FUN HOME- previews — Page 5

I've often respected Tesori's work more than I've really LOVED it-- even CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, which really is quite exquisite despite my minor misgivings. But I sort of REALLY LOVED this piece. I say "sort of" because I have like...two?...minor quibbles. But other than that, this is a bold, imaginative and affecting musical. Much credit must go to Lisa Kron who proves herself an adept lyricist and a marvelous book-writer. The "disjointed-ness" non-linearity (although not disjointed in the sense that it made no sense) worked for me and kept me constantly surprised and alert. All of the performances are terrific. The staging is marvelous and uses the turntable very effectively.

And I totally 100% agree that "Changing My Major to Joan" is a dazzling song. The mother's "Days" song was also quite profound. The car ride/"Say Something" number was also brilliant and utterly moving. I suppose my BIGGEST misgiving was the charming, but utterly wrong (for me) commercial number. It was cute and funny and those kids are delightful. But I didn't get it. It didn't feel organic. Maybe I'm missing something? However, I thought the full company 70s sendup before Bruce takes the kids to New York was MUCH MORE effective and right for the piece.

My more MINOR misgiving was that I felt the show had too many endings. And maybe if I see it again (which I might...I really hope to) I'll feel differently, but the father's big final song, while gloriously performed and well written, felt...I don't know. I think the ending could be simplified. Certainly not emotionally, and I don't mean clear-cut. But something about the end didn't quite gel for me.

But I thought it was wonderful, and I don't know if, of the leading players, I can pick out a standout performance. Each lady playing Alison was great. Kuhn and Cerveris, as always, were marvelous. Highly recommended!

Yeah. That line is of huge importance in the story, as it is one of the major clues in the mystery of whether or not Bruce knew his daughter was gay, and whether or not this played a part in his death.

After listening to the music again (*cough*), I really do think this score is Tesori's best since Caroline, and it has made me appreciate Shrek more, in a way. The bridge between the slightly folksy and the powerfully theatrical that a few songs in Shrek, particularly the ballads, touched on has been developed beautifully here. Honestly, I would like to see Brian D'Arcy James as Bruce if this transfers and the role is recast.

jv92, I see what you are saying about the Fun Home "commercial" number...it certainly is a bit jarring in the context of the piece. But I think I liked it, besides it just being a very cute/catchy song, because I felt like the pastiche made sense as the kind of music the kids would have heard at that time. Since the premise is them playing at imitating media, I liked that. Very Jackson 5, of course. And just the dissonance of that peppiness with what they are actually singing about is interesting. That innocence/ignorance makes the scene immediately after (in which Bruce asks Alison into the room with the corpse) all the more chilling.

I think it shows how normal these utterly strange circumstances were to the kids, an idea underlined in the production when the House set is made literal in the second act. As though coming home from living away for the first time, Alison was able to see her childhood as it really was.

But I agree that the second big, bouncy pastiche song (I thought it MUST have been a real period song from TV the first time I heard it!) flows better dramatically with its build-up. Really haunting in a way.

Updated On: 10/12/13 at 08:41 PM

I kind of missed that Wednesday Addams bit as well.

Check your PMs :)

I don't know Violet, but I've seen Caroline, Or Change and Shrek, and I've always been impressed with Jeanine Tesori's work. (I'm one of the few who really liked Shrek.) Lisa Kron does a great job balancing the three Alisons (among other things she does right with this show), and I always love a female writing team. Any idea if there are plans for a cast recording? I'd love to be able to hear these songs again and again. I really hope this show gets a recording and recorded for TOFT at Lincoln Center. There's so much life in this show. I hope people remember it.

I'm not nearly as enthusiastic about this show as most folks. I liked it. But it needs a lot of work. Self-conscious poignancy on its sleeve sometimes gives way to real emotional vibrancy. The freshness that occasionally breaks through comes from resonant material that is new and ripe: the intergenerational conflict between a gay parent and child, the parent adapted for conformity, the child facing a new world of acceptance. This is strong, resonant stuff and when the show hits those marks, it sometimes reaches something we have very little of in musical dramas these days, greatness. But too often it loses track and gets bogged down in hackneyed psychology and uber dramatics with comic irony re: family dysfunction which would have seemed old-fashioned 25 years ago.

Best of all are the three Alisons. Worst of all is the underwritten role of the mother.

The score has some very fine moments - the car scene, the song about the butch woman with the keys are terrific moments with real emotional life - and others which are not nearly in their league, some of which are obvious attempts at pleasing the audience:
I'm in the minority here, obviously, but, as just one example of the latter, the cutesy number with the coffins was embarrassing.

Updated On: 10/13/13 at 09:51 AM

I'm very much looking forward to seeing this this afternoon!

Does the show have many comic elements?

Ok
Is the show funny?

No, it's not funny at all jbm2. I laughed more at PASSION. Stay far away and go see KINKY BOOTS instead

I saw the show again today and decided to try to write down the songs. The titles are just approximations, obviously! Plus, I was writing in the dark.

"Linen" sung by Bruce and Alison

"I Wanna Play Airplane" sung by Small Alison

"He Wants/Welcome to Our House on Maple Avenue" initially sung by Helen, then the three children join in. This is performed while getting the house ready for the visit by the historical society woman.

"Come to the Fun Home (Fun Home Commercial)" sung by the three children; has a vintage Jackson 5 sound and look

"Me and Him" sung by Bruce and Roy

"Al for Short" sung by Small Alison (my notes say: "I don't know what it is about you, but you make me feel so safe." I think I have matched up the title and the lyrics correctly, but if not, let me know)

"Changing My Major to Joan" sung by Medium Alison

"Map Song" sung by Alison

"Everything's All Right When We're Together" sung by entire cast. (This is the Cowsills-like number). Lyrics include: You are like a raincoat/made out of love

"Ring of Keys" sung by Small Alison (in the diner with her father). Lyrics include: Your swagger/and your bearing/ and the just-right clothes you're wearing

"Days and Days and Days" sung by Helen (sitting at table with Medium Alison)

"Heart and Soul" (with new lyrics about literary figures) sung by Bruce and Medium Alison at the piano

"Say Something/Norris Jones" sung by Alison and Bruce (sitting in car)

Bruce's song about the house (sorry, wrote one line on top of the other and can't make out my notes!)

Reprise: "I Want to Be an Airplane" sung by all three Alisons

If anyone can help fill in the blanks, that would be great.

Edited to add: Thanks to Ahhrealmonsters for "Al for Short" information!

Updated On: 10/14/13 at 05:31 PM

Absolutely stunning. Tesori's work is wonderfully melodic, and Kron's lyrics are masterful. I was so moved. You know how you feel where there is a "Dreamgirls" moment like And I'm Telling You? This show has FOUR of those songs. It is whackadoo terrific.

^^^ That's great news!