"Fun Home" is not like any other musical that I have ever
experienced. It’s not a musical where: “boy meets girl, boy falls in love with
girl, and they sing catchy show tunes
that reverberate in your head for days”.
After this show, it was not the songs that played in my head, but the characters’ pain and joy expressed through the music. One
character (Alison) soars after she
openly comes to terms with the
fact that she is a lesbian, while her father (Bruce) self destructs from a life of
hiding that he is gay. This musical tackles real life family
issues and is emotionally powerful entertainment.
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| Alison as adult, college student, and child |
Reflection
The musical is based on Alison Bechdal's graphic novel , which is a memoir of her childhood in rural Pennsylvania. Alison, a lesbian cartoonist, looks
back on her childhood, oftentimes with humor, as she tries to make sense of her father’s suicide. We see
Alison as a child, college student, and an adult. The show opens with young Alison asking her
dad to play with her in the song, “"It All Comes Back to Me". They play airplane as she balances on his feet being launched in the air. Early on you can feel the special bond between them.
Bruce is a
high school English teacher/funeral director. His emotional outlet is the historical restoration of their museum- like home. Alison and her two brothers seem to have had a fun childhood. They call their funeral
home, “Fun Home” as they play
like typical kids and make an imaginary commercial for the business when performing, “Come to the Fun Home”.
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| Alison and her brothers singing "Come to the Fun House " |
The play gives the audience a positive perspective
of self - discovery. You feel Alison’s childhood
excitement when she identifies with an “old school butch” woman as she sings, “Ring of Keys". She energetically remembers, “your swagger, your bearing, the
just right clothes you're wearing, your short hair, your dungarees, your lace up
boots and oh..your ring of keys.” You
also feel Alison's revelation during her humorous first time sexual experience with a woman in college.
In contrast, throughout
the play Bruce struggles to
hide his sexuality. He has creepy interactions
with young boys and sneaks out at night
in NYC to meet men. His wife knows and you wonder why
they stayed together. She sings about how regretfully life's tasks kept her occupied in the song “Days and Days”.
This play is
emotional. The characters and the music
draw you closer to them. You hardly realize that the 90 minutes passed without an intermission. Fun Home produces emotional understanding of how isolating it must be to live a lie and and how freeing it is to soar with the truth.
("Fun Home" runs from
April 11 through April 16 at Heinz Hall as part of the PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh Series by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust )
Other Sources
Fun Home (musical) tickets https://trustarts.org/production/48834/fun-home
Fun Home (novel) https://readgraphicnovels.blogspot.com/2016/09/index-1.html
It All Comes Back (Opening) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_By5lu9YiQE
Fun Home (novel) https://readgraphicnovels.blogspot.com/2016/09/index-1.html
It All Comes Back (Opening) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_By5lu9YiQE
Days and Days https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLyQxfG9ktQ
Fun House Sound Track https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK-FJRtB7SY&index=6&list=PLsGw3wo0ypeQ_XU-9pS5wkPSlk0XKX72T
