Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron's FUN HOME to Have Public Theater Lab, 10/17-11/4

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Patrick Willingham) announced today that FUN HOME, a new musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by Lisa Kron, will open the 2012-2013 season of the Public Lab, a program designed to connect audiences and artists in the process of creating new theater. Directed by Sam Gold, FUN HOME is based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel and will run Wednesday, October 17 through Sunday, November 4 in The Public's Shiva Theater. Member tickets are $12 and are on sale now. Single tickets, priced at $15, go on sale Tuesday, September 18.

"Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron are both artists who are central to The Public's family, and their adaptation of Alison Bechdel's magnificent graphic novel Fun Home is an inspiring and thrilling endeavor," said Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. "The Public Lab was created to allow shows to develop in dialogue with an audience, rather than in isolation; Fun Home is a perfect match for the Lab."

From Jeanine Tesori, four-time Tony Award-nominated composer of Caroline, or Change; Shrek the Musical; and Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Lisa Kron, Tony-nominated author of Well and 2.5 Minute Ride, comes an original new musical about fathers, daughters, cartoons, caskets, and love. Based on Alison Bechdel's acclaimed graphic novel and set in the family business, Bechdel Funeral Home, FUN HOME charts Alison's quest to come to terms with her father's life and death by painstakingly reconstructing their shared but unspoken bond. Surprising, funny, ultimately deeply moving, FUN HOME is an exciting world-premiere musical from some of New York's brightest theatrical talents.

The cast for FUN HOME includes Roberta Colindrez (Joan), Judy Kuhn (Helen), Beth Malone (Alison), and Joel Perez (Roy).

FUN HOME features scenic and costume design by David Zinn; lighting design by Ben Stanton; sound design by Kai Harada; video design by Jim Findlay and Jeff Sugg; musical direction by Andy Einhorn; and choreography by David Neumann.

The Public Theater's 2012-13 Public Lab season will also include the world premiere of Sorry, written and directed by Richard Nelson, and featuring Jon Devries, Maryann Plunkett, Laila Robins, Jay O. Sanders, and J. Smith-Cameron (October 30 to November 18); and the world premiere of Detroit '67, written by Dominique Morisseau and directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah (February 26 to March 17, 2013).

The Public Lab, now in its sixth season, provides audiences with access to new work and Shakespeare with tickets priced at $15 and provides emerging and established artists with a platform to further develop their work on stage and in performances with scaled-down productions (shorter rehearsal periods and smaller budgets) that allow audiences and artists to engage with one another in the process of making theater. Past Public Lab shows include Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson by Alex Timbers and Michael Friedman; The Good Negro by Tracey Scott Wilson; Father Comes Home From The Wars (Parts 1, 8 & 9) by Suzan-Lori Parks; Neighbors by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins; the introduction of Shakespeare into Public Lab with Richard Thomas in Timon of Athens, Renee Elise Goldsberry in Love's Labor's Lost, Jay O. Sanders in Titus Andronicus; Urge for Going by Mona Mansour; Sweet and Sad by Richard Nelson; and The Total Bent by Stew and Heidi Rodewald.

Jeanine Tesori (Music) recently composed original music for The Public Theater's 50th Anniversary of the Delacorte reading of Romeo and Juliet. Her other works for The Public with Tony Kushner include Caroline, or Change and Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children. Her other notable theater works include original music for A Free Man of Color, Shrek The Musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Swing!, Twelfth Night, The Sound of Music, Dream, and How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Tesori has also composed music for the films Nights in Rodanthe, The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, and The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, among others.

Lisa Kron (Book and Lyrics). Her work for The Public includes In The Wake, Well (included in Best Plays of 2004 and produced on Broadway in 2006 in a production that earned two Tony nominations), and 2.5 Minute Ride (Obie, L.A. Drama-Logue, GLAAD Media Award). Her honors include Guggenheim, Lortel, Lark, Sundance and NEA/TCG fellowships, and awards from Creative Capital and the Alpert Foundation. She is a founding member of the Obie and Bessie award-winning theatre company The Five Lesbian Brothers. Lisa is one of six resident playwrights at the just-launched American Voices New Play Institute at Arena Stage.

Sam Gold (Director) recently directed Seminar on Broadway, featuring Alan Rickman. His Off-Broadway credits include The Big Meal; Look Back In Anger; We Live Here; Kin; The Coward; Circumcise Me; Circle Mirror Transformation, for which he earned a 2010 Lortel nomination for Best Direction; and The Black Eye.

ROBERTA COLINDREZ (Joan). Her New York credits include Grimm's Fairytales, Invisible, and Before Death Comes for the Archbishop. Her film and television credits include The Man I Am, The Artist's Assistant, and HBO's "Girls."

Judy Kuhn (Helen) has appeared at The Public in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Her Broadway credits include the revival and original production of Les Miserables, King David, She Loves Me, Two Shakespearean Actors, Rags, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Her additional Off-Broadway credits include Eli's Comin'; Dream True: My Life with Vernon Dixon; and As Thousands Cheer. Her film and television credits include Enchanted, Day on Fire, "Hope & Faith," and she was the singing voice of Pocahontas in the animated Disney film.

Beth Malone (Alison) has appeared on Broadway in Ring of Fire. Her Off-Broadway credits include The Marvelous Wonderettes and Bingo. Her film and television credits include Hick; Room 101; Intelligent Life: Change Your Mind, Change Your World; "Reno 911!;" "Judging Amy;" and "One Minute Soap Opera."

JOEL PEREZ (Roy) toured nationally in In the Heights. His regional credits include Fame; In the Heights; Stuck Elevator; Tetrology; After the Revolution; Pirates!; and Golden Gate. His film and television credits include Boyband, Marranos, The Last Harbor, and "The Big C."

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.