Tickets are $29 for VocalEye users, while they last. Please call the Box Office to purchase at 604-687-1644. This performance will be followed by a Talk Back with the cast.
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Described by Eileen Barrett
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Book and lyrics by Lisa Kron
Based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel
Directed by Lois Anderson
This Tony Award–winning musical memoir is a heartbreaking and fiercely funny journey, punctuated with a refreshing score that frames the curiosity of childhood and the complexities of a family. Alison’s father was many things: a historical preservationist, a funeral home director, a distant parent, and… a closeted gay man. In the struggle to understand her father while also dealing with her own coming out, graphic novelist Alison documents the story of her life as “A Family Tragicomic”.
“In the summer of 2016, I was in New York on holiday and I wandered into Fun Home at Circle in the Square Theatre. Well, to be honest, I lined up for tickets in the morning because I read that it had won five Tonys, including Best New Musical. But I knew nothing more about it, nor had I heard of Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel, on which it is based. Billed as a family tragicomedy, I was intrigued. I walked out devastated, elated, profoundly moved. “Every character in this piece is moving earnestly forward at all times into an unknown and unknowable future,” writes Lisa Kron, author of the script. And, indeed, the piece is full of hope, innocence, fear, joy, aspiration, obsession, secrets, half-truths, and a sense that the world is changing, hurtling forward. A tension exists between a daughter coming out, coming of age, flying, soaring and her father simultaneously falling, spinning, plummeting, much like a modern-day Icarus.” -Lois Anderson, director.
The action centres around the Bechdel family home in small town Pennsylvania, with shifts in time that span the 1970s to the 1990s.
MAIN CHARACTERS
Alison is portrayed at three different ages by three different performers:
Adult Alison, a cartoonist and graphic novelist, 43 years old, played by Sara-Jeanne Hosie
Medium Alison, a college freshman, 19 years old, played by Kelli Ogmundson
Small Alison, 9 years old, played by Jaime MacLean
Bruce Bechdel, Alison’s father, played by Eric Craig
Helen Bechdel, Alison’s mother, played by Janet Gigliotti
Christian Bechdel, Alison’s 10 year-old brother, played by Glen Gordon
John Bechdel, Alison’s 6 year-old brother, played by Nolen Dubuc
REVIEWS
“Refreshing Fun Home defies convention with its character-driven, coming-of-age musical” –The Georgia Straight
“The emotional roller coaster Fun Home takes you on is intoxicating. I am going back for another ride.” –Vancouver Presents
“the best show in town” –Colin Thomas
SUPPORT MATERIALS
FUN HOME – Song List
Alison Bechdel Draws a Fun Home Coda
The Bechdel Test
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW3gw2fUHtU
