Review: FUN HOME Tour Brings Superb Story to Denver Center

There's wiping a tear from your eye during an emotional performance, and then there's mopping up buckets of tears from your shirtsleeve for most of the show. For me, Fun Home was the latter.

But that's not to say the five-time Tony winner is a total downer. The book by Lisa Kron, who assisted Jeanine Tesori on the score, runs a gamut of emotions, and they're the kind that hit you in the best spot.

Based on Alison Bechtle's graphic novel of the same name, Fun Home explores the life of its author, a lesbian cartoonist coming to terms with her relationship with her father, who committed suicide when she was a teenager. He also happened to be gay, but that's not something they really discussed. Their family runs a funeral home, which they nicknamed their "fun home." In the musical, you're introduced to Alison at three stages in her life as she comes to terms with her own sexuality and recalls important moments with her father.

There's something about this show you don't see with most Broadway musicals. Kron's book is strong, piecing together Alison's life poetically beside her father's. Small Alison (Alessandra Baldacchino) is spunky and inquisitive, knowing her feelings at a young age but not fully understanding them. Medium Alison (Abby Corrigan) is during her college years, when she discovers her sexuality through joining a gay student union, where she meets and hooks up with Joan (Karen Eilbacher). It's all narrated by adult Alison (Kate Shindle) as she puts together her graphic novel.

Her father, Bruce, is portrayed by Robert Petkoff, who Denver audiences might recognize as the title role from the DCPA's recent production of Sweeney Todd. Her family is rounded out with her mother, Helen (Susan Moniz), and two brothers, John (Lennon Nate Hammond) and Christian (Pierson Salvador). Robert Hager portrays a variety of male supporting characters.

Shindle, a former Miss America known for her belty Broadway roles, portrays Alison as strong and fully realized, bringing a relatable identity to the role created by Denver native Beth Malone on Broadway. Corrigan's Medium Alison is perfectly awkward, shaping an intricate and eclectically fresh character. Baldacchino brings Small Alison provides a beautiful intricacy that most child roles are missing. My waterworks kicked off during her performance of "Ring of Keys"...and I didn't really stop until curtain call.

Petkoff provides Bruce with such a human framework. Sure, Bruce can be come off as a creepy guy (he frequently tries to seduce younger guys)...but I understood him. His complexities were authentic and masterfully exhibited. Moniz brings a similar spectrum to Alison's mother, particularly during her reeling number "Days and Days."

Song like "Ring of Keys" and "Changing My Major to Joan" emit pure joy of innocent discovery. In "Telephone Wire," Alison describes her final car ride with her father through inner monologue, eyeing surroundings and making a deal with herself bring up an important conversation at the next stoplight. Tell me you haven't done that.

Fun Home is so much smarter than I anticipated, and I can't wait to see how it breaks out regionally. This is one I'm seeing again before it leaves town.

Fun Home plays the Ellie Caulkins Opera House at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts through Jan 22. Tickets are available at DenverCenter.org or by calling (303)893-4100.

Photos by Joan Marcus

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