We saw an official touring production of the musical “Fun Home” on Wednesday, July 12, 2017. We had been looking forward to it for two years since we read the graphic novel for the Banned Book Club discussion in July 2015 and bought the Broadway cast album. We got the tickets to the musical when they first went on sale in March 2017. It would be our first time seeing a show at 5th Avenue Theatre and on the second day of Fun Home’s run there which lasted through July 30, 2017. Before we left, I did some research on parking nearby and found three or four garages underneath buildings close to the venue.
Only July 12, we left Tacoma at 5:35 pm. Traffic wasn’t too bad and it took only 36 minutes to get to the Seattle city limits. It slowed as we drove into downtown. I think we exited at James Street, turned left onto Madison and right onto 4th Ave. I think we then turned right onto Pike Street, left onto 7th Ave., and again right onto Union Street. We parked in the lot labeled C on the online map I found. I think it was the garage under the tall building at the northeast corner of 5th and Union. We parked at 6:25 pm, took the elevator up to street level and found ourselves on the floor with some small eateries, coffee shops, and some other shops. I had to use the restroom but opening the door to it required a code. Luckily the person leaving it gave me the code.
We walked to the entrance to the 5th Avenue Theatre and queued up at around 6:35 pm. The queue was fairly short and started moving as soon as the doors opened at 6:45 pm. Just inside were stairs leading to the upper levels and the restrooms. Further in they were selling all kinds of merch including Fun Home t-shirts. One of them had the words “Ring of Keys” on the front, the name of one of the songs in the show. They sold mugs, paperback copies of the graphic novel, hats, and books of the script. We bought a real book of the actual music from the show. We later found it difficult with complex chord and key changes. But we were able to play through some of the songs and even performed “Come to the Fun Home” at an open mic. Back at the 5th Avenue Theatre, they had concession stands on either side of the lobby. Opposite the merch counter they had yellow backdrops with the logo for the show. Someone graciously took our photo in front of the backdrop. The photo using the flash worked out very well.
We went upstairs and entered the theatre itself. Our seats were in the upper section on the left side, towards the front. There might have been 1-3 seats in front of ours. We admired the mostly golden Asian décor inside the theatre including the head of a golden Chinese dragon on the ceiling holding up the chandelier. The seats filled up but a few stayed empty indicating that the show had not sold out. We would not have the same experience as those who saw the show on Broadway in a “theatre in the round” performance. The stage at the 5th Avenue Theatre had two levels. The band consisted of a few musicians stationed in the lower back of the stage and often behind the scenery. There may have also been an orchestra pit, but I couldn’t see it.
As we entered the theatre an usher handed us a souvenir program. It contained a cartoon by Alison Bechdel about the making of Fun Home the musical called “Play Therapy.” It also contained the headshots and bios for all the actors in the musical. None were from the Broadway production but I would argue that they were just as good. I don’t think any of the understudies performed in the show we saw. The program also had an ad for the musical “Something Rotten!” that would run at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Fall 2017.
At 7:30 pm, the lights dimmed. A voice told us to turn off all cell phones and at this time open any candy wrapped in plastic. They warned that there would be no intermission and if we had to get up and go to the lobby, we couldn’t reenter until an usher said it was OK. At 7:35 pm, the show began with a spotlight on Adult Alison at her drawing table. She soon flashed back to when she was a kid that led to the opening song “It All Comes Back.” I like how Adult Alison and her dad Bruce in the flashback unpacked the same antique items at the same time. All the songs sounded great, just like the Broadway cast album I had bought nearly two years before. But I enjoyed seeing all that went on while they sang and what led up to the songs such as Bruce somberly meeting with a client before telling the kids to get out of the coffin right before they sang “Come to the Fun Home.” The entire cast sang the song “Raincoat of Love” including all three Alisons.
The show lasted until 9:15 pm but it seemed to cover much of Alison Bechdel’s life. Just like the graphic novel, it skipped around though time. There weren’t as many flashbacks as the novel, but their order seemed to make more emotional sense than logical. I like how the acting fleshed out the story. At one point, Medium Alison dropped a book by mistake, but she just picked it up and kept on going. The acting includes much humor such as when Medium Alison claims to be looking for the German club and says, “Danka” for thanks. Bruce sends her the book Collette to read and he later plays a satirical song on the piano. The Bechdels have a musical side that is only briefly mentioned in the graphic novel and the musical.
I was very impressed with the sets even though this production wasn’t “theatre in the round.” The scenes inside the Bechdel’s historic home looked authentic. I also liked the scenes in Bruce and Helen’s friend’s New York apartment. They didn’t use the upper level of the stage very much but when they did it was to great effect. The cast consisted of ten actors, one of whom played multiple roles. They acted well and resembled the Broadway cast closely. I like how Robert Petkoff made Bruce Bechdel seem likable despite his deep flaws. Kate Shindle carried the show as Adult Alison and Abby Corrigan balanced humor and seriousness as Medium Alison. The youngest actors also did very well. It must be difficult for Bruce to pay “airplane” with young Alison at every performance but they pulled it off for us. I liked how it was Adult Alison in the car with Bruce singng “Telephone Wire.”
The touring production of “Fun Home” was well worth the wait and I don’t think we lost anything by not seeing the Broadway production in New York. I thought “Fun Home” would be the best and only major musical production we would see in 2018, but I was wrong on both counts. We would see another less than three months later. But “Fun Home” is still one of the best musical’s I’ve seen. Just like the graphic novel it captures family life with its functional and dysfunctional dynamics. Even though the Bechdels had a lot of dysfunction, they still had authentic family love that carries through in the graphic novel and the musical.
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