The story concerns Bechdel's discovery of her own lesbian sexuality, her relationship with her closeted gay father, and her attempts to unlock the mysteries surrounding his life.
Bechdel's coming out as a lesbian is complicated by the revelation that Bruce was a closeted homosexual whose extra-marital affairs included underage males.
[6] (Of the cast of that staged reading, only Judy Kuhn and Beth Malone continued in their roles to the full Off-Broadway production.
[10][11] On April 8, 2013, musical selections from the show were performed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, Judy Kuhn, David Hyde Pierce and others at an event for the Sundance Institute.
[8] In early versions, the production was structured around Bechdel's drawings, but the creators later removed most of this element, save for one image of Bruce and young Alison which is used at the musical's conclusion.
The first is her childhood, around age 10 (Small Alison), when she struggles against her father Bruce's obsessive demands and begins to identify her inchoate sexuality.
Alison remembers herself, as a child, demanding that her father Bruce play "airplane" with her, while he sorts through a box of junk and valuables he has salvaged from a barn ("It All Comes Back").
In a phone call with her father and a journal entry, Medium Alison expresses her anxiety about starting college ("Not Too Bad").
Medium Alison hesitates outside the door of the college's Gay Union, and is flummoxed when she meets Joan, a confident young lesbian.
Medium Alison writes a letter to her parents about college life but does not mention Joan or her recent realization that she is a lesbian ("Thanks for the Care Package").
At a luncheonette with her father, Small Alison notices a butch delivery woman and feels an inexplicable kinship with her ("Ring of Keys").
Medium Alison calls home to demand a better response from her parents and is astonished when her mother reveals that her father has had sexual relationships with men and boys.
[20][21] The production was directed by Sam Gold, with sets and costumes by David Zinn, lighting by Ben Stanton, projections by Jim Findlay and Jeff Sugg, and choreography by Danny Mefford.
[18] In response to a controversy in which the legislature of South Carolina attempted to financially punish the College of Charleston for choosing the original graphic novel of Fun Home as a reading selection for incoming freshmen, the off-Broadway cast presented a concert of songs from the musical to a full house in Charleston, South Carolina, in April 2014.
[25] The Off-Broadway cast reprised their roles on Broadway, except for the actors playing Medium Alison, John and Christian Bechdel.
[28] The first international production of Fun Home played at the RCBC Plaza in Makati, Manila, Philippines, in November 2016, with Cris Villonco as Alison, Lea Salonga as Helen and Eric Kunze as Bruce.
[35] A production in Carmel, California, by Pacific Repertory Theatre at the Golden Bough Playhouse, directed by Stephen Moorer and choreographed by Sam Trevino, played in February 2018.
It starred Kaisa Hammarlund as Alison, Zubin Varla as Bruce and Jenna Russell as Helen and ran from June to September 2018.
[38] A Catalan language version directed by Daniel Anglès ran at the Teatre Condal in Barcelona from September to November 2018.
[58] After the musical opened on Broadway in 2015, new portions of the show were recorded, and parts were re-recorded, especially to feature Emily Skeggs in the role of Medium Alison.
The song "Party Dress" was added for Small Alison in place of "Al for Short", as the latter has been removed from the Broadway show.
Its universality comes from its awareness of how we never fully know even those closest to us, and of the undercurrent of grown-up secrets, intuited by children, that exists to some degree in every family.
Bechdel's ironically self-aware and inwardly searching sensibility is honored by a musical that isn't afraid to reveal its awkward side."
Though less positive than Brantley, Dziemianowicz or McNulty, Miriam Krule of Slate still said "there are also moments of pure joy, and the musical shines during these".
Adam Hetrick, editor-in-chief of Playbill.com, described Fun Home as "the best musical of the year", calling it "an emotionally-packed piece of theatre, full of joy, heart, sorrow and uncomfortable reality".
[66] New York Times music critic Anthony Tommasini praised Tesori's score as a "masterpiece", noting that the "vibrant pastiche songs" and "varied kinds of music... a jazzy number for the young Alison in the middle of a rescue fantasy; Sondheim-influenced songs that unfold over insistent rhythmic figures and shifting, rich harmonies" come together to create "an impressively integrated entity".
"[68] Anticipating the play's move to Broadway, David Levesley of online magazine Mic heralded Fun Home's focus on the individual experience of a lesbian, calling it "the most daring, relentless analysis of homosexual identity on the New York stage right now".
[69] Kalle Oskari Mattila, in The Atlantic, however, argued that although the musical presents the novel's themes clearly, its Broadway marketing campaign "obfuscates rather than clarifies" the queer narrative of the original novel.
[80] Jeanine Tesori & Lisa Kron were the first female writing team to win the Tony Award for Best Original Score.
[88] According to The Hollywood Reporter, however, Gyllenhaal and Nine Stories signed a three-year first-look deal with Amazon MGM Studios in 2024, and the adaptation is "in development".