REVIEW: Fun Home (Studio Theatre)
Preview: I first saw Fun Home — the incredible, Tony-winning one-act musical memory play by Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron — on tour at the National in 2016 as an assignment for my first college theatre class. Shortly after my partner and I started dating in 2019, I took them to Baltimore to see a production at Baltimore Center Stage. Both were terrific renditions of the Alison Bechdel adaptation, but fell oh-so-slightly short of the magic that hooked me in via the comprehensive Broadway cast recording and Sydney Lucas’ all-time Tonys performance of “Ring of Keys” in 2015. Do not get me wrong: both were great times at the theatre, but in the moment felt like a facsimile of the then-recent Broadway production. (Of course, I was but a baby theatregoer and there’s been an entire pandemic since, so my memory could be hazy). It nonetheless remains an all-time favorite show of mine, from its melancholy book, complex characters, and smart score. Studio doesn’t do musicals very often, so I had cautious optimism this could be a great take on this piece. Third time’s the charm?
Acting: Funny enough, I saw Andrea Prestinario in the aforementioned BCS production, also as Big Alison. Seems like the Ride the Cyclone casting approach is alive and well: if it (principal cast members) ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But who says you can’t refine it? Such is this case with Prestinario’s Big Alison this time around, whose years of association with this musical has paid off into way beyond a facsimile of the Beth Malone’s original take, and has evolved into a superb character all her own. Her nerdiness, slight introversion, and frustration manifest into raw emotion that spills all over the small stage, creating waves of palpable sympathy. Alison, of course, is but one character played by three different actresses. Medium Alison, who has the pleasure of doing the show’s arguably most humorous number in “Changing my Major”, is delightfully done by Maya Jacobson (whom I ALSO saw in Fidler afn Dakh off-Broadway!). It should also be noted that I attended with a group of lesbian friends unfamiliar with the show, who all can confirm she knocked it out the park. I’m also pretty sure I’ve met the exact Joan portrayed by Thani Brant at some college event or local queer bike ride. I’ve always thought that a production of Fun Home is only as strong as its Small Alison, as so much of the emotional weight is carried by Alison’s childhood and retrospective understanding. Not to mention the dramatic range required for a 10-year old in this role is wild, and hard to come by. So let me just say Quinn Titcomb absolutely destroys it, plain and simple. The South Florida child actress clearly holds her own vocally and emotionally alongside professionals who’ve been in this game twice as long as she’s been alive. Her stage presence easily matches those of the senior Alisons, and the father-daughter relationship between she and Bobby Smith’s incredible Bruce is a beautifully nuanced performance that was the most compelling of the night. Smith portrays a more well-rounded father in this than others that I’ve seen, being more reminiscent of half-and-half Tiger Dads that I know now than a stern, by-the-book authority figure the book suggests. This Bruce is goofy. He’s funny, too — not often in the show itself, but by the personality Smith gives, the wisecrack smirks that show up here and there. And these are not in spite of his troubled secrets and abusive behavior to his family, they work together to create a whole man. 9/10
Production: I don’t think I recall seeing a show in this one of Studio’s theatres, the Mead, because it is tiny. In fact, I wondered how they would fit so many cast members and sets onto a stage the size of my DC living room. Set Designer Debra Booth is pretty faithful to what anyone who’s seen a Fun Home before would come to expect, though I argue that it is under-utilized until the final third of the show (I won’t spoil how). Most of the show takes place in Big Alison’s modern studio, with specially-placed chairs and memorial decorum to act as set-pieces. This then removes the use of large props such as pianos (a recurring motif) and TVs, which do break the immersion sometimes. I’m all for letting the mind do the work with connecting the dots with multi-use props, but I don’t think director David Muse utilized them well enough to do so. However, the actors do well-utilize the space, to my surprise. It never feels cramped, and the division between Big Alison’s modern world and her past are divided with the subtle one-two punch of Brian Tovar’s simple but effective lighting and Ashleigh King’s aware choreography. Darren R. Cohen wraps it all up with saturated orchestrations that hug the action on stage warmly. 7/10
Book/Music: What drew me to this show initially was the then-novel (to me) idea of multiple people taking the reins of one character and exploring these states of mind throughout the play. It’s so well-constructed that the music is simply icing on the cake. The time-jumps are expertly-timed and the characters are complex and believable, and dialogue ranges from heartfelt and familial, to awkward and horny, to angry and frustrated, all seamlessly. Not to mention that this was the first Broadway musical to have a lesbian protagonist. Yes! It took until 2015 to have this! This significance is not wasted on poor material what! So! Ever! My only real complaint is the length. This could easily be a two-act show with more time to feature Middle Alison and her mother, Helen (hell, even her siblings. What were they doing when all this turmoil was going down, and how did their relationship become impacted by the events?). Granted, this is based on a 225-page graphic novel by Bechdel, who I’m sure has spilled enough of her family history already I’m sure. My point of view is that I could simply use more book for Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron’s incredible score; “Ring of Keys” and “Changing my Major” are both as good as their reputations provide, yet the opening, finale, and the 11-o’clock “Telephone Wire” can all help this show assert its claim to be among the best musical scores of the 2010s. I’m still in the process of finishing the graphic novel itself, but it’s a great medium for serious stories like this and it makes me want to explore the genre more. 10/10
VisDev: Program art is a halftoned, all-caps “FUN HOME” behind a speech bubble with a cool-toned colonial house on a black background. This gives a good impression of some of the themes of the show, tastefully bunching together melancholia with its graphic novel origins, and creating the notion of a dreary “home”, instead of a singular “house”. Pre-show staging constrasts this, using warm lights in the wooden environment to paint a more active, present picture of Alison’s life. However, there are details in the back of the stage that will stand out to familiar viewers, such as the ring of keys on the wall, certain panels from the titular graphic novels, and other tidbits. It’s a fun Easter egg hunt. 7/10
