In the Living Room with a Gay Dad and a Lesbian Daughter

"Fun Home" received 12 Tony nominations including best musical this week. And deserves to win every one of them, even though there's no line of dancers or whiz-bang effects.

The musical was developed at the Public Theater, where it first opened two years ago, and seemingly did the impossible: it transformed cartoonist Alison Bechdel's graphic memoir into an affecting, yet buoyant, chamber musical.

Lisa Kron (book and lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music) honored the book by creating a story rich with overlapping memories. Alison is played by three different actors at three different ages: there's the 40-something Alison played by Beth Malone, the college-age Alison (Emily Skeggs) and "Small Alison" — played by 11-year-old Sydney Lucas, who originated the role when she was 9. All three of them received Tony nods.

The show was a success at the Public, though I wasn't completely sold on that production. I loved Bechdel's book about her coming out and the struggle with her dad's depression and secret gayness, but thought the show was missing an important poignancy. It felt a little chilly.

With the move to Broadway, that's completely changed.

'Fun Home' at Circle in the Square (Joan Marcus)

Usually, shows that transfer to the Main Stem become bigger. And often they lose the special, quiet quality that won over audiences in the first place. But in this case, the opposite happened. "Fun Home" is now being performed in the round at Circle in the Square and the new intimacy is heartbreaking. Sam Gold's reconfigured staging on David Zinn's set makes you feel like you are looking over Alison's shoulder as she is drawing, or sitting in her dorm room while she falls in love with her first girlfriend, Joan (a sparky Roberta Colindrez). 

The confessional songs have always captured the thrill and anguish and surprise of growing up, but now we are close enough to see every micro-expression flit across the casts' faces. We really get to know them — especially Michael Cerveris, who on this new stage is able to play Bruce, Alison's troubled father, in an even more nuanced way. 

Together, the cast and the new staging make "Fun Home" feel like a real family. Maybe even something like yours.