Musical (2013)
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Book & Lyrics by Lisa Kron
Based on the graphic novel Fun Home (2006) by Alison Bechdel
Directed by Logan Ellis
Huntington Theatre Company
Presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals
Huntington Theatre
Symphony Hall area, Boston
November 14 – December 14, 2025
Music Direction: Jessie Rosso; Choreography: Taavon Gamble; Scenic Design: Tanya Orellana; Costume Design: Celeste Jennings; Hair, Wig, and Makeup Design: J. Jared Janas; Sound Design: Megumi Katayama; Lighting Design: Philip Rosenberg; Musicians: Max Boras (Guitar), Paola Andrea Caballero (Violin/Viola), Doug Lippincott (Drums), William Vint (Reed 1), Peter Zay (Cello), Mike Rivard (Bass)
With Lyla Randall (Small Alison), Maya Jacobson (Medium Alison), Sarah Bockel (Alison), Odin Vega (Christian Bechdel), Caleb Levin (John Bechdel), Nick Duckart (Bruce Bechdel), Jennifer Ellis (Helen Bechdel), Wyatt Anton (Roy/Pete/Mark/Bobby/Jeremy), Sushma Saha (Joan)
in “Fun Home”
Photo: Marc J. Franklin
Courtesy of Huntington Theatre Company
At the outset, we see Alison (Sarah Bockel) as an adult artist at her drawing table recounting her early life, and this adult Alison stays onstage pretty much throughout the hour and forty minute show as artistic witness. Two other actors – the amazing Lyla Randall who plays Alison as a child, and the wonderful Maya Jacobson who plays her as a teenager – take over the major acting roles, but all three participate in one way or another for the duration of the show. Of course, the adult Alison, the graphic novel artist, is wrestling with how to account for her life and the main subjects are her father and his frailties, and her own coming to terms with her own homosexuality.
Odin Vega as Christian
Lyla Randall as Small Alison
in “Fun Home”
Photo: Marc J. Franklin
Courtesy of Huntington Theatre Company
The story of her father, Bruce (Nick Duckart), is poignant and difficult. Married to Helen (Jennifer Ellis) and father of three children, he is a gay man who has had, and continues to have, multiple affairs with men during and despite his marriage to Helen. These affairs are quite vividly displayed, in particular with his seduction of any number of beautiful young men (all played by Wyatt Anton). Ultimately, when Alison is in college and is wrestling with her own incipient lesbianism and developing a relationship with Joan (Sushma Saha), Helen reveals to Alison that Bruce has had multiple affairs with men.
In this midst of this difficult revelation, which is tied to teenage Alison trying desperately to come out to her parents, Alison, in might lighter tones, expresses her own exuberance over becoming a sexual being. Maya Jacobson, as this Medium Alison, offers a lovely rendition of the exuberant and hilarious Changing My Major (to Joan) as a tribute to her own sexual revelations.
A bit later on, Lyla Randall, who plays Small Alison with a striking amount of gusto and pizzazz and is full of strikingly expressive jazzy moves, gives a great rendition of Ring of Keys, about her early attraction to a gay woman who had come to her house as a child.
Nick Duckart as Bruce
in “Fun Home”
Photo: Marc J. Franklin
Courtesy of Huntington Theatre Company
Medium Alison wrestles with her parents’ inability to respond directly to her own revelation of gayness, but she is both appalled by her father’s infidelity, but also drawn to what seems like a certain oblique amount of sympathy from him for her own homosexuality. She never quite comes to terms with her father’s remoteness, infidelity, and tendency to explosive rages, but, through her art, the adult Alison does come to terms with some positive elements of their relationship. It’s a wonderful tribute to the possible healing rewards of the imaginative reconstructions of memoir.
Maya Jacobson as Medium Alison
in “Fun Home”
Photo: Marc J. Franklin
Courtesy of Huntington Theatre Company
Bruce’s work life is somewhat complicated. He is both a high school English teacher but has also inherited a family funeral home to which he and his family refer as Fun Home. (Get it?) Bruce is both a purveyor of literature and a preparer of corpses. There is a very funny scene in which Bruce, as funeral director, is showing caskets to a prospective client after which his three kids, hiding in a coffin, pop out.
Helen, an actress, tries to explain to Alison why she has stayed in a relationship with Bruce for so many years in Days and Days, rendered beautifully by Jennifer Ellis, an account of the inertia of home life and the durability of habit.
The narrative is deeply colored by Bruce’s suicide – he jumps in front of an oncoming truck – and Alison’s wrestling with the loss in conjunction with her more complicated feelings for him.
in “Fun Home”
Photo: Marc J. Franklin
Courtesy of Huntington Theatre Company
What a lively and engaging production this is, full of verve and wonderful production values. The choreography by Taavon Gamble is notably good, and the moves executed by Lyla Randall as Small Alison, and a bit less so but very convincingly by Odin Vega and Caleb Levin as her brothers, are out of this world. There is some terrific singing here. As noted, Jennifer Ellis, an established Boston musical theater actor, does a wonderful job as Helen, and, as Bruce, Nick Duckert, though in an emotionally complicated role, sings with a rich tone that comes through clearly. As Medium Alison, Maya Jacobson has some stellar acting moments as well as her wonderful vocal turn in the memorable Changing My Major.
The acting under Logan Ellis’ direction is uniformly good, with the three Alisons doing a great job of presenting a coherent character. Though, as adult Alison, Sarah Bockel, does not have major singing and dancing opportunities, she offers a poignant and compelling acting presence throughout and does have vocal moments which ring true. The vocal trio of the three Alisons together, near the end, is particularly wonderful.
The set by Tanya Oreillana is functional and adept and there are dramatic elements that get interposed artfully and gracefully throughout. Lighting design by Philip Rosenberg is capable and particularly noteworthy with a moment when the fateful truck lights get lowered, full bore, right at the audience – dramatically and effectively.
Special note should be made of the orchestra under Jessie Rosso’s adept direction, with wonderful tonalities offered by composer Jeanine Tesori and brought to life by the very good musicians. I particularly was aware of the English horn solos by Bill Vint, and the violin, viola and cello moments by Paola Andrea Caballero and Peter Zay. Intricate and persuasive, the score at times gets a little knotty, and there is a moment early on when I thought the vocal harmonies a bit too intricate to manage with absolute clarity. But, overall, the musical execution by instrumentalists and vocalists is superb.
Lyrics by Lisa Kron are mostly straightforward, quite fun when appropriate (Changing My Major, Ring of Keys), with moments of real poignancy (Days and Days).
Author of the graphic novel “Fun Home”
Of course, one must credit graphic novel author Alison Bechdel with the courage and capacity to wrestle with such challenging issues with such directness, and with musical book author Lisa Kron for transmuting this to a stage production with real legs.
Overall: A terrific production, with great energy, music and dance, some wonderful comic moments, and a powerful emotional undertone.
– BADMan (aka Charles Munitz)
I saw Fun Home and liked it as much as the reviewer but he let me know in exquisite detail why I liked it. BADMan, you listen with great skill and remember nuance and track the momentum of the actors, singing and story line. The drama of the truck lights and the inability of the father to tell his children what has become obvious to all, is heartbreaking.
Thank goodness we have you in the stalls to keep the theatre honest and us a bettter audience.