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Musical Adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s “Fun Home” Dominates Tony Nominations

By | April 29th, 2015
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Yesterday, the theatre scene was abuzz with the release of the 2015 Tony Award Nominations. Of the tons of productions up for awards, one definitely stood out. Fun Home walked away with twelve nominations, with three of nods in the “Supporting Female Actress in a Musical Category.”

Those not familiar with the show may recognize its source material, or at least its creator. Alison Bechdel is the creator of the Bechdel Test, that media litmus test about female autonomy in media. In order to pass the story has to have two females, who talk to each other, about something other than a man. Bechdel wrote and drew “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic” in 2006. The graphic novel examines Bechdel’s relationship with her father, growing up in a funeral home, and her realization of her sexuality. It’s introspective, thoughtful, and heartbreaking, even more so in musical form. The trailer below is from the show’s downtown run at The Public, but Fun Home has found recent success at the Circle in the Square Theater on Broadway.

We’re always excited to see graphic novel adaptations find success, especially when those adaptations are as innovative as Fun Home which features a grown-up Bechdel navigating the story of her life with herself as a child and herself in college. Without giving too much away, this device gets turned on its head in a thrilling late-show song (“Telephone Wire”).

Fun Home isn’t the only example of comic books finding recent success on stage. Though not a direct adaptation, Crystal Killman and Fred Van Lente’s King Kirby did well for itself at the 2014 Comic Theater Festival which is a real thing worth checking out at The Brick in New York. Hopefully, this success might creak open the door to future comic-to-stage adaptations. The André the Giant biography from Box Brown seems like it could be electric onstage.

Fun Home is currently playing at the Circle in the Square theatre in New York and will presumably be riding this Tony hype train to a well-earned slew of sold-out performances. If so inclined, get your tickets before their performance at the Tony Awards makes everyone cry.


James Johnston

James Johnston is a grizzled post-millenial. Follow him on Twitter to challenge him to a fight.

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