Sydney Lucas - Fun Home

[jdrye222]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 12:50am

I finally caught up with seeing FUN HOME for a second time this evening, and it was a totally different show this second time --- deeper and richer.

Many thoughts about the piece in general... but most have been discussed here already. What doesn't seem to have been raved about is the directing -- it is so impeccably staged. Quite brilliant. But the standout for me is Sydney Lucas. I would think she would be the frontrunner for all off-broadway eligible awards this year... am I wrong? I wonder if she's supporting or lead.... Kuhn is quite wonderful too. Both seem supporting.... But I can't think of a better performance on or off-broadway than Lucas or Kuhn. Will she be too old next fall if it waits until then to transfer?
There was a new conductor tonight also. I assume the multiple extensions conflicted with some schedules and replacements were necessary (there were also understudies added in the program).... I couldn't find any conductor name in an insert though, I just know it wasn't the same person I saw conducting the first time early in the run. The new guy tonight did a phenomenal job.

In the audience was John Kander, looking very moved and enthused at the end.

Updated On: 12/22/13 at 12:50 AM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 12:53am

What was phenomenal about the conducting?

[jdrye222]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 12:57am

well, I'm not sure what you're asking. I guess as someone with music background I notice the conductors and musicians more than an average theater goer.
and - if you've seen the show, you know the conductor is very visible.
The music seemed very grounded and well-executed by the orchestra and so in sync with the emotional life of the actors. It isn't always the case at musicals, there is sometimes a disconnect or an over-mathematical approach to the music. I don't know any better way to explain it.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 1:01am

Yes, I am familiar with the show.

I understand the word "amazing" is now used as a baseline in contemporary language for everything that is average. I am just wondering what could be "phenomenal," which is a superlative meaning something beyond extraordinary, something singularly spectacular. I am trying to understand how a conductor can be phenomenal outside of being Leonard Bernstein.

[jdrye222]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 1:04am

hmmm... ok. I was simply trying to compliment the job the conductor did and acknowledge that it was exemplary, and certainly NOT average. Many shows have average conductors who don't seem to care what's happening onstage, they just beat time in front of the band and wait for the show to end. I just like to acknowledge when I see a show in which the conductor and orchestra are engaged in the dramatic and emotional momentum of the piece. Which was the case tonight at FUN HOME. I don't understand why my compliment is so confusing....

[15minutecall]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 2:36am

Thanks for your post jdrye.

[Act4ever]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 2:53am

Paul Masse conducted the show tonight

He conducted THE LANDING as well... I wonder if that's why John Kander was in the house Updated On: 12/22/13 at 02:53 AM

[djdan1079]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 4:04am

Saw the show while in the city over Thanksgiving weekend. I know this isn't a popular opinion, but I .... I just wasn't as moved by it as everyone else. There are some wonderful elements to be admired. I loved the kids in the show, I loved the design. They manage to utilize every inch of the stage without ever seeming cluttered. The lighting design was superb. The Tesori score is one of her better ones.

Yet, at the end, I just wasn't affected by the show. As much as I respect Cerveris and Kuhn, I hated both of their characters. I didn't walk away from the show feeling the parents were flawed, but doing their best. I left feeling they were just awful, narcissistic people who never should have had kids. Both of the parents respective songs at the end of the show felt heavy handed and forced. Ultimately, I left with the sense that despite all of the dysfunction, Alison turned out to be pretty well adjusted adult, so while she had some unfortunate experiences, so what???

Again, I didn't hate the show. I'm glad I saw it. I just don't feel the same passion for it that others seem to.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 10:12am

jdrye222, I completely agree with you. I was blown away by the honesty and subtlety of Sydney Lucas's performance. She was certainly at least on par with the adult actors around her, who were all also wonderful.

I really, really hope this show goes somewhere, even if it's just a longer commercial off-Broadway run. it's such a special piece.

[jdrye222]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 10:52am

Act4Ever -- thanks for the conductor name --- where did you find it? Were you at the show too??? I don't know why I didn't recognize Paul Masse from THE LANDING but you're right now that I think back. And looking him up, he also did Scottsboro Boys so that may be why Kander was at that performance, as it seems like they have worked together a lot.

djdan --- I can absolutely understand your reaction.... I've had that sort of reaction to other shows that lots of people seem moved by (ex. I hate Next To Normal). I don't disagree with your assessment of the parents, etc.

[RUkiddingme]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 2:07pm

DJDAN - So you didn't like the show and weren't moved. Ok. But according to your reasoning, you maybe weren't paying attention! lol To say "Ultimately, I left with the sense that despite all of the dysfunction, Alison turned out to be pretty well adjusted adult." Really?!?!

