Fun Home Previews- Page 13

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 4/5/15 at 9:29pm

Sam Gold's work is particularly impressive given he restaged the show in the round for Broadway.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 4/5/15 at 9:35pm

Other than Leading Actress, I think this may sweep the Tonys.

[jv92]

Posted: 4/5/15 at 9:36pm

Yeah, I'm the world's biggest Kander and Ebb fan, but I think FUN HOME will win
Best Score, and maybe...should? But it's apple and oranges. Both shows are so different and good. 

 

 

[indytallguy]

Posted: 4/6/15 at 10:51am

Interesting article with a shot of the stage setting for those who want to get a feel for it: "Five Design Secrets of the Fun Home set on Broadway."

[mpd4165]

Posted: 4/6/15 at 12:41pm

That's a stunning stage picture. I need to plan a trip to this ASAP.

[wexy]

Posted: 4/6/15 at 1:28pm

Saw it yesterday. Wonderful show...Those young actors were amazing.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 4/6/15 at 1:53pm

Caught this last week and was totally in love with it. As some others have said, there really isn't a bad seat, but I was in the 400s behind the band and it offered a completely unobstructed view with some really stunning stage pictures. I would recommend sitting there. However, I made the mistake of drinking two happy hour beers beforehand and desperately had to pee right before "Days and Days" and the only way out of that section requires that you walk on stage, so I ended up having to sit in the opposite section of the theater for the last 20 minutes.

I saw this while it was at the Public last year and thought it was fine, but I blame that on merely okay staging and being zombie-level exhausted. Since then, I've fallen in love with both the graphic novel and the cast recording so I was very much looking forward to a repeat visit. I'm happy to report that any issues I had with staging have been completely eradicated. Sam Gold's in-the-round staging is a masterpiece of direction and his work with the actors has only deepened (though I will regret missing Judy Kuhn's "Days and Days" forever as it's my favorite song in the score). Michael Cerveris, Judy Kuhn, and Sydney Lucas are giving exceptional performances. "Edges of the World" and "Ring of Keys" are just a joy to experience live, for totally different reasons. I'm also happy that Big Alison is more integrated into the staging, making you hyper-aware of the "memory play" framing device without diminishing her as a character. She felt totally forgettable at the Public, in my opinion. My only qualm is that "Al for Short" has been cut. The book scene that precedes where it was does a fine job of establishing Alison's dislike for girl clothes, but the song had so much fun with her burgeoning masculinity. Ah, well. It lives on in recording, at least!

Anyway, this gets my vote for Best Musical by a longshot. A totally lovely, heartbreaking, illuminating evening of theatre. Bravo and thank you to Jeanine Tesori, Lisa Kron, Sam Gold, and - most importantly - Alison Bechdel for creating such a vital piece of American theatre.

 

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 4/6/15 at 3:59pm

Just so everyone knows at Saturday's matinee, usher where telling every one if you left to go to the bathroom you "Where Not " getting  back in to the theatre....

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/7/15 at 12:26am

This visual will help with all of your seating questions.

 

 

[Bilbo3]

Posted: 4/7/15 at 12:42am

Wow I didn't realize how small it was.

[ipit]

Posted: 4/7/15 at 12:45am

"So, is anyone going to the first preview of this Friday?

I'm particularly excited about seeing this. It will be the first show I see on my Spring theater trip on April 28th.

Looking forward to the reports!"

 saw it may it get the big T

[MorningGlow2]

Posted: 4/7/15 at 11:07am

The angle of the photo does make it seem a little smaller than it actually is. Or maybe that's just me. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/7/15 at 11:22am

Yeah that's a deceiving photo. It really makes The stage look so much smaller than it actually is.

[Plum]

Posted: 4/7/15 at 7:40pm

That photo doesn't show the doorway that sometimes pops up at the very front of the stage. I was sitting in the 100s on Saturday and my view was slightly blocked while it was up, but it didn't really interfere with my enjoyment of the show, which was just tremendous.

And Circle in the Square is pretty small, no? But the staging never felt cramped to me; it was all done very fluidly.

Updated On: 4/7/15 at 07:40 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/7/15 at 7:49pm

Quick question - in "Days and Days" when Helen tells Allison "don't you come back here..." is she telling her daughter to never return home? 

[kdogg36]

Posted: 4/7/15 at 8:05pm

That's what I took away from it. Not in the sense that she wasn't welcome there, but that Allison's mother didn't want family business to destroy her like it did her parents.

[TheFoozle]

Posted: 4/7/15 at 8:40pm

Jordan - While that is what Helen is saying, I don't take it as a threat or a disownment of her daughter. It feels more like a wishful command. For me, the next line comes into play as well: "I didn't raise you / to give away your days like me." 

In my reading, Helen is telling Alison that she needs to go find her own life rather than become another thing her father can control - how Helen feels her life has gone.

Updated On: 4/7/15 at 08:40 PM

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 4/7/15 at 8:48pm

Yeah, it's definitely not "don't physically come back here", it's more like "go have a life, don't come back to what this family is".

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 4/7/15 at 9:35pm

I usually don't post after the work day ends, but this show has unsettled me in a way it didn't downtown.  I've been listening to the recording on every commute...to the point I forced myself to listen to City of Angels on the way home tonight just so I don't burn out too quickly.

The particular moment Jordan asked about is one of the best marriages of lyrics and music I've ever encountered:

Don't you come back here.
I didn't raise you...
(rest)
To give away your days...
Like me.

You at first think she's telling her lesbian daughter not to come home anymore because of, well, her lesbianism.  The rest into that final line makes the audience lean in closer to hear if that what really is about to happen.  And then...no.  She's warning her not to become wrapped up in Bruce's vampirish existence, which, in a way, Alison still does.  It's also fascinating discovering that Alison has been admonishing herself for not being there and paying attention, never realizing that her mother was the one to tell her not to become involved.  It's why this musical play really exists in the same sphere as Long Day's Journey, Death of a Salesman and The Glass Menagerie.  Like those other plays, it uses a deeply troubled family to explore issues greater than just what is happening in that family.  

Updated On: 4/7/15 at 09:35 PM

[macnyc]

Posted: 4/7/15 at 9:45pm

Well said!

[Annetteiago]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 3:59am

"So, is anyone going to the first preview of this Friday?

I'm particularly excited about seeing this. It will be the first show I see on my Spring theater trip on April 28th.

Looking forward to the reports!"

 

 

I just wonder if this is too small of a show to win  the tony. I just cannot see producers putting such a small show in the 2000 seat theatres.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 5:37am

Meh--they did with Once...

[Annetteiago]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 5:40am

"Meh--they did with Once..."

 yes but that was because everything else was crap.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 8:01am

None of the other new musicals are considered successful.   You could say that everything else this year is crap too.

The Visit looks good and I've always loved the score, but it has the same problem as Fun Home.  It's not a commercial show.

I think that Fun Home is sure to win.

[tazber]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 8:03am

Something Rotten will be giving it a run for its money.