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| Kate Shindle and Robert Petkoff photo by Joan Marcus |
Click here for more information on this production that runs through September 10th.
".Turning an illustrated graphic novel that deals with intense family drama, the coming out of the story's central lesbian character, and the suicide of her closeted gay father into a musical doesn't exactly seem like something theatrical producers would be jumping to throw their money at. Yet Fun Home, based on Alison Bechdel's 2006 autobiographical graphic memoir "Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic," won five 2015 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The national tour of the show comes to Tempe for a week-long run with a stellar cast and, while some of the emotional connection to the story and the characters may be lost in the larger venues this national tour plays, it is still an emotional journey filled with pathos, humor, heartbreak and joy....It is a thoughtful and intriguing memory play which begins with the 43-year-old Alison looking back at her life, specifically at two major events that happened within a short period of time...We also learn in the opening song that not only is Alison gay, but so was her father and that he killed himself. That sets up a mystery of sorts as Alison tries to determine if her coming out, which happened shortly before her father's suicide, had anything to do with her father's death. As Alison tries to piece together her memories, we see her at two impressionable ages. First there is 10-year-old Alison, who experiences many sweet and confusing times with her very demanding, perfection-focused father while struggling against the social norm of what a girl should be...Second, we see college freshman Alison's coming out as a lesbian...Lisa Kron's book is unflinchingly honest yet filled with plenty of humorous moments amongst the many serious events in Alison's life....it is a highly accessible work about coming of age while also coming to grips with the events and truths of your painful past. I only wish the ending had more of an emotional payoff, though that may have more to do with the tour playing in a theatre that seats a few thousand people where on Broadway it played in the intimate Circle in the Square Theatre ...Kron's lyrics are just as good as her book in how they take images and common items such as stop lights, rings of keys, and telephone wires to form emotional meaning and an urgency in the words that play off of Jeanine Tesori's soaring music compositions. Director Sam Gold beautifully blends together the three times periods of the piece and ensures his cast deliver nuanced and authentic portrayals. ...Kate Shindle plays the older Alison with a direct approach...There is only one time when Shindle comes in direct contact with the rest of the cast, the chilling "Telephone Wire" in which the older Alison steps back into time for the last conversation she had with her father, desperately trying to find some way to connect with him. Anyone who has ever had something important but difficult to say to someone they love will immediately identify with Kron's concise, descriptive lyrics and Shindle's emotionally rich performance of this beautiful song. Abby Corrigan is Medium Alison and she beautifully captures the excitement that comes from her discovery of her sexuality with her solo "Changing My Major,"...As Small Alison, Carly Gold is a knock out and utterly delightful....Her performance of "Ring of Keys,"....is a soaring, sensational and thrilling moment of beauty and self-discovery. Alison's father Bruce is portrayed as an intelligent but highly confused man. He has moments of self-loathing as well as ones filled with beauty and joy, and Robert Petkoff walks the fine line between the different sides of this troubled man...Though she is in the background for most of the show, Susan Moniz delivers a finely etched performance as Helen, Bruce's wife and Alison's mother. Her "Days and Days" solo... is stunning. From the end of the opening song, many of the moments of self-discovery the characters will have and the tragic ending that Bruce will encounter are already known. However, Gold's succinct direction, Kron's beautifully written book, Tesori's soaring score, and a superb cast make the journey of Fun Home one of discovery and full of hope and understanding for both the audience and the older Alison as she tries to learn the truths that formed the events of her past. " -Gil Benbrook, Talkin' Broadway (click here to read the complete review)
"There’s a moment near the beginning where everything you need to know about the musical Fun Home is revealed all at once. “My dad and I both grew up in the same small Pennsylvania town,” cartoonist Alison Bechdel (Kate Shindle) declares. “And he was gay. And I was gay. And he killed himself. And I became a lesbian cartoonist.” ...knowing this in advance doesn’t amount to plot-spoilers in the traditional sense. Neither does it take away the impact of oncoming surprises. ...it’s the piecing together of a puzzle, one that comes close to making a picture. In truth, that picture may remain somewhat ambiguous in the way you’re not entirely sure if what you’re looking at is fully formed, or that some pieces may still be missing (leaving you to ponder certain theories about the Bechdel family life once you leave the theatre) but it’s a picture all the same...Fun Home is told on three age levels. While the adult Alison, now in her early forties, reflects back on her childhood and her relationship with her gay father, Bruce (Robert Petkoff), we see her as a ten year-old (Carly Gold) enjoying life with her young brothers at their restored Victorian home, a Pennsylvanian funeral parlor, the fun home of the title, then as a teenager leaving the nest for college (Abby Corrigan). The age levels run parallel, often resulting with all three Alison’s on stage at the same time....When Alison’s mother, Helen (Susan Moniz) performs the powerful Days and Days, musically expressing the ravaged experience of an unfulfilled marriage, the heartbreak she feels as she sings, and we feel as we watch, is overwhelming. Like much of what you’ll see in this outstandingly staged and performed award-winning show, it’s a moment of musical theatre that may haunt for years to come, and Moniz delivers that moment superbly." -David Appleford, Valley Screen and Stage (click here to read the complete review)
"...many of the musicals I love best are of the more intimate variety....built at the scale of real human lives. Add to this list the remarkable “Fun Home,”..a coming-of-age story and a coming-out story that delves into (Alison) Bechdel’s identity as a lesbian and her complicated relationship with her father, a closeted gay man. The book is intellectual, intricate and meditative...But the heart of the story remains the same as an adult Alison looks back on a childhood that seemed innocent and happy and normal (whatever that means) but was actually fraught with secrets and dysfunction (whatever that means). ..a stellar cast led by Kate Shindle as the adult Alison, serving as narrator. In the tween role of Small Alison, Carly Gold (alternating with Jadyn Schwartz) delivers the soaring paean to butch style “Ring of Keys,” and Abby Corrigan is equally adorable as the nerdy college-age Medium Alison, who blossoms in one the best, most specific love songs in recent Broadway history, “Changing My Major” ...A heart-wrenching highlight is “Days and Days,” an explosion of pent-up resentment from Alison’s mother (Susan Moniz), while the biggest acting challenge goes to Robert Petkoff, who fearlessly essays the conflicted character of the persnickety patriarch, Bruce, without ever resorting to stereotypes....I can’t say how “Fun Home” looks from the balcony, but scenic designer David Zinn has given the production just enough visual pop to fill the proscenium stage. .... " - Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic (click here to read the complete review)
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