The Huntington’s ‘Fun Home’ is devastating, joyful and necessary
Alison Bechdel’s musicalized memoir returns to the stage
Photo Courtesy of