She's a grown woman lost. She doesn't know who she is. She can't move forward until she comes to terms wit her past, which has haunted her her entire life. There is nothing well about her! lol

But on a more positive note ... I didn't see the original actress who played middle Allison. I have seen the current middle Allison actress, Emily Sceggs, 3 times and I can't imagine anyone topping her!

Anyone here see both of the actresses in this part? How were they different?

[macnyc]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 6:31pm

^^^^ The original "medium Alison" was Alexandra Socha. I think her take on the character's big solo ("Changing My Major") was a bit more theatrical. The quiet parts were very quiet, but moving. And her belt is very strong. But Emily stepped into the role and is very credible. I think she's done a great job. It's not an easy song to sing/perform. It runs the emotional gamut from delirious joy to fear. I like both of them, honestly.

To me, though, nothing can touch Sydney Lucas's performance. How a 10-year-old can do that, I have no idea. She is worth the price of admission!



Updated On: 12/22/13 at 06:31 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 6:57pm

I couldn't imagine anyone other than Alexandra Socha in that role. She was wonderfully awkward, and just played the role beautifully. Sydney Lucas is a star, and I think she will go on to do amazing things. I know her father Ed, and he told me this was "the role she was born to play". Her brother is Ralphie in A Christmas Story. Both great performers. It was my favorite show of 2013 and I cannot wait for the recording.



Updated On: 12/22/13 at 06:57 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 7:04pm

Her father is totally woofy.

[djdan1079]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 10:27pm

RUkiddingme- I understand what you are saying. Let me better try to articulate where I'm coming from. Yes, she is a young woman who is lost. But to some degree, weren't we ALL kind of lost as young adults? Is that really so unique to this character?? My family was as dysfunctional as the next (for different reasons), but I feel like I overcame a lot of those issues, despite having taken some bumps and bruises along the way, and turned out to be a pretty productive member of society. So did Alison. She doesn't appear to have gone to jail, she doesn't appear to be numbing out via unhealthy habits, she seemed to come to terms with her sexuality pretty quickly without a lifelong struggle. So how bad am I supposed to feel for her? I guess my problem was I felt like the father was SUCH a d**k, that it's actually best he isn't an active force in his kids lives at the end of the show.

But such is the beauty of the artform.... we all take away something different from the show. Cheers!

[RUkiddingme]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 11:18pm

I don't like going back and forth on message boards but I must say, DJDAN, your reply did clear something up for me. I had suggested you maybe weren't paying attention but now it's clear you definitely were not! lol

"She doesn't appear to have gone to jail, she doesn't appear to be numbing out via unhealthy habits"
I would consider burying yourself in work spending all your time alone suffocated by childhood trauma as an unhealthy habit. Maybe that's just me! lol

"she seemed to come to terms with her sexuality pretty quickly without a lifelong struggle."
Really? She is still struggling with this issue. Not sure if the character is in her 30's or 40's but that's not a quick coming to terms with anything.

I suppose the biggest difference we took away from the show is I thought her father was a sad, tragic figure. And an important reminder that gay people were repressed not so long ago. And prejudice and hatred can not only effect one person but all the people around them too. Where as you thought he was a dick.

At least the show was involving enough for people to think, regardless if they liked it or not. Can't find that in a Frank Wildhorn show!

[jdrye222]

Posted: 12/24/13 at 2:45am

I understand the reaction.... But yeah, it is about a woman approaching middle age (I believe she states she is 42 or 43) and "can't find my way home".... She is essentially the same age her dad was when he killed himself. And we aren't told if that is a potential (as it isn't quite so melodramatic) but it is a real search for a connection to her past to make sense of who she is now. Outwardly she may have "turned out alright" but the whole point of the show is how our past catches up to us and sometimes we end up with a real turning point.

[inception]

Posted: 12/25/13 at 11:04pm

RUkiddingme wrote "I suppose the biggest difference we took away from the show is I thought her father was a sad, tragic figure. And an important reminder that gay people were repressed not so long ago. And prejudice and hatred can not only effect one person but all the people around them too. Where as you thought he was a dick. "

In the late 70's New York was full of vibrant gay men living openly. This guy was a selfish dirtbag, who instead of embracing his sexuality CHOSE to hide it and used his wife and children to do so with absolutely no regard for their mental or physical well being. In one memorable scene the mother speaks of his bringing home body lice. If he had lived, and continued to carry on as he did he likely would have been among the first generation of the AIDS epidemic (something Bechdel has mused upon in interviews) and possibly could have passed it on to his wife. Instead the selfish bastard killed himself when confronted by his daughter, leaving his wife and children to pick up the pieces.
Just because a character is homosexual doesn't mean he is a role model. This father is the villain of the piece, and there is nothing wrong with hating him and his actions.
Alison is the hero. She confronts her past, explores it, and continues on her life's path without making the same errors her father did in living a selfish life.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/25/13 at 11:18pm

1) You think he was still having sex with his wife by the time Alison is 10?

