FUN HOME Reviews- Page 8

[jkstheatrescene]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 3:34pm

I'm with kdogg36 on this one.  

 

The SO at Fun Home was in no way typical of the de rigeur SO that most shows get.  Gigi, It Shoulda Been You and (gulp!) Dr. Zhivago all got those SOs where a few people stood at the beginning and then the herd mentality took over and everyone stood.  I know this because I did NOT stand, but from where I was sitting at each of those shows, I could see that I was one of very few who applauded but didn't stand. 

 

Fun Home, at the performance I attended, had nearly the whole audience on its feet, as one, before the lights were fully out and then back on.  And the whole vibe of the applause was much different, somehow more appreciative.  There wasn't the screaming and the whoohoo-ing that generally greets the more popular cast members, either, but genuine shouts of "Bravo!/Brava!" and a true feeling of having shared an extraordinary experience that was both profoundly personal and universal at the same time.  People left the theatre in near silence, many, if not most, wiping tears away, some so moved they had trouble leaving their seats they were so overcome by emotion.  In recent seasons, the only two shows that I witnessed that kind of feeling were Next to Normal and American Idiot.  All three shows hit nerves and opened feelings in vastly different groups of people that attended each one.  But the shared experience and outpouring of appreciation at all three were nearly identical.

 

When people ask me why I love live theatre more than film, I point to these examples.

[valeposh]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 3:46pm

Seeing this on May 5. Can't wait!!!

[jv92]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 7:54pm

"

Saw the show last night and found it a pretentious and stultifying bore. Judy Kuhn had the same dour expression throughout the whole performance. Cerveris’s dad character is creepy from the moment he enters. Couldn't wait for hime to die.

"

Kuhn's character might have had the same dour expression throughout the performance because she was a woman trapped in a facade of a marriage. She's playing a terribly unhappy woman. Bruce Bechdel is supposed to be somewhat off-putting. He's supposed to be creepy. That's the point. But I'm glad you understood that. I was beginning to think you were truly dense after you failed to understand why Judy Kuhn wasn't smiling the entire show and doing cartwheels. 

Just wanted to help you out there. 

 

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:00pm

"The standing ovation that happened when I saw Fun Home was totally different from the standard version that's come to be regarded as de rigeur."

How lucky for us that you are able to detect the difference between the spontaneous, genuine standing ovation, and the "standard version." 

Oh, and I wonder, was it totally different from the standing ovations being accorded Hamilton, or are those too just the "standard version?"

Oh, and it's de rigueur.

 

Updated On: 5/2/15 at 09:00 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:03pm

Rex Reed has never liked lesbians.

[firebolts]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:04pm

^ I don't think he's supposed to be "creepy," per se. I think he's just more troubled, angry, and confused than anything else. 

The Fun Home cast recording was taken off Spotify and iTunes last night/this morning. Luckily, I purchased the cast recording on iTunes last night when I noticed my Fun Home tracks in Spotify were beginning to disappear yesterday. Can't believe how lucky I was to notice that! Do you think they will have the Playhouse cast recording of Fun Home back on iTunes when they release the OBCR, or is that it for the Playhouse version? 

I feel like I'm a bit off-tangent with this message even though it's about Fun Home. We should really make a regular Fun Home discussion thread. 

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:06pm

What is the Playhouse cast?

[firebolts]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:08pm

I meant the Public Theater! I don't know why I wrote Playhouse. For some reason, I can't edit any of my posts. 

[Fantod]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:09pm

PS Classics is super annoying about their Spotify and Amazon Prime music listings. They are never consistent with including them on either service, and remove albums seemingly at random from Spotify (i.e.: 110 in the Shade revival cast), but I think they took it off Spotify today because they are preparing for the Broadway Cast.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:10pm

When they announced the Broadway re-do they said the Off-Broadway recording was going to be discontinued.

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:12pm

"Saw the show last night and found it a pretentious and stultifying bore."

Absolutely. And worse.

Tony, I admire your taste and discernment, and more than both, your courage in coming here to tell things as they are. 

