Fun Home Previews — Page 11

I'm so glad you loved it, Jordan! Sounds like your audience had the same reaction as did mine from last Sat night.

Can't wait to go again in a few weeks with my dd.

I'll be rooting for Sydney Lucas to get nomination as she's giving one if the most beautiful, present performances on stage right now - with no regard to age.

"Speaking of not in person, could anyone who saw this off-broadway describe the bit where (from what I understand) Joan comes into the house for the first time? I've heard it described as a coup de theatre but I have no idea what exactly they did, and I'm really curious."

From what I recall, after the brief scene with Joan and Medium Alison, the lights come up on an newly decorated house in its entirely. It's very ornate, with new wallpaper and all. and brighter than before. But maybe my memory is playing tricks on me.

Someone also can probably describe it better than I have.

Updated On: 4/4/15 at 08:04 PM

REALLY?!! That's cool.

I was tempted to stage door (if that's where you found out Jordan), but more and more I've been disgusted with stage door-ing. Like, does it really matter? I'd rather write a letter, and I am going to write Judy Kuhn a fan letter. That performance was too f*cking good. I saw my mother up there when she sang.

Best to be surprised with no expectations. That's how I walked into The Public when I first saw this piece. Enjoy!

"Best to be surprised with no expectations. That's how I walked into The Public when I first saw this piece. Enjoy!
"

Well, I have read the graphic novel it's based on. Hopefully that won't ruin it too much.

Keiichi2, from a theatrical standpoint, you will be enthralled and surprised.

Row A looked to be great. I sat in TDF seats this evening above the band in section 400. For this show, I would recommend sitting on either of the two long sides.

I was also at the show tonight, and much to my surprise there was some "audience participation." During the very tense and upsetting embalming scene, someone in my section threw up! I hope she's not planning on going to medical school, because she doesn't really seem cut out for it.

Updated On: 4/5/15 at 11:54 PM

It really isn't intense at all. Its more scary for the little girl seeing a body for the first time, I was practically right there doing the surgery with him and it isn't graphic at all.

I had heard murmurs of someone throwing up during the show when I was waiting for my friend afterwards.

"Speaking of not in person, could anyone who saw this off-broadway describe the bit where (from what I understand) Joan comes into the house for the first time? I've heard it described as a coup de theatre but I have no idea what exactly they did, and I'm really curious."

At the end of "Raincoat of Love" when Bruce is repeating "Everything's all right," a black curtain was pulled across the stage behind him so that the playing space was much smaller and you couldn't really see past the proscenium. The scenes in New York, the scene with Alison finding out about her father's past, and the other scenes leading up to when Joan goes home with Alison was played in front of the curtain. There were projections of boxes or frames projected onto the curtain, similar to the boxes that light around these scenes on the floor as play in the current staging.

Anyway, when Alison returns home with Joan, the curtain was pulled back across the stage to reveal a completely different set than what had been there before. What was once a bare brick wall with scattered "home" set pieces, was suddenly a full wallpapered wall with a large staircase, ornate bookcases, kitchen table, etc. It really was incredible.

The moment holds the same weight in the current staging, though, with the lamps, the lighting, the slow lifting of the set pieces.

Frankly I loved the show uptown (never saw it at the Public), but the reveal you all are talking about being so strong was a non-moment for me. I mean, we had seen all the furniture pieces in different combinations all night before then, the wallpaper was already up on the walls behind the orchestra. What big reveal WAS there uptown?

I was nervous seeing Fun Home last night on Broadway for the first time after seeing it several times as the Newman, kind of like having lunch with a college sweetheart 10 years later. But I loved it even more, with a few quibbles.

I think that the staging in the round definitely heightened and improved some aspects of the production, and Sam Gold did an amazing job with an almost-impossible task. If something is in the round, it's just logical to assume that you're going to be looking at actors' backs for part of the time. There's no way around it. That's why some aspects were better downtown, in my humble opinion.

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Improved on Broadway:

Welcome to Our House on Maple Avenue in the round establishes the house as a character in its own right, with the characters as its indentured servants, a theme continued throughout the show. (As other posters have noted.) The actors use the entire stage very well as they tidy up in increasing panic.

Come to the Fun Home was effective and fun in the round, with new choreography contributing greatly. Only one coffin, though, not two.

In the category of flat-out awesome, the staging for Raincoat of Love was very different from downtown and really worked. Several characters rise out of the middle of the stage while mist floods the entire area. The lighting definitely contributed to an ethereal and dreamlike quality. Very effective and fun.

The big winner in the restaging is Days and Days (with a minor detail detracting). Having Judy Kuhn up and about as she sings really increased the poignancy of the song. At the end, she and Middle Alison exchange looks that are devastating. And as Helen exits the stage, Alison continues to look at her, conveying so many emotions on her face. I could see this clearly from the 400 section, but other sections might not.

The Edges of the World: I think this one benefited from being in the round. The set pieces had been retracted into the floor, but the huge holes remained. As Michael Cerveris made his way around the stage, you're worried that he's going to fall in to one of them. This was another case where sitting in the 400 section was good. You see him from the back during the climactic event.

Better downtown:

I think Ring of Keys suffered in the translation. From my seat in the 400 section, I think I saw the back of the actress's head about three-quarters of the time. I'm guessing it's better from the other sections. Nothing could compare to the simple staging at the Newman, with Small Alison standing in the center of the stage, singing the song so beautifully. A revelation.

The reveal of the house. Uptown, Gold got as close as he could. The furniture rises up from the floor all at once and the chandeliers lower. The effect is enhanced by Joan's reaction of awe. But it's hard to compete downtown with the back wall of the Newman covered for the first time with the wallpaper that we had gotten a glimpse of in Bruce's hand earlier.

Neither better nor worse:

Changing My Major seemed about as effective as downtown.

Telephone Wire, which is I think my favorite song in the show, had some good aspects and some detriments. The staging is ingenious, with Alison and Bruce seated in the middle of the stage on an elevated platform that slowly revolves. You are seeing the backs of heads for part of the time, but your view is continually changing. I still prefer the staging at the Newman.

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I was happy that the audience seemed really into the show and was very responsive. Some jokes got a bigger laugh than I remember from downtown. The performances across the board are wonderful. I look forward to seeing this again at some point! If anyone is on the fence about this show, just do it and go!

Updated On: 4/5/15 at 10:56 AM

I saw this last night and thought it was great. I didn't get a chance to see it downtown, so this was my first experience with the show. I did read the book and I have to say that the show delivered more of an emotional punch for me - amazing what adding music will do And while the character of the father in the book came across to me as cold and sometimes cruel, the show (and Cerveris's amazing acting) make him much more of a real person. Just IMHO of course. I thought the music was gorgeous and Cerveris and Kuhn were wonderful, as was Sydney Lucas. Really the whole cast is great.

I had one question for those in the know: in "Telephone Wire," why does Alison sing it with her father instead of Middle Alison? Chronologically, it should be Middle Alison, but they switch. Is it to indicate that her father is finally starting to see her as an adult?

(For those of you interested in seating - I was in D110, which was on the short end opposite the orchestra - almost behind the door. The view was fine from there.)

There was a woman in my row with a little dachsund in her lap. The dog was perfectly quiet - must have been a therapy dog? Now, the woman in front of her, with the hacking cough, was another story...however, I'm grateful that at least no cell phones went off.