Michael Cerveris & Judy Kuhn-Led FUN HOME Begins Performances at The Public Tonight

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) will begin performances for the world premiere of Fun Home on tonight, September 30, directed by Sam Gold. Featuring music by Jeanine Tesori, book and lyrics byLisa Kron, and based on Alison Bechdel book, Fun Home will run through Sunday, November 3, with an official press opening on Tuesday, October 22.

Single tickets, starting at $81.50, can be purchased by calling (212) 967-7555, www.publictheater.org, or in person at the Taub Box Office at The Public Theater at Astor Place at 425 Lafayette Street. The Library at The Public is open nightly for food and drink, beginning at 5:30 p.m., and Joe's Pub continues to offer some of the best music in the city.

The complete cast of Fun Home will feature Griffin Birney (Christian Bechdel), Michael Cerveris (Bruce Bechdel), Roberta Colindrez(Joan), Noah Hinsdale (John Bechdel), Judy Kuhn (Helen), Sydney Lucas (Small Alison), Beth Malone (Alison), Joel Perez (Roy), andAlexandra Socha (Medium Alison).

From four-time Tony Award-nominated composer Jeanine Tesori (Caroline, or Change) and Tony-nominee Lisa Kron (In The Wake, Well) comes a fresh, daring new musical based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Alison Bechdel. When her father dies unexpectedly, graphic novelist Alison dives deep into her past to tell the story of the volatile, brilliant, one-of-a-kind man whose temperament and secrets defined her family and her life. Moving between past and present, Alison relives her unique childhood playing at the family's Bechdel Funeral Home, her growing understanding of her own sexuality and the looming, unanswerable questions about her father's hidden desires. Directed by Sam Gold, Fun Home is a groundbreaking world-premiere musical about seeing your parents through grown-up eyes.

FUN HOME features scenic and costume design by David Zinn, lighting design by Ben Stanton, sound design by Kai Harada, projection design by Jim Findlay and Jeff Sugg, wig design by Paul Huntley, music direction by Chris Fenwick, and choreography by Danny Mefford.

Sam Gold (Director) directed the Public Lab run of Fun Home for The Public, and his Broadway directing credits include Picnic and Seminar. His other recent credits include Cradle Will Rock (City Center Encores Series); The Flick (Playwrights Horizons; Lortel nom.); Uncle Vanya(Soho Rep, Drama Desk nom.); The Realistic Joneses (Yale Rep., CT Critics Circle Award); The Big Meal (Playwrights Horizons, Lortel Award); Look Back in Anger (Roundabout, Lortel nom.); Circle Mirror Transformation (Playwrights Horizons; Drama Desk nomination, Obie Award); andThe Aliens (Rattlestick, Obie Award). He is a graduate of the Juilliard Directing Program, NYTW Usual Suspect, Drama League Directing Fellow, recipient of the Princess Grace Award and Resident Director at Roundabout Theatre Company.

Jeanine Tesori (Music)'s Public Theater credits include Fun Home, Mother Courage, and the 2012 Gala reading of Romeo and Juliet. Her Broadway credits include Twelfth Night; Thoroughly Modern Millie; Caroline, or Change; and Shrek the Musical. Her Off-Broadway credits include Violet, written with Brian Crawley, and John Guare's A Free Man of Color. For the opera she has written A Blizzard on Marblehead, with a libretto by Tony Kushner; The Lion, The Unicorn, and Me, with libretto by J.D. McClatchy, premiering this December at the Kennedy Center. Her film credits include Nights in Rodanthe, Every Day, You're Not You. She is the Artistic Director for Off-Center, a new Encores! summer series for the New York City Center.

Lisa Kron (Book and Lyrics) is a playwright and performer whose plays include In The Wake; Well; 2.5 Minute Ride for The Public, and The Ver**zon Play. This fall at The Public, Kron will reprise her roles as Mrs. Mi-Tzu and Mrs. Yang in the Foundry Theatre's production of Good Person of Szechwan, directed by Lear deBessonet. Her honors include Guggenheim, Lortel, Lark, Sundance, and NEA/TCG Fellowships; a Creative Capital Grant; Helen Merrill Award; Alpert Award. She is a founding member of the Obie and Bessie Award-winning theatre company, The Five Lesbian Brothers. She is on the faculty of the Yale School of Drama.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride