Fun Home to Open at Circle in the Square on April 22nd — Page 4

Michael Kras-From your post to the voters' ballots! It deserves book and score (and I think musical-and I'd like nothing better than to see it walk away with at least those three awards. I suspect Sam Gold will be in the running for director as well.)

And give Lisa Kron credit-she wrote the lyrics and the book. Were she to win for book and co-win for score she would become the first woman to ever take BOTH book and score.

Updated On: 8/8/14 at 01:58 PM

I bet they'll do a medley of a pared down version of "Welcome to Our House At Maple Avenue" into "Come to the Fun Home". (I think a big plus of that is the diversity of the score will be apparent and showing the family with the first song is probably a smart idea.)

"Jeanine Tesori is winning the Tony. These are not assumptions, they are facts."

Unfortunately, they are not facts.

Coming in as the presumed frontrunner has its disadvantages- as does coming in late in the season.

There is time for for the inevitable backlash to form against the initially praised material- as happens to nearly everything that is highly praised. The backlash may be "it's overrated." It may be "it's not commercial." But there'll be backlash.

There is time for the rather fickle nomination and voting bodies to become enamored with something new that pops up between now and April.

There is even the chance that it simply doesn't play as well as it did Off-Broadway for any number of reasons.

But it winning is not a fact.

---

It's absolutely a frontrunner for awards... but, it's August. Saying that it will win any Tonys is a fact is beyond premature.

---

In regards to the Tony for score, there are handful of new musicals opening this year. Jason Robert Brown, fresh off of his double Tony win, has a new show opening this winter. It would be nice to *finally* see fresh, new pieces with credible teams bringing excellent work to the stage this year.

From what I understand, it is extremely unlikely that Alexandra Socha would return with this production.

---

I saw an interesting comment on twitter, saying that with FUN HOME transferring Jeanine Tesori will stake her claim as the most important female composer in Broadway history.

I never got to see FUN HOME at the Public (damn you all for selling it out before I could get my schedule to work for it!) so I'm thrilled to have a second chance to experience it. Though, I'd be excited enough if only for telling the story of a voice not often heard on Broadway (also why I'm excited for DISGRACED to come back this year, too.)

Here's to continuing to open the Great White Way to the marginalized experiences in America. And here's to those voices creating the great works of art we all should share. I hope to love FUN HOME as much as so many of you do!

---

This is so exciting. I was sad I didn't get a ticket to the Public showing but this will make up for it! It's a long way off but I'm going to get the cast recording soon to hold me over. I know the Broadway version is going to be great!

Remember, everyone: Shows like Wicked & Matilda were supposed to be the front runner until other shows shocked everyone at the Tonys or came out of nowhere and blew a sneak attack at them at the last second. Plus, it's possible that voters may not get the hype for FH and vote another show like "Neverland" for Best Musical. So, yeah you can have fun with the guesses, but let's just see what happens :)

I might just tell people to look at NEXT TO NORMAL, which actually won the Pulitzer and was a far better show than FUN HOME, but still lost to the colossal train wreck that was BILLY ELLIOT, so this year could be a tossup.

---

^Oh, yes. That would be good too. If the producers are really bold, maybe even "Changing My Major".

Days and Days might be way too somber for the Tonys. Not saying all performances need to be bright and shiny, but it could tune people right out... Especially without the rest of the journey of the show to lead up to it. It won't have nearly the same impact. I think Changing My Major, Ring of Keys, or Come to the Fun Home would be ideal.

I'm in the camp that thinks Fun Home is AS GOOD as next to normal. It's more meaningful for me personally.

A huge theme of the show is self-discovery ("Ring of Keys," "Changing My Major" and even the mom discovering who she is and what she needs to do in "Days and Days"). It is also about a family (and I still argue this is the theme that should be played upon for audiences. Depending who they cast as Middle Alison I could imagine them working that finale in there (I'd actually open with the three Alisons doing the "Daddy...." sequence and then do a snippet of "Welcome to Our House on Maple Avenue" and into "Come to the Fun Home"-this all depends how long they get, too.") I think they're likely to do more upbeat songs (for all the detractors of "Welcome to Our House..." it's pretty catchy...and I think showcasing the three children in "Come to the Fun Home" is likely.)