. . . but I hope you have been following what has been happening with Alison Bechel (whom I grew up with, whose father was one of my high school English teachers and whose mother I worked alongside in summerstock theater productions), and her book, "Fun Home," which was first turned into an off-Broadway musical that had a wildly successful off-Broadway run in 2013, and which opened on Broadway in April. I saw both the off-Broadway production, which I wrote about here on DU at the time, and the Broadway production in April, which was even better!
Fun Home has been nominated for TWELVE(!) Tony Awards, including:
Best New Musical
Best Original Score
Best Book for a Musical
Best Direction of a Musical
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Best Set Design of a Musical
Best Orchestration
Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Michael Cerveris, as Bruce Bechdel)
Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Beth Malone, as Alison Bechdel)
Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Judy Kuhn, as Helen Bechdel)
Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Emily Skeggs, as 19-year-old Alison)
Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Sydney Lucas, as small Alison)
A friend today asked me how I would handicap the various Best New Musical nominees (which include An American In Paris, Something Rotten!, and The Visit). I haven't seen them, so I can't really evaluate those productions. From what I have been able to glean, however, An American in Paris seems to be the most likely other contender. Here is what I wrote in response to my friend's query on Facebook:
As far as I've been able to tell, An American in Paris is also a strong contender. I haven't seen that show, and cannot comment on the production itself. I trust, from the many fine reviews it has received, that it is an exquisitely sung and danced adaptation of the 1951 movie -- a classic Broadway-style song-and-dance extravaganza, executed to near perfection. It will undoubtedly be the bitter commercial success, and will always be able to fill a larger theater, than will Fun Home, which, by its very subject matter, will appeal to a somewhat narrower audience , and the fact is commercial success often factors into which shows receive Tony Awards.
All of that said, however, if the Tony Awards are to represent genuine theatrical achievement, and not mere commercial success, then I think Fun Home should be the rightful recipient. Let's face it: shows like An American in Paris have been done -- indeed, they have been done to death, if you ask me. How ever beautifully mounted and performed An American in Paris might be, it remains formulaic, and follows a predictable path to commercial success, while taking few theatrical risks and breaking no new theatrical ground. Theater, like any other art form, must continually evolve and develop. Shows like An American in Paris -- essentially rehashes of past Broadway successes -- do not really move the ball forward artistically speaking.
Fun Home has been remarkably commercially successful in its own right, however. Its producers wisely chose to mount it in one of Broadway's smaller, more intimate theaters, and it has been enjoying sold-out or nearly sold-out performances every night since it opened. But more importantly, Fun Home moves that artistic ball forward in a way, and to a much greater extent, than do any of its competitors. It represents artistic risk-taking and genius at its very best, and on many fronts: theatrical musical, social and political. To me, it represents the very best of what Broadway theater can be -- a potential that, unfortunately. Broadway shows to often fail to come close to fulfilling.
My bias is obvious. We'll just have to wait and see how the Tony Award committee members feel about it.!
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