing up with a closeted dad in the family’s funeral home business, nicknamed the “Fun Home.” It travels the country at a time when society’s view of homosexuality is changing. It was on Broadway when the Supreme Court ruled that same- sexmarriage was constitutional, and it was also playing during the outpouring of sympathy following the Orlando, Florida, gay nightclub shooting.
“As this show goes out across America, I think there are communities who are starving for this story and there are communities that don’t know they need to hear this story,” said Robert Petkoff, who plays the father.
Kron, whomade history as part of the first female writing team to win Tony Awards for best book, score and musical, said the show explores a particular family but has universal themes of love and acceptance.
“I feel like there’s been a lot of anxiety that other people are going to have a hard time,” she said. “And, undoubtedly, here and there, there have been individuals who have hada hard time, as there are with anything that you put onstage, but this has just not been an issue.”
The cast and creative team behind “Fun Home” have embraced their outsized role. They assembled for a one- night benefit concert version this summer in Orlando to honor victims of the massacre. And three years ago, they visited the College of Charleston in South Carolina after lawmakers withdrew funding as punishment formaking Bechdel’s book available to incoming freshmen.
“The cultural moment right nowin this country really has me excited about taking this showout on a tour,” said Kate Shindle, who plays the adult Alison. “During auditions youmostly focus on the material on the page, but I just couldn’t turn off the activist part ofmy brain.”
The cast and creators are quick to point out that the story is paramount and “Fun Home” is not overtly political, even if, by its verynature, a show about growing up gay— including a song about lesbian sexual desire, “Ring of Keys”— is a charged topic for some.
“You don’t need to be involved in its politics to be moved by the show and that’s very important. It’s a very universal show and it captures something bigger than its politics. That’s what makes it work. I’mnot interested in polemical theater,” said Gold. “I’minterested in moving people.”