FUN HOME- previews- Page 3

[mee.who]

Posted: 10/4/13 at 11:59am

I did wonder, during the first 15 minutes or so, if I would enjoy this show more if it wasn't a musical, but they won me over on the musical aspect by the time they hit the children's Fun Home commercial scene, and I was entirely on board after that.

I wasn't familiar with the novel going in, and I thought that it actually was a bit ambiguous as to whether or not Bruce intended to commit suicide. Alison spoke of him as though he did, definitely, but the scene with Bruce's big number at the house left me questioning (perhaps there was something in the lyrics that I missed though. Good reason to go back, I suppose! Not that I need more reasons to go back; I loved the show.)





Updated On: 10/4/13 at 11:59 AM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 10/4/13 at 1:27pm

Yeah, I thought his big song at the end left a little to be desired, but I also didn't realize the heft of the song at the time.


And I student rushed around 4pm for $25. The show looked pretty sold-out from where I was.

[dave1606]

Posted: 10/4/13 at 2:01pm

I saw this last night and am still thinking of it. The score really grabbed me. Lots of soaring melodies and I LOVED the orchestrations. As already said the cast is uniformly excellent with all of the kids and Alexandra Socha getting special mention.

After spending three hours watching a turntable set turn around for no good reason in A Time To Kill, it was nice to see one used effectively here.

The show reminds me a bit of Next To Normal, dark, daring and exciting theater. I wish there was a place on Broadway for it, but I think it is a perfect fit at the public. Don't miss this one.

[Kad]

Posted: 10/4/13 at 2:09pm

I have a feeling this will eventually be a hard ticket to get once word spreads.

[SayitSomehow]

Posted: 10/4/13 at 3:33pm

@macnyc yeah you're totally right about that last scene - that's when the knockout punch was delivered for the character

I think I maybe just felt sorry for the actress who had to stand and watch everybody deliver these great scenes while she hunched over a drawing table haha. Oh well - it's not even a critique. The piece is spectacular.

[darquegk]

Posted: 10/7/13 at 1:37pm

Having just read this for my final semester of my MA, I'm deeply curious as to how this musical will do.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 10/7/13 at 5:01pm

I just started reading the book last night and I'm already in love with it. I missed the lab production last year, and I got a student ticket (one of two singles left for this Thursday) last week and I can't wait to see it.

[mrkringas]

Posted: 10/7/13 at 6:09pm

Great show. Wonderful score. Left me in tears for much of the afternoon. Also laughed a lot.

Is this the first time the story of a gay woman has been told in a musical as the protagonist?

Also loved Judy Kuhn's number near the end. Great writing with all the anger and rage in her lower, belt range before slipping back in the public mask and composing herself back into the upper range we hear earlier in the score.

[ahhrealmonsters]

Posted: 10/7/13 at 6:16pm

"Is this the first time the story of a gay woman has been told in a musical as the protagonist?"

The first time Off-Broadway. There are a few small, experimental-ish musicals with lesbian protagonists (like "Lesbian Love Octagon"), but this is the first "major" musical with a lesbian protagonist.

[mamaleh]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 12:12pm

I general-rushed the show at the Sunday matinee ($20 and well worth it) and enjoyed every minute. The songs served the story well, although I'm still not quite sure whether Michael Cerveris' final number--sung beautifully, of course--served as adequate explanation for his desperate act. I never read the graphic novel. The show more than hinted as the dad's engaging in some nasty (and illegal) behavior; was that explored at greater detail in the book?

SPOILER QUESTION:
Did the Colette book imply that the Dad knew something his daughter did not yet know? Or was it simply closer to his own psyche? I discussed this with someone post-show, and we had opposite views.

[darquegk]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 12:16pm

SPOILERS:

The Colette book, and the father's illicit behavior, are especially ambiguous in the book. Alison constantly questions whether or not the father had some idea what he was doing when he gave his nascent lesbian daughter a Colette book, or whether it merely spoke to him. Similarly, when Alison finds out about her father's dalliances with teenage boys, and even finds borderline pornographic photos of her former babysitter, she questions her response- she doesn't feel the level of outrage that she would feel if they were teenage girls, and isn't sure why she is sympathetic despite her father's pedophilia/ephebophilia.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 12:17pm

In the book, when Alison asks if he knew what he was doing by giving her the Colette book, he admits that there was "some kind of...identification." So I think it came from him knowing.

LOVED the show by the way. Agree that Bruce's final number could be a little sharper, but I would generally call it the most exciting new American musical I've seen in four or five years.

