Under Construction @ Keele 2016 Volume 2 Issue 1 | Page 9

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Fun Home: A New Broadway Musical (PS Classics, 2014)
Jason Balzarano
(PhD/GTA Music, Keele University)

One of the most intriguing and riveting examples to challenge any preconceived
notions of what one should expect from a musical, Fun Home perpetuates the very
recent trend for Broadway shows to turn unusual narratives into an enjoyable
representation of song and dance. The story, based on the graphic novel of the
same name, transverses through three life stages of its creator Alison Bechdel. At
the heart of this autobiographical account is her relationship with a closeted gay
father. A man tortured by both his sexuality and his role as parent, he commits
suicide at the moment Alison is able to fully embrace her own identity as a lesbian
cartoonist. Surrounding this highly emotional tale is the set piece of Alison’s
childhood abode, the Bechdel Funeral Home (or ‘Fun Home’ as an infant Alison and
her siblings innocently refer to it as). A heartrending story set in a highly emotional
location might seem poignant enough. Yet Jeanine Tesori’s music touches each
appropriate scene with an artful finesse that exemplifies the emotion required,
without the customary process for over-embellishment that seems to plague the
majority of musical tragedies that have preceded it.
It isn’t all heartbreak and sorrow though. Songs like “Welcome to the Fun
Home” are a joyous stand out with its throwback to 1970s pop, R’n’B and soul music.
The Bechdel children (Sydney Lucas, Oscar Williams, Zell Morrow) are the stars
here in a pseudo ‘Jackson Five’ tribute that uses the appropriate formulaic elements
attributed with the Motown sound to create a catchy number that initially soars. The