Tony-Winner Michael Cerveris Pens Article for New York Times

Tony award-winner and star of Broadway's FUN HOME, Michael Cerveris, has penned an article for the New York Times theater section detailing the events of last week's benefit concert of the show in Orlando, Florida.

Fun Home is the true story of Alison Bechdel, a lesbian cartoonist, who uses art and intellect to excavate her relationship with her late father, a closeted homosexual who committed suicide just four months after her coming out.

As the horror of the shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando came to light, the company of the show was overwhelmed by how essential their show seemed in the wake of the tragedy. With the need to contribute to the victims and their families mounting within the company, it was Mr. Cerveris who initially presented the idea to bring the show to Orlando to the show's producers. The plan came to fruition with what he describes as, "dizzying speed."

All nine of the show's onstage company members, including Tony Award-winner Michael Cerveris, four-time Tony Award nominee Judy Kuhn, 2015 Tony Award nominees Beth Malone, and Emily Skeggs, Gabriella Pizzolo, Roberta Colindrez, Cole Grey, Zell Steele Morrow, and Joel Perez, along with the show's Tony Award-winning creators Lisa Kron (Book & Lyrics), Jeanine Tesori (Music) and Sam Gold(Direction) were in attendance.

He writes: "In murky, frightening times like these, that is the most essential thing theater offers an audience: a brief community, connecting us to one another in larger, lasting ways. And stories that say different things to us, depending on the time and what we need to hear, as a way to make the darkness outside our circle seem penetrable. That is the same for every audience, no matter how different."

100% of the net proceeds of this benefit performance were donated to support the future work of Equality Florida, and the victims of the horrific Pulse shooting. Half of the money raised was distributed directly to victims and their families, and half will support Equality Florida's work to end discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Read the full story at The New York Times

Fun Home will play its final performance on Broadway on September 10, 2016, after more than 600 performances. The coast-to-coast North American Tour of Fun Home will launch in Cleveland, OH in October 2016, and play more than 40 cities in its first year, including Chicago, St. Louis, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and many more.

Fun Home is produced on Broadway by Fox Theatricals (Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson) andBarbara Whitman, along with Carole Shorenstein Hays, Tom Casserly, Paula Marie Black,Latitude Link, Terry Schnuck/Jack Lane, The Forstalls, Nathan Vernon, Mint Theatricals,Elizabeth Armstrong, JAM Theatricals and Delman Whitney.