“Fun Home”

Highly Recommended **** The National tour of the 2015 Tony-Award winning BEST Musical, “Fun Home” has landed in Chicago. This is not your typical “musical”, but is filled with music (Jeanine Tesori) and a book and lyrics by Lisa Kron) that is based on a novel by Alison Bechdel, telling her story of her life. This is a beautiful story digging deeply into the character and life of Alison, as we watch her story come to life through three stages. Small Alison is played by Alessandra Baldacchino, who is adorable and packs a wallop when she sings. Medium Alison is well- played by Abby Corrigan. It is during these days of her life that we watch  Alison deal with the inner feelings and we witness her “coming of age”, so to speak.

Alison (the adult, woman,  deftly played by Kate Shindle), is in many ways, our narrator, telling us her story, in her words. This is a strong story about a family that is about life-affirming situations that can affect a family. In the case of this family, our story is that of a young lady, who learns a great deal about her own life as well as the secrets of other family members. This is what many might call a “chamber musical” that allows us to watch as Alison unravels the hidden parts of her childhood. By watching her life at different ages, we can see some of the mysterious parts that become more evident and much clearer as she begins to see her mother (Chicago favorite Susan Moniz truly shows why she is adored here) and father (an amazing performance and character developed by Robert Petkoff), an undertaker, for what they really are, or should it be were?

The other cast members in this sparkling, yet simple production are the lovely Karen Eilbacher as Joan, Lennon Nate Hammond as John, Pierson Salvador as Christian and Robert Hager taking on all the other male roles. These performers prove the value and worth of the ensemble. They are solid and make the story work! Warning: some of the content of this story may not be topics that you are comfortable with and are not for those who cannot handle language that is considered “foul” or “dirty”. Alison is a cartoonist and her art deals with homosexuality. So, be warned!

Directed by Sam Gold on a set by David Zinn, with choreography by Danny Mefford, this all female story ( I was surprised that they did not continue that theme for the tech aspects as well) is strikingly beautiful that is more an experience than an entertainment. As I said, it is not your typical Broadway Musical, but is something that you will enjoy and a true “think piece” that will give you things to discuss and evaluate. If you are one that loved “Next To Normal”, this will be one that you will love as much, or perhaps, even more! It is definitely about real things that we read about, hear about and in some cases, live with! The story of “Fun Home” takes us into life, love, family, survival, and most of all, being who we are and stepping forward! The musicians are live and onstage for the entire performance directed by Micah Young.

This rare beauty will only be here through November 13th with performances as follows:

Tuesdays  7:30 p.m.

Wednesdays  7:30 p.m.

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  2  and 8 p.m.

Sundays  2  and 7:30 p.m.

Tickets range in price from $25- $113 and are available at the box office of the Oriental theatre located at 24 West Randolph, or any of the Broadway In Chicago box offices, by phone at 800-775-2000 (The Broadway In Chicago Ticketline), at all Ticketmaster locations or online at http://www.BroadwayInChicago.com

The running time for this show is one-hour-forty minutes with NO intermission.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Fun Home”