BWW Previews: MUSICAL FUN HOME COMBINING HEARTBREAK AND HUMOR IS COMING TO American Stage

Powerful, honest and uplifting are the three adjectives director Karla Hartley used to describe Alison Bechdel's Fun Home coming to American Stage July 17 through August 18.

Not a traditional musical, it features Grammy-nominated songs by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori and tells the story of family secrets.

Based on Alison's best-selling graphic memoir, when Fun Home opened on Broadway in April 2015, it was history-making as the first Broadway show to feature a lesbian character as the protagonist. The musical, nominated for 12 Tony awards, won 5, including Best Musical. Fun Home is considered one of the most poignant representations of the LGBTQ experience that has ever appeared on the American stage.

Fun Home features the talents of Kristin Carbone (Helen Bechdel), Brinley Degwert (Christian Bechdel), Tanner Grant (John Bechdel), Adrianne Hick (Alison), David Mann (Bruce Bechdel), Mollie Posnik (Medium Alison), Xavier Reyes (Roy/Bobby/Jeremy/Mark/Pete), Mercy Roberts (Small Alison), and Skyler Rosenthal (Joan).

The memory play, a combination of serious and comedic moments, begins in Alison's present day and enfolds to reveal her past childhood and college years. As a college student, Alison reveals to her parents that she's a lesbian. Soon after, she discovers that her father had spent much of his life in the closet.

"Fun Home is about Alison's sexual awakening, learning about herself and her sexual identity and how that connects to her father who struggles with accepting his own sexual identity. It's beautiful and I think the father-daughter story is a universal story that everyone can connect to," Karla said. "Those of us in the LGBT community can certainly connect."

A compelling look at two opposite sides of the same experience, though the play is about Alison finding herself as a lesbian, Karla said that was almost secondary to getting engaged with the father and finding sympathy for him.

"Living in the time that he lived, he's struggling with not being able to overcome his self-imposed, society-imposed shame about his own feelings for men. I think the play gives us a real interesting insight into the heartbreaking torture of someone who knows who they are and knows what the need, but not being able to go about getting that honestly, not being able to live their life as a person of truth."

Karla thinks that Fun Home will show CIS straight audiences a very important aspect that most don't think about. If people are not able to come out based on circumstance or self-loathing, it shows the pain of being closeted.

"On the flipside, it also shows Alison embracing her queer life," she said. "It shows both sides, but it's also about family - the personal things that happen between a mother, a father, and a daughter."

Karla's favorite line in Fun Home comes from a song lyric.

"Say something, anything," she said. "The family suffers from a lack of openness and connection to one another. There are moments in life where if you'd only made a different decision, everything that follows that could have enfolded in an entirely different way. I'm really interested in those small moments of epiphany and change. I think we should take to heart 'say something, anything' - make those connections while you can. I think the message of the show is you need to get your house in order to be able to make a positive future - accepting and be open to examining your past and letting it inform your future."

Karla hopes that after experiencing Fun Home, on the drive home people are talking about their moms and dads and how they can more fully engage with them.

"For anyone considering coming out, it's the perfect play. It does give a very positive image of the coming out process and how to embrace your personal truth. It's a great balance of fun and humor combined with deftly handled serious moments in the life of this family. I hope people leave with an urge to embrace honesty in all of their relationships."

Fun House runs July 17 through August 18 at American Stage, 163 3rd Street North
St. Petersburg. American Stage recommends 14+ for attendance. To learn more or to purchase tickets, visit https://americanstage.org/funhome.

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