Prior to sitting down and watching the musical, I had wondered to myself, ‘How on Earth is it possible to make a tragicomic like Fun Home into a musical?’ I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by the end of the musical. Though I did wish some parts were more accurately depicted in terms of comparing the musical with the tragicomic, I felt that it was a great musical. Being that it was my first musical, I wasn’t actually too sure what to expect from it. The only thing I had in mind was how the novel would translate when made into a musical where the novel would become heavily condensed by the time constraints of the musical.

I feel that Fun Home was a hard piece of literature to work with when trying to make it into a musical. This is because Fun Home is a graphic novel. The reader knows exactly how each specific aspect of the novel should look and feel. We are given images, which display the character’s emotions, actions, and motives. It is not really up to the reader to decipher what the author had intended for us to understand. Thus, we have no choice but to complain when things are done differently during the musical. The director of the musical has to plan out how each character would be best represented in the context of a musical, not a novel.

Thus, despite certain disparities between the novel and the musical, I found the musical to be a great success. In the musical’s context, the character Alison was THE central figure. Everyone else played a side role where they would lead to the growth and development of Alison. However, the novel emphasizes Bruce and a number of other characters in great detail. Bruce is made out to be a much worse father in the novel than in the musical, but that is understandable. I felt that in order to keep everyone focused on Alison and her coming out, it was necessary to change the characters up to a certain extent.

Overall, I found the musical to be a very good one by being able to maintain the central theme of the novel, while having its own flavor. The excellent music was also a plus.

On October 23rd, Fun Home the musical was something that we all got the chance to see at the Public theatre. Going into the performance, already having read the comic styled novel I wasn’t exactly sure how they were going to make it into a musical. The way the book read made it seem as if it could be composed into a play but to think of making into a musical quite didn’t click for me. Boy was I wrong, the moment the performance started after having taken our seats we were immediately entertained by Allison in her youth singing a song. The context of the song was in my opinion gracefully executed because it encompassed both the uncertainty and frustration Allison experienced growing up.

As the performance progressed all of the little details that were put into the musical began exposing themselves and working so well with both the production of the musical and the messages and motifs of the work. The changes in perspective were done with elegance in which they constantly changed between the three different phases of Allison’s life being her early childhood, confused teenage years, and her current self being represented throughout the musical as a outsider looking in trying to debunk the mystery of her life. I felt as if the incorporation of the flashbacks although vital to the story were also done in such a way that it not only respected the original intent of the author but also added to the production. It made the audience want to stay focused on the musical because it constantly was introducing different perspectives from different times in Allison’s life which is different from a typical story simply going in chronological order.

After watching the musical I was also defiantly introduced to the work in a different light. While reading it many of the scenes and situations took on a rather dark feeling in which although there were at times humor it wasn’t as relevant as it was in the musical. The musical took the work and transformed it into a true performance that would not only tell the story but would make sure that the audience was constantly entertained and not given a chance to think of it as being boring for even a moment. The sudden changes in lighting, the absolute stunning performances by the actors, especially the children who gave a performance nothing less than professional, along with the physical stage and music allowed the musical to mold into a true success. They made the performance fun, keeping true to the title I suppose without sacrificing the meaning behind the work. Incorporating song and dance scenes such as the one about the fun home commercial where the kids decided to dance on top and inside the coffins gave me the impression that they sincerely understood the elements that made the work so unique. The irony of every situation and the juxtaposition of the different ideals being some of the concepts which made the musical and work so different and special.

The incorporation of each element of the work and the distinct qualities of each character such as Bruce and his personality along with Allison and her uncertainty were done so with a true understanding of the novel Fun Home. Nonetheless the performance is surely one I would recommend to anyone wanting to have a good time and experiencing the story for themselves.