[mamaleh]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 12:35pm

Thanks; that does shed a little more light.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 2:08pm

Agreed. Wish they could partner with Roundabout or some Broadway non-profit so it could get some major attention, but I don't think it has commercial appeal at all, but it's really wonderful, and I think gay/straight/lesbian or not everyone can identify with it. It's such a gorgeous show and so interesting and layered. I can't stop talking about it and raving about it.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 2:21pm

Cannot wait to see this next week!

[macnyc]

Posted: 10/10/13 at 12:24pm

I just ponied up the money (using a discount code) to see Fun Home again! I will be interested to see if any major changes have been made since last time (October 1), although tell you the truth, I didn't notice anything glaring that needed to be fixed.

Also, I have a question: The three children in the cast seem to be doing all the performances. Isn't that unusual? I mean, we had three Billy Elliots and four Matildas. But only one small Alison? Also, I didn't see any understudies listed. What happens if Sydney Lucas gets the sniffles one day?

Please, keep that kid off public transportation!




Updated On: 10/10/13 at 12:24 PM

[dreaming]

Posted: 10/10/13 at 12:44pm

Mac-They put changes in as of yesterday. (I was there Sunday night and at the talk back they said the cast would get the re-writes on Tues. and that they'd be implemented on Wed.)

[macnyc]

Posted: 10/10/13 at 2:24pm

Thanks, dreaming! I don't know if I will notice the changes or not, but I'll be paying attention!

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 10/10/13 at 3:00pm

I haven't heard such great word-of-mouth for a show in a long time. Based upon this thread, I got tickets for Saturday. Really looking forward to it!

[macnyc]

Posted: 10/10/13 at 3:03pm

Play, did you just buy tickets from the Public's website, or did you go to the box office? I bought my tickets online, and didn't see an option to choose from a seating chart.

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 10/10/13 at 3:11pm

I'm a young partner and booked tickets over the phone. I don't believe the Public allows you to chose your tickets (but on the upside, isn't the annoying POS page that Telecharge has become).

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 10/10/13 at 4:54pm

Saw The Public tweeted this and thought it was interesting – Bechdel’s reaction to the show:
http://dykestowatchoutfor.com/fun-home-the-musical-is-really-really-good

[jv92]

Posted: 10/10/13 at 6:27pm

I'm going on Saturday after hearing the great buzz here and on ATC. I think I respect Tesori's work more than I love it, but nonetheless, I'm excited to see it. Michael Cerveris and Judy Kuhn are plusses, too.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 10/10/13 at 6:52pm

I really don't think there's a bad seat in that theater. No partial view madness or anything.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 10/11/13 at 12:44pm

I saw the show last night but couldn't really write about it until now because it would have just been "OMG SEE THIS SHOW RIGHT NOW!!!" over and over. The sentiment remains true but now I can elucidate a little more.

I can safely say this is one of the best shows I've ever seen. Never have I been more emotionally invested in a story from the beginning to the bitter end. While I wish this show was longer than 100 minutes I don't know if I could have taken much more without breaking down. There were songs where I was dying of laughter (the Fun Home commercial, the Partridge Family sequence), sobbing (Judy Kuhn and Michael Cerveris' numbers) and both (Changing My Major to Joan, the delivery woman song).

The acting is across the board fantastic. As Whizzer said, every person in the cast deserves their own paragraph of heaping praise. Most of the time I find child stage actors to be too precious and twee but these kids were acting far above their ages. Small Alison gives a performance that you would expect from a 30-something because she understands all the nuances in the character. The delivery woman song was actually the highlight of the show for me (followed ever so closely by the Fun Home commercial). For a girl to act the emotion behind that song without having lived through it is actually mind-blowing.

Sadly I didn't get to see the lab production so I can't comment on anyone except Michael Cerveris who I thought did a fantastic job. I haven't really enjoyed anything he's done since SWEENEY TODD but he really delivered here. People seem to love Judy Kuhn who I've only seen in PASSION prior to this. At first I was wondering why she was in this role because it's kind of a throwaway but then her 11 o'clock number was phenomenal.

I thought the set was great and you would probably have a great view from any seat in the house. Great use of the turntable. The one thing I didn't really like were the boxes/lines drawn on the black curtain during the set change. It didn't really add anything and seemed like "hey this is a graphic novel so let's do cartoony stuff."

Obviously I highly recommend the show. I can't wait to go back and think I should rush the show before reviews come out because this will be a hot ticket.

Side Note: Does anyone know if you are limited to one student ticket per show? I know they put your info into the computer when you purchase the ticket but not sure if they keep track.