Caption: A decade has passed since the Bechdels welcomed Broadway audiences to their house on Maple Avenue. When Fun Home, the musical adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir, opened at Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre on April 19, 2015, it began a journey filled with making history, breaking barriers, and capturing the hearts of many fans.
Or, perhaps more accurately, it was continuing its journey. The Sam Gold–directed musical had already gained fans during its 2013 run Off-Broadway at the Public Theater, which extended several times, won an abundance of awards, and was selected as a 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist.
With music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by Lisa Kron, the pair brought Bechdel’s coming-of-age story from page to stage, exploring Bechdel’s relationship with her closeted gay father and her own lesbian identity spanning from her childhood to adulthood. Penning songs like “Ring of Keys,” “Changing My Major,” and “Telephone Wire,” Kron and Tesori crafted a score that became beloved by audiences and showcased the talents of each actor portraying Bechdel: Sydney Lucas as Small Alison, Emily Skeggs as Medium Alison, and Beth Malone as Alison — with all three actors receiving individual Tony Award nominations.
Fun Home won five of its 12 Tony nominations, including Best Musical. Kron and Tesori won for Best Original Score, making them the first all-female team to win a Tony Award for the category. The musical also marked a milestone for representation, featuring one of the first lesbian protagonists in a Broadway musical. As detailed in this 2023 Broadway Direct retrospective, lesbian representation on Broadway has been uneven and problematic, with lesbian characters often being relegated to stereotypes and one-dimensional jokes. Contemporary shows like Fun Home, Indecent, and The Prom have attempted to address the imbalance of representation and offer multidimensional lesbian characters.
Beyond the representation, the universal story of parent-child relationships seemed to resonate with audiences. It ran for 582 performances before heading out on a national tour and receiving several international productions.
To celebrate its 10th anniversary, we asked Fun Home’s original Broadway cast to share their memories of their experience.
“Many of us have gone on to wonderful projects, but I know for all of us, there will never be anything like Fun Home. It was just incredibly special.” – Beth Malone (Alison)
“My time at the fun home was a once-in-a-lifetime encounter. It is a touchstone in my life that I go back to often when I think of bravery, camaraderie, family, and love. Being a part of the show brought to light some hidden truths from within my family, the processing of which continues to heal us to this day. I still can’t quite comprehend the magnitude of it—it’s sort of like a big ball of yarn slowly unfurling. First, just a thread, the audition; then the Public [Theater]; Broadway; South Carolina; the Tonys; Orlando; each milestone rolling out to meet us. I thought we’d found the end when we closed on Broadway, but it keeps unfurling, I don’t think there is an end. I feel such gratitude to have been there in that moment in time with all of those beautiful people. I’ve never felt more like Emily at the end of Our Town, but thankfully I’m still here, to bear witness to the magnitude of this show as it continues to unfurl around us.” – Emily Skeggs, Medium Alison
“It’s impossible to express in one or two sentences the extraordinary experience that Fun Home was or the huge impact the show had on me personally and as an artist. The show was a piece of art, but it also was a profound and important story to tell that I believe changed lives.
“Some memories: doing a performance the day marriage equality became the law of the land; doing the show for several UN ambassadors, some of whom represented very oppressive governments (invited by then U.S. ambassador Samantha Power), and seeing how deeply they were affected by it; traveling down to the College of Charleston and doing a presentation of the show for students and faculty after the state legislature denied the college funds when they offered the novel as a common read for freshmen; going to Orlando to do a concert version of the show after the horrific Pulse nightclub massacre. I could go on about all these incredible experiences, but mostly I remember all the conversations we had with audience members after the show whose lives it impacted. I will never forget any of it and will always be grateful to have gone on this journey with this extraordinary cast and creative team. I can’t believe it has been 10 years!” – Judy Kuhn (Helen)
“Being part of creating Fun Home will always be among my proudest achievements. Not just because of the creative and critical success it became, and not for the awards and accolades that ultimately came with it. What I carry with me most are the deep and lasting bonds we made with each other and with our audiences.
