FUN HOME coming to Broadway?

I gotta say that The Public's FUN HOME is one of the best cast, written, sung musicals I have seen, period. I think it's really a play with music, but why hadn't I heard about it? It's closing soon, and such a powerful piece of theater deserves more people seeing it me thinks.

FUN HOME, about which I knew nothing when I walked in last week for Sunday matinee, was a revelation really on shame, blame, resilience and coming into life. It opens with a little girl singing alone, on stage, and I thought, "OH GOD, I'M GONNA HATE THIS..." and in ten minutes I was all in and never once disappointed.

Jeanine Tesoir + Lisa Kron have imagined a spectacularly human world in which celebrations and revelations occur. Brilliantly done!

Updated On: 10/20/13 at 11:15 AM

I am so excited to see this on November 7th. It extended through November 17th so it's not exactly closing soon, but perhaps it will be extended further. I wasn't going to see it because I couldn't get good seats but as soon as it extended, I was able to get second row. Is the theater really nice?

thanks for the code. it worked! got two for saturday.. wouldn't have known that.

I adore this show, but it doesn't belong on Broadway-not every show does.

Moving it would be such a big mistake. The audience is so limited for this-plus, it's a very intimate show and moving it to a big theater would be detrimental to its feel and what makes its impact so strong.

Also have to agree this show doesn't need to be on Broadway. It's just not a major commercial type of show.

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It's a new, prestige musical by two previous Tony nominees starring another beloved previous Tony nominee. By all accounts, it is terrific (I'm seeing it next week). And putting it on Broadway would make it all the more likely for a show to have a large life in regional theaters. I don't think Caroline, or Change would have had the post-Broadway life it has had if it wasn't on Broadway. Then there's something like Next to Normal. And Grey Gardens. Broadway is still an important imprimatur for shows of this nature.

BUYER AND CELLAR is a perfect example of a weirdly wonderful Off-Broadway play that transferred and has been a smash Off-Broadway commercially. LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, too. (Though probably more than BUYER AND CELLAR will be.) There is money to be made Off-Broadway. Perhaps not as much as on Broadway, but there's money. If FUN HOME were to transfer to a small, but commercial Off-B'way house, I could see it making some money and running a year to a year and half. I could be wrong. But it would likely suffer the same unfortunate fate as GG and CAROLINE on Broadway.

But Lincoln Center sends stuff to Broadway-the Public isn't sending their production of Antony and Cleopatra there I don't think. (Not yet anyway.)

I think they should definitely let it run at the Newman as long as it can. Then, where? Who knows! But, I'm sure it'll be great. (Just kind of hope they steer clear of Broadway. It'll get lost there and finding an audience will be tougher there with a much larger house.)

Alison Bechdel's graphic novel Fun Home is a masterpiece. Kron created Well, which is a masterpiece. Tesori co-created Caroline, or Change, a masterpiece. Fun Home, the musical, is a masterpiece. And it's actually a big show that they have mounted at the Public. Not a steam roller, not mega, but big with its ideas and scope. I really want it to make a splash and have a long life. It breaks ground in musical theater subject matter. Those of us who were out and active when Bechdel was publishing Dykes to Watch Out For already loved her before Fun Home, which really seemed to be the capstone that finally got her the recognition she always deserved. So this, this musical work of art, this accessible, multiple-layered creation, it is just so far beyond imaginable to those of us whose lives she was reflecting back in the old strips. Take it to Broadway if that's what it takes to thrive. I've seen plenty of solid little show that didn't "need" to be on Broadway. Fun Home is in a completely different league.

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Updated On: 10/22/13 at 11:57 PM

That's a silly statement. That's the kind of thinking that has all but killed commercial off-Broadway: that if it's not on Broadway, it's some sort of demerit.

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But there really isn't much of a commercial off-Broadway scene left. And my saying what I said isn't what killed it. The economics of off-Broadway is what killed it. BUYER AND CELLAR, which is a one-person show starring an actor that is known from a popular television show, cannot be compared to a nine-actor musical. It's not about demerit. It's about the reality that there is no longer a viable business model for off-Broadway musicals like this. And since this show has been compared to THE GLASS MENAGERIE in the only review that still matters, one has to wonder why it shouldn't be on Broadway. Namo has made a great case that the show is large in scope and emotional heft.

My entire artistic life has been in the off and indie worlds of NY theater. So, please believe me when I say I don't view it as some sort of marker of lesser quality. There just simply isn't an off-Broadway in NY that can support FUN HOME. That sucks...but that's the reality. I'm also someone that disagreed that shows like CAROLINE, OR CHANGE and GREY GARDENS shouldn't have made the move to Broadway. I think they added vital voices and ideas to the world of the commercial Broadway theater, and the pieces (through extended regional lives) and Broadway are better off for having them come.

^ True...I think Natasha, Pierre... might be the exception of a new musical finding a life off-Broadway. But it's an immersive event. FUN HOME is very much a traditional musical in the way it's presented. Plus...and this may sound petty, but it's not...if it plays off-Broadway, it has no chance for a Tony. No chance to have national exposure. And a show like this will do very well regionally if it has the Broadway 'stamp of approval.'

Please know that I'm not saying any of this is a good thing. It just is what it is.

True, but I think "Natasha" might be a reasonable model for this. I'm not quite sure Fun Home is being made to get a Tony-a Pulitzer maybe-which it can indeed do off-Broadway. Not everyone makes shows to get a Tony.