It was just three years ago that Broadways Fun Home, based on the 2006 graphic novel of the same name by famed cartoonist Alison Bechdel, took home the Tony Award for Outstanding Musical.
In its Wilmington debut, audiences not only get to see such a powerful show locally, performed by members of the community — they also get to experience a home-run performance of the show.
Director Chris Turner went for a minimalist set design consisting of a few pieces of furniture, a coffin and a large outline of a house, built by Jeff Cook. The production is entirely about the actors and the characters they bring to life.
Fun Home is the autobiographical story of Alison Bechdel’s personal journey from funeral director’s daughter to college freshman discovering her sexuality to lesbian cartoonist (who is recalling the scenes as she creates the cartoons for the book the play is based on). As Alison, Kristen Tosh-Morelli is the shining center of the play, who “watches” her younger self in good and bad times, and often expresses the emotions her younger self couldn’t.
Tosh-Morelli may be better known to some in Delaware as Mrs. Tosh Morelli, longtime music teacher in the public schools. She is a natural fit for the role of Alison, the grown-up Alison who knows who she is and is comfortable in her own skin. This production is, surprisingly, her first time onstage since grade school, according to Kathy Buterbaugh, production manager of WDL.
Much of Alison’s story in Fun Home revolves around her father, Bruce, played by Nicholas D’Argenio, whose last WDL gig was directing the hilarious spoof musical, Disaster! As Bruce, D’Argenio takes on a more serious tone. Though Fun Home definitely has more than a few fun and light moments, it is, at its core, a family tragedy.
Alison’s mother, Helen, is played by Ruthie Chandler, las seen on the WDL stage in Peter and the Starcatcher. Helen is a sad and distant woman who Alison never quite gets, even looking back, and it comes through.
Two talented young actresses play Alison in her memories. “Small Alison,” played by Cab Calloway 8th grader Addie Nourie, who nails some of the show’s most memorable numbers, including “Come to the Fun Home” (a pretend commercial for the family funeral home) and “Ring of Keys,” a solo that embodies Alison’s overwhelmed reaction to seeing her first butch lesbian.
As college-aged Alison, Marion Jackson, last seen on the WDL stage in West Side Story, delivers a wonderfully awkward and relatable performance, highlighted with her solo (and possibly the most memorable song of the show) “Changing my Major.”
Supporting the Alisons and her parents are Alison’s first girlfriend Joan, played by Mackenzie Brockmeyer, who recently starred alongside Dan Sanchez in the Millburn Stone Theater’s production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Cab Calloway 7th grader Ben Nourie as her brother Christian; and little scene stealer Zoey Strasser, a 4th grader at Tower Hill, as youngest brother John. The rest of the characters, mainly men who drift in and out of the family’s lives, are played by Alex Cook.
If the cast and crew seem tight, it’s because the production is a family affair. “Addie and Ben are really brother and sister, and their mom and grandmother were the costumers for the show,” says Buterbaugh. “Chris Turner is the director and his wife Kim is the choreographer. The Cook family is totally here: Alex plays Roy and others, his brother Aaron designed the lights, mom Dee dee is props mistress, dad Jeff helped build the set.”
Of course, such a major show deserves a live orchestra. Though hidden behind the stage, the 7-piece orchestra directed by Kelly Kline (also a music educator, at Newark Charter) sounded amazing, and was well-balanced with the mic’d vocals.
The messages of Fun Home, of LGBTQ normalization and mental health awareness, are handled with care and honesty, without ever coming off as preachy or heavy-handed. There are serious themes and moments of emotional intensity, but it’s like growing up in a funeral home — sometimes, you have to laugh and dance in the coffin.
Fun Home runs through September 23, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The show is good for most ages, with a few profanities, off-scene sex, and a suicide storyline that may be too intense for young kids. Click here for tickets.
Photo credit: John Mc Cafferty/MJ Mac Productions