Come to the Fun Home

Fun Home – Paramount Theatre

Fun Home is the story of writer and artist Alison Bechdel contemplating her relationship with her father, who she discovered as an adult was gay, like she is. Based on her real family, Bechdel turned the story into the graphic novel of the same name in 2006. In 2013, it was turned into a musical with book and lyrics by Lisa Kron and score by Jeanine Tesori, eventually picking up the Tony for Best Musical.

Three actors portray Alison at different points in her life. Emilie Modaff plays the adult Alison, serving as the show’s narrator. She absolutely crushed the heartbreaking climax in “Telephone Wire,” one of my favorite songs from the show. Elizabeth Stenholt plays ‘Medium Alison’ in her college years, and totally nailed the rush of awkward joy at her first kiss with a girl in “Changing My Major to Joan.” Maya Keane and Milla Liss alternate the role of Small Alison. I saw Maya Keane for this performance, and I was blown away by the caliber of singing from such a young singer, particularly in her big number, “Ring of Keys.”

The entire cast was incredibly talented, but I have to give some additional praise to Stephen Schellhardt as Bruce, Alison father. It’s an incredibly complicated role. Even as the show outlines his shortcomings as a father and a man, you have to feel some compassion for him, or the central conflict of the show falls apart. There has to be something for Alison to connect with, or the search for that connection goes from tragic to ridiculous. Schellhardt did a fantastic job of adding layers to help the audience understand why Bruce wasn’t capable of closer relationships with his family and that Bruce feels that absence as much Alison.

This production’s greatest strength is its confidence. Under co-directors Jim Corti and Landree Fleming, the show gets out of the way of these amazing actors performing this amazing material. Every scene was given the space to breathe, and it allowed the audience to connect with the story and the cast. Yeaji Kim’s set design was thoughtful and understated, hitting the perfect balance of being minimal while still feeling thoroughly realized. All of the creative decisions served to support the cast and the material speaking for itself.

Fun Home is easily one of my favorite musicals written in this century. Anyone who thinks the golden age of American musicals is long past has only to come to this one and have a good cry. I saw this show the weekend of the Air and Water Show, and ended up having to wade through about an hour and a half of traffic related to that event to see this show and I can unequivocally say that the show was absolutely worth the trip.

Highly Recommended

Presented August 3 – September 18 by Paramount Theatre at The Copley Theatre, 8 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora.

Tickets can be purchased here.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.