#1
Posted: 1/6/15 at 3:10am
10. It is Tesori's best score. Tesori is a chameleon when it comes to writing musicals. She's gone from "Violet" which has wonderful moments but doesn't quite work, to "Millie" where she stuck in the best songs in a mixed bag musical, to "Caroline or Change" which was sensational but suffered from Tony Kushner's clunky lyrics. In "Fun Home", Tesori and Kron have found a perfect match.
9. There is very little competition. "Honeymoon in Vegas" is Jason Robert Brown trying desperately to write a David Yazbek money making show, and it fails on every level. Not to disparage Brown, last year's "Bridges of Madison County" was a wonderful score. It suffered from bad staging. "Something Rotten" is a terrible title, and with no stars, and the huge St. James Theatre, will struggle. "Dr. Zivago" may be a contender, but I doubt it can fill the Broadway theatre unless the reviews are stellar. "Finding Neverland" can't seem to find its ever land no matter where it lands, and "It Shoulda Been You" sounds like the flop of the season.
8. Circle in the Square. It's the perfect venue for the show.
7. It was nominated for nine Lucille Lortel Awards (winning three, including Outstanding Musical), seven Outer Critics Circle Awards (winning Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical), three Drama League Awards, eight Drama Desk Awards and the Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best New Musical (which it won).
6. It was short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize, and lost by a hair.
5. It is a score with no clunkers, and has three of the best songs written for the musical theatre in years ("Ring of Keys," "Changing My Major to Joan", and "Days and Days"). Plus the Partridge Family rip-off number is a major crowd pleaser.
4. It is the first musical to deal with lesbians as major characters.
3. It is the first musical to deal with homosexuality honestly. "La Cage" may have broken ground, but it is a farce. While "Falsettos" was also ground-breaking, it constantly apologizes for its subject matter. "Fun Home" does not. It presents its characters as who they are, without outside interference. Most importantly, it doesn't ask you to sympathize with them, nor judge them. Its not "I am Who I Am", it's we are who we are, so deal with it.
2. It's an incredible adaptation of something that should have been impossible to adapt. The graphic novel is wonderful, but when you read that and then see what Tesori and Kron came up with, it's nothing short of a miracle.
1. Hey, it's the best musical I've seen in a decade. Things like this don't come around that often. Put up against "Memphis," "Once," or "Gentlemen's Guide" (all of which I found entertaining, but not life changing), it would win. I think it will win this year.
0. Please feel free to disagree with me.
9. There is very little competition. "Honeymoon in Vegas" is Jason Robert Brown trying desperately to write a David Yazbek money making show, and it fails on every level. Not to disparage Brown, last year's "Bridges of Madison County" was a wonderful score. It suffered from bad staging. "Something Rotten" is a terrible title, and with no stars, and the huge St. James Theatre, will struggle. "Dr. Zivago" may be a contender, but I doubt it can fill the Broadway theatre unless the reviews are stellar. "Finding Neverland" can't seem to find its ever land no matter where it lands, and "It Shoulda Been You" sounds like the flop of the season.
8. Circle in the Square. It's the perfect venue for the show.
7. It was nominated for nine Lucille Lortel Awards (winning three, including Outstanding Musical), seven Outer Critics Circle Awards (winning Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical), three Drama League Awards, eight Drama Desk Awards and the Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best New Musical (which it won).
6. It was short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize, and lost by a hair.
5. It is a score with no clunkers, and has three of the best songs written for the musical theatre in years ("Ring of Keys," "Changing My Major to Joan", and "Days and Days"). Plus the Partridge Family rip-off number is a major crowd pleaser.
4. It is the first musical to deal with lesbians as major characters.
3. It is the first musical to deal with homosexuality honestly. "La Cage" may have broken ground, but it is a farce. While "Falsettos" was also ground-breaking, it constantly apologizes for its subject matter. "Fun Home" does not. It presents its characters as who they are, without outside interference. Most importantly, it doesn't ask you to sympathize with them, nor judge them. Its not "I am Who I Am", it's we are who we are, so deal with it.
2. It's an incredible adaptation of something that should have been impossible to adapt. The graphic novel is wonderful, but when you read that and then see what Tesori and Kron came up with, it's nothing short of a miracle.
1. Hey, it's the best musical I've seen in a decade. Things like this don't come around that often. Put up against "Memphis," "Once," or "Gentlemen's Guide" (all of which I found entertaining, but not life changing), it would win. I think it will win this year.
0. Please feel free to disagree with me.
