FUN HOME Reviews

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 1:38am

Today is Sunday, April 19, marking the official OPENING NIGHT of FUN HOME, on Broadway! The critically acclaimed musical, of course, is an adaptation of Alison Bechdel's graphic memoir, which parallels her own coming of age as a lesbian and the suicide of her closeted gay father. Performances run at the Circle in the Square in a new in-the-round staging, having begun previews March 27.

The show, according to press notes, is "a fresh, daring new musical based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Alison Bechdel. When her father dies unexpectedly, graphic novelist Alison dives deep into her past to tell the story of the volatile, brilliant, one-of-a-kind man whose temperament and secrets defined her family and her life. Moving between past and present, Alison relives her unique childhood playing at the family’s Bechdel Funeral Home, her growing understanding of her own sexuality and the looming, unanswerable questions about her father's hidden desires."

Having previously been staged at The Public, many members of the original Off-Broadway cast return for the uptown transfer, including stars Beth Malone, Judy Kuhn, Sydney Lucas and Michael Cerveris. Malone (Alison), Lucas (Small Alison) and Emily Skeggs (Medium Alison) portray author-narrator Bechdel at various stages of her life. The principal cast also features Joel Perez, Roberta Colindrez, Zell Morrow and Oscar Williams.

FUN HOME has music by Tony Award nominee Jeanine Tesori and a book and lyrics by Tony Award nominee Lisa Kron, under the auspice of director Sam Gold.

Here's to ample broken limbs!

 

 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 2:22am

I'm hoping for all raves!  I can't think of a show I've rooted for more.

[Lovinbroadway2]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 6:24am

I'm probably the only one on the board who hasn't seen it yet, but based on what I've heard and seen, I'm hoping for raves. 

Updated On: 4/19/15 at 06:24 AM

[MorningGlow2]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 9:03am

Another fan here! I also hoping for raves, though at this point I personally don't really care what anyone says - this show has a permanent special place in my heart.

Raves would be nice so the show can have a healthy run on Broadway...then again, this would make getting good tickets harder...hmmmm.

 

 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 9:10am

^Rave reviews certainly didn't work in favor of Side Show nor Honeymoon in Vegas this past season, so we'll see how they do for Fun Home (which luckily is opening a little over a week before Tony Nominations come out).

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 9:22am

I expect critical raves, and I expect Tony awards for this show, likely even Best Musical. But after the core audience has seen it, what I don't expect is great box office. I believe there is no way to sell this show honestly to most of the tourists at the TKTS booth. Even ONCE had a selling angle this show lacks-- smash hit movie adaptation with amazing singing and dancing in a Dublin bar. Here you have an emotionally raw coming out story based on a graphic novel about a dysfunctional family with a cast of 9, mostly taking place in a funeral home. Lovely as it is, they've got their work cut out for them getting folks in the doors.

[indytallguy]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 10:12am

The majority of the story does not take place in a funeral home. In fact, next to none of it does, and the one scene in which it is featured also offers one of the more upbeat and entertaining numbers in the show.

Updated On: 4/19/15 at 10:12 AM

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 11:20am

It's been over a year and GGLAM has pulled in some good numbers audience-wise, especially after winning the Tony. Here's hoping the same for FUN HOME! Can't wait to see it... literally, a month from today!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 11:26am

Indy is 100% correct: very little takes place in the funeral home...the house in which they live is a different structure. 

[MorningGlow2]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 11:36am

^ Yes, Indy is correct - that said, doesn't make it any easier to pitch, lol. I expect it to be a hard sell to the TKTS crowd, but hopefully the theater community, their friends, and fans can spread the word to keep this momentum going.

 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 11:46am

I don't think the setting has much to do with the hard sell, but the subject matter: while things are changing  not everyone is ready/comfortable to see a show about homosexuality.

Of course, no one thought a musical about mental illness would be successful, either.

We can hope.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 12:27pm

Good luck to everyone associated with this wonderful show. I really hope it gets the raves it deserves.

 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 12:39pm

I am expecting nothing but glowing reviews for this.

[steven22]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 12:42pm

Saw the first preview and can't wait to go back this week! Really hoping this show gets the recognizition it deserves!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 1:20pm

BTW, what time is curtain today??

[Keiichi2]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 1:52pm

"I'm probably the only one on the board who hasn't seen it yet, but based on what I've heard and seen, I'm hoping for raves. "

 I haven't seen it yet, either, but that will change next Tuesday, April 28th.

 

All the best to the cast and crew tonight for the reviews!

Posted: 4/19/15 at 3:20pm

Some notes from the local papers while we wait for the opening night reviews:

Vermont takes Broadway with FUN HOME

St. Louis producers triumph in New York with the opening of FUN HOME

Scott Forstall, Apple's ex-iOS boss, resurfaces as Broadway producer

Huntington WV actor shines on Broadway stage

 

Stop by the FUN HOME, think of Bechdel when you need to embalm!

 

Updated On: 4/21/15 at 03:20 PM

[MorningGlow2]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 6:12pm

And here we go! AMNY: (4 stars)

To say that “Fun Home” is the best new musical of last season (when it premiered Off-Broadway at the Public Theater) or this season (now that it’s transferred to Broadway’s Circle in the Square) would be an understatement.

http://www.amny.com/fun-home-theater-review-4-stars-1.10298697

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 6:19pm

"the house in which they live is a different structure."

Gee, forgive my confusion about the locale. Watching the show uptown once (sitting next to Dramamama, in fact,) I left with the impression that the home was above the shop cause the kids kept popping out of the coffin. Where does the script explain they are 2 different buildings and how do the kids show up at the funeral home unchaperoned to do their commercial?

Updated On: 4/19/15 at 06:19 PM

[indytallguy]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 6:23pm

Good point as I'm not sure how the script explains it and the staging at The Public did present them more as adjacent spaces.

 

Regardless though, 90-95% of the show doesn't take place in a funeral home nor deal with whatever aspects of a funeral home/funerals might turn off a theatregoer, particularly in the current staging.

[MorningGlow2]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 6:39pm

Hollywood Reporter: Positive

Whether it's the benefits of second-time exposure or the skill with which director Sam Gold and designer David Zinn have reconfigured the production to play in the round, intensifying its intimacy, this time I found it a beguiling experience, almost unbearably poignant at times.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/fun-home-theater-review-790003

Posted: 4/19/15 at 6:48pm

here's the photo from the AM New York review

[Annetteiago]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 6:48pm

 

 

Updated On: 4/19/15 at 06:48 PM

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 6:55pm

^Huh? KISS ME KATE played 1077 performances, hardly what I'd call disappearing soon. It closed on July 28, 1951, over 2 years after SOUTH PACIFIC premiered!

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 4/19/15 at 6:56pm

"Did you know when Kiss Me Kate opened it got the first Tony but it soon disappeared when South Pacific Opened. Sadly Fun Home will be all but forgotten when Hamilton Opens.
"I'm hoping for all raves!  I can't think of a show I've rooted for more."
 
 I just do not know how to respond to that.