HowlRound: Fun Home, the Tony-winning musical adapted from Alison Bechdel's graphic memoir has not one but three protagonists. They are dubbed, quite aptly, Small Alison, Middle Alison, and just Alison. I had the pleasure of seeing the three New York City incarnations of Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron's musical which might be quite similarly described: Small Fun Home, staged as a Public Lab production in October 2012, Middle Fun Home, staged to great acclaim as a much-extended limited run at the Public in Fall 2013, and just plain Fun Home, the Broadway version at Circle in the Square which opened on April 19, 2015 and went on to win five Tony Awards, including one for Best Musical this past spring.
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What is so fascinating about this article is the journey that FUN HOME has gone through over the years, which in my opinion mirrors many budding shows that make the long trek to Broadway. With years of critiques, varying directors, and increasing budget, the show's themes make mild alterations which the author believes makes some of the characters recede into the background while projecting others. Even the age progression of Small Alison makes one interpret the show differently, while perhaps not changing the message necessarily. The emphasis on Alison's cartoons also experiences a shift in focus as the relationship between her and Bruce emerges as the primary conflict. As live performances can be interpreted in a variety of ways, the author does not really comment on which one she found most successful--but perhaps that's the beauty of art, it alters over time in addition to peoples' perspectives.
Given how wildly successful and critically acclaimed this show has turned out to be, it seems almost impossible that this show did not leap into being fully formed, already a glowing mass of creation. However, this article makes me think of a concept that we discussed in Amy Needs a Name, which is that the first idea is not necessarily the best idea, and a piece of theatre is never truly "done." Even if a piece is good, and receives praise, as both the earlier iterations of Fun Home had done, the play did not find it's true heart until its creators put it in the round. If they had accepted that the show was good at the public, and made an identically staged show on Broadway, the show might still have been good. The actors are still talented, the story is still good, but by continuing to push the limits of storytelling, the creators created something that transcended being just a "good play."
One of my favorite parts about working in theater is seeing a show grow and change as it figures out the best way to tell the story. While all productions eventually go through this, this article really guided us through the journey that Fun Home made on its way to Broadway. Recently, commercial theaters have become more transparent with their processes, which its a great tool to help the masses access theater that they otherwise would not be able to. For instance, Lin Manuel Miranda is a huge Twitter aficionado, and frequently responds to his fan base. It really brings the audience that much closer to the production when they have a (semi-) direct line to the artists themselves. One of the reasons I believe Fun Home is so successful is the physical audience set up. With an audience of only 776, you definitely achieve the intimacy required to tell this story (or so I've heard from patrons).
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