2) The thing about AIDS was, PLENTY of gay men who had lots of sex of all varieties somehow remained unexposed to HIV. LOTS of serodiscordant couples existed and still exist, plenty of positive people's partners never seroconvert. I don't know if you know this or not, but the virus doesn't come with any moral imperative so that people you judge as bad inevitably got HIV.

3) Exactly how similar to New York do you THINK Beech Creek, PA was to late '70s New York?

I'm really glad Alison Bechdel was able to create a character without all the judgment you want to place on him.

[cglaid]

Posted: 12/26/13 at 10:16pm

She stole the show. Updated On: 7/3/14 at 10:16 PM

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 12/27/13 at 12:01am

Please don't pay attention to any of inception's opinions of the show. He has some deep-seated personal issues that color his view greatly. He needs some serious help getting over this rather than projecting onto a widely loved show.

Updated On: 12/27/13 at 12:01 AM

[inception]

Posted: 12/27/13 at 5:11am

FindingNamo wrote: "I don't know if you know this or not, but the virus doesn't come with any moral imperative"

I have been poz for 15 years. So yah, I know that. It is not making a moral judgement to say that certain actions will have likely results (ie unprotected sex with multiple anonymous partners will likely lead to HIV infection).

I have been reading the Bechdel's book over the last day and it is interesting to see how things were changed for the stage version. For example the scene where the father takes the kids to NY for the bicentennial - Bechdel was actually 15, and one of the main events of the trip in the book is not the father taking off to cruise, but rather the youngest brother wandering out and being approached by a pedophile. Following this section on page 195 of the book Bechdel actually muses on how if her father hadn't died he may have contracted HIV and then passed it onto her mother. Further she goes on to say on page 196, "There is a certain emotional expedience to claiming him as a tragic victim of homophobia, but that's a problematic line of thought. For one thing, it makes it harder for me to blame him." She does show how he was a very poor father, and yet provides a more fully nuanced portrait than is possible in the stage production. If anything, for me reading the book has validated some of the judgements I made for myself about the story.

ClydeBarrow says I am projecting, but the comments I made in this thread seem to be very much in line with some things Bechdel herself felt. This wasn't a character she created - this was her real father, and yes she does judge him.

In another thread about Fun Home I commented on how I didn't like the staging of the song "Ring of Keys." (I didn't like that it was performed by a child.) Just because I had a criticism doesn't mean I hated the show - it had many parts that I enjoyed, for example "I'm changing my major to Joan." I don't think the show is perfect, and I can't see it being in a big Broadway house, but I do think it is an important show worth discussing and exploring further. I was lucky to see the very fine original cast, but this is a show that will likely have a life far beyond this production. New York isn't the be all and end all for a show like this which I'm sure will see many regional and student productions long into the future.

[macnyc]

Posted: 12/27/13 at 7:59am

Brantley's take on "Ring of Keys" and Sydney's amazing performance of it, which he calls "downright wholesome."

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/27/theater/times-writers-share-last-chance-theater-picks.html?ref=theater&_r=0

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/27/13 at 10:04am

I had never heard of HIV before your post, inception, so clearly I have no idea what I'm talking about.

[inception]

Posted: 12/27/13 at 10:12pm

FindingNamo wrote: "I had never heard of HIV before your post, inception, so clearly I have no idea what I'm talking about."

It doesn't seem possible on this board for people to have amicable disagreements.

In the fall of 2012 I had the pleasure of attending one of activist Sarah Schulman's lectures. I found this link which gives a brief overview of what she has to say:
http://aumag.org/wordpress/2013/11/22/sarah-schulman/

Part of what she spoke about was how many women victims of AIDS were overlooked and refused care in the 80's. While intravenous drug use was one means of spread, for the most part women who catch HIV do so from their male partners. In fact she spoke about how intravenous drug use has been on the decline in the US and with it HIV infection in that community; but rates among women whose male partners are MSM (males who sleep with males) - and especially those who do not know that their partners engage in risky behaiviour such as "barebacking" continue at about the same rate as for gay males.

While there may indeed be serodiscordant couples, usually in these situations the partners are aware of each others' status and take precautions.

Back to Fun Home, I don't think it is wrong to judge the father for his actions. It is no different from not liking the "bad guy" in any other work of theatre. The story isn't about liking him or not liking him, the story is about what he did to his daughter and family and how the daughter in particular dealt with that as part of her "coming out."