“Telling Alison’s story of self-discovery and radical acceptance was a profound thing and came with a real feeling of responsibility. And as the show found its way out into the world, the sense of responsibility only grew. Fun Home arrived at a moment when it felt like our society had turned a corner and we were riding a wave of enlightenment and progressive compassion that was remaking our country and the world in a profoundly good way. Marriage equality became law during the run, Stonewall became a National Historical Landmark, and we seemed on the verge of electing the first female president. That Fun Home’s closing was so quickly followed by the start of America’s darkest chapters in living memory makes it all the more meaningful.
“For that reason, some of my most cherished memories of the whole experience are the times we took Fun Home beyond the New York stage and directly into the world. In 2014, we traveled to the College of Charleston to stand in solidarity with that community when regressive South Carolina politicians used Alison‘s book as an excuse to defund education. In 2016, on a Monday night near the end of our run, we organized a benefit performance in Florida and gave a concert version of the show, trying to put our arms around the Orlando community that was so horrifically attacked by the Pulse nightclub murders.
“It was a rare privilege to see the world changing in the faces we greeted every night at the Fun Home stage door. If there’s any hope to be had these days, it’s in the thought that there were seeds planted in those audiences that no amount of reactionary hatred can keep from blooming.” – Michael Cerveris (Bruce)
“People used to ask a lot how we did it, how we dove headfirst into the depths of despair and utter grief eight times a week. The answer was always ‘We have to find the joy.’ It wasn’t hard with such an incredible group of people. Artists who became friends, who became family.
“‘Days and Days’ was the song that gutted me every. single. time. It still does. I used to watch Judy [Kuhn] through the curtain every show and dry up my tears before Michael [Ceveris] and I made our entrance. The scene that immediately followed was one where Bruce is manically trying to impress Joan by the piano, and I can’t remember what it was, but something happened backstage right before we entered that had us absolutely dying of laughter. We couldn’t stop laughing, so we just let it be part of the scene. We didn’t even attempt to tamper with it, we just let ourselves laugh and laugh to the point of tears. It was cathartic to cry and then laugh and then cry again.
“And I thought, ‘Man, what a gift that I get to do both every. single. day.’ After the show, even 10 years later, people say the same thing — how they laughed and cried. How they discovered their own secrets.” – Roberta Colindrez (Joan)
“It was an absolute honor to be a part of Fun Home’s development at the Sundance Theater Lab and its subsequent run at The Public. It helped me come into my own as an artist and as a person. Fun Home was my Broadway debut and it, frankly, messed me up! It was a piece of theater that was entertaining, provocative, tender, and culturally impactful. Why aren’t all new musicals like this!?” – Joél Pérez (Roy, Mark, Pete, and Bobby Jeremy)
“There are so many things to say about the experience and impact of Fun Home’s run on Broadway, but I guess thing I’d like most to share here is that the show was made by a rigorous and joyful theatrical collaboration, with everyone — the creative team, designers, actors, musicians, producers, crew, management, PR — bringing their deepest love of theater, their deepest craft, and their most dedicated and open-hearted selves to our truly collective endeavor.” – Lisa Kron (book and lyrics)
“There are so many great memories, but what I carry away most powerfully is twofold.
“Throughout the entire challenging development process — readings, Public Theater lab, Public Theater Off-Broadway, Broadway in the round — Lisa [Kron], Jeanine [Tesori], and Sam [Gold] never settled, never stopped asking, with great humanity and joy, the toughest of tough questions of their and everyone else’s work. They never stopped as they created the show’s unorthodox form that gave it so much power and beauty. They were pioneers.
“Second, Fun Home had an enchanting, powerful impact on everyone who joined ‘the family.’ Musicals start in small rooms with four or five people. Then it’s 10 to 12, then it’s 20 to 30, and then you’re on Broadway, where there are literally a hundred people working on and contributing to the show. Whenever anyone joined Fun Home in its long process, they somehow knew how remarkable this show was, and silently, but diligently and passionately, gave their absolute best.
“Fun Home inspired everyone to give everything they had for the show. I’ve never seen a marketing team, a props department, ushers, a composer, security team, Off-Broadway ticket sellers, theatre owners work so hard, and so lovingly. I wish that experience for everyone in their careers and lives.” – Mike Isaacson (producer)