Pamela Polston
Fun Home on Broadway, right next to another pretty popular musical.
Vermont cartoonist
Alison Bechdel's star just got even shinier. The musical based on her graphic memoir
Fun Home was nominated for 12
Tony Awards!
As reported in the
New York Times and elsewhere today,
Fun Home is in the running for the following:
- Best musical (along with An American in Paris, Something Rotten! and The Visit)
- Book—Lisa Kron
- Original score—Jeanine Tesori (music) and Lisa Kron (lyrics)
- Actor, lead, in musical—Michael Cerveris (who plays Bruce Bechdel, Alison's father)
- Actress, lead, in musical—Beth Malone (as adult Alison)
- Actress, featured role, musical—Judy Kuhn (Helen Bechdel, Alison's mother), Sydney Lucas (young Alison) and Emily Skeggs (middle Alison)
- Scenic design, musical—David Zinn
- Lighting design, musical—Ben Stanton
- Direction, musical—Sam Gold
- Orchestration, musical—John Clancy
Eva Sollberger
Alison Bechdel
The nominations come on the heels of
Fun Home's triumphant opening night at New York City's
Circle in the Square Theatre. I wrote about the experience of seeing the show
last week, and
Seven Days multimedia producer Eva Sollberger produced an [un-]
Stuck in Vermont video, as well.
Though Bechdel was not involved in creating the musical interpretation of her life story — a story that involves her coming out as a lesbian and her closeted gay father's suicide — her brilliant memoir catapulted her on this remarkable career trajectory. "I'm not fully inhabiting this yet," Bechdel told me in New York. "It's an amazing experience."
No doubt the Tony Awards ceremony will bring more amazing experiences to absorb. That will take place on Sunday, June 7, at Radio City Music Hall in NYC, and will be broadcast live 8-11 p.m. on CBS. Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming will host.