" I do hope that the best musical Tony goes to something more worthy like “American In Paris” or “Something Rotten”."

Would that it were possible! Alas, the stinker's victory was assured at its very first peformance the minute that child starting whining that ghastly, sickly paean to the delivery woman.

As I stated earlier, all the carefully aligned dominoes are falling exactly as planned, one by one. More of them will fall on Tony night, as our theatre falls like a tree felled by a woodchopper's axe.

Timberrrrrr......

[Fantod]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:14pm

"When they announced the Broadway re-do they said the Off-Broadway recording was going to be discontinued."

 

Makes sense. They did the same thing with the Grey Gardens recording I think.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:15pm

Not everything's for everybody.  You obviously have a REAL PROBLEM with Fun Home, A8.  I mean, that's a complete misread of the Ring of Keys song anyway.  What is it about that number that has freaked you OUT since you first saw it?  I'm sure being a big old queen who wears eye shadow means there must have been some point in your life when you recognized someone who was different and realized you were different like that person too, no?  That is all that song is about.  A common experience among people who grow up outsiders from the mainstream.  "Look at that person.  I'm like that person.  I'm not the only person in the world like this."

Funny how that just MAKES YOU CRAZY.

Oh, and Fantod, to answer where your head was when you listened to the score:  it was shoved up where it always is.

Updated On: 4/30/15 at 09:15 PM

[firebolts]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:16pm

PS Classics is very fickle - they (recently) removed 110 in the Shade as well as I Love You Because. Ridiculous. Oh, and I didn't hear about the Off-Broadway one being discontinued. I'm definitely glad that I purchased it last night. 

[jkstheatrescene]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:18pm

Wow, kdogg36!  You've arrived!  To be quoted by After Eight... I'm green with envy...

[firebolts]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:19pm

A8, you already talked sh*t about the show passionately on the POSITIVITY thread. We get it: you don't like the show. Just please don't highjack the thread about how this or that musical is better. This is a Fun Home thread. Go be negative elsewhere. 

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:22pm

He was DEEPLY disturbed by "Ring of Keys" and I am beginning to suspect he was abandoned in an orphanage by a woman who delivered bread for a living.  I would love to get to the bottom of his major issue.

[ABB2357]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:23pm

FYI, the off-Broadway recording is still available as an MP3 download from Amazon. At least as of right now...

[Fantod]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:23pm

After Eight, I'm not disregarding your opinions, but out of curiosity I did a back search on your thoughts on Fun Home and I think the first time you posted about it was in 2012. Have you considered the idea that possibly it's been so long since you've seen it that you exaggerated how bad you found it? I'm not saying that you won't find it equally bad the second time you see it, but there is the possibility that the production you saw was different than the one that is currently playing on Broadway and causing so many people to voice extremely positive opinions. 3 years can do a lot for a show. Just a thought; no disrespect intended.

[Fantod]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:24pm

"FYI, the off-Broadway recording is still available as an MP3 download from Amazon. At least as of right now..."

 And third party copies are available, and probably will continue to be for a long time.

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:29pm

Firebolts,

You're right.

This is a Fun Home thread. Not a Fun Home Love thread. Not a Fun Home-for-zealots-only thread. That means ANYONE can participate in the discussion, and that ALL views can be expressed --- not just some party line imposed by a group of pathetic dictator-wannabes.

Don't try to bully into silence those who disagree with you.

And we also get that you love this thing.

Has that stopped you from repeating it endlessly?

 

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:31pm

What is your issue with the scene that seems to have disturbed you on a primal level, A8?

[firebolts]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:35pm

A8, at least I'm not such a negative Nancy like you. Also, I never told you to not express your dislike for the show - just don't go off-topic about how other shows are better. I'm just going to ignore your posts; most of them raise my ire for some particular reason (hint: it's your negativity, which is glaring). Anyway. I'm done. 

[After Eight]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:39pm

"I'm just going to ignore your posts;"

Good. Very wise of you.

"Anyway. I'm done."

Good.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/30/15 at 9:41pm

Fantod, you are very trusting to believe A8 actually sees the things he knows he's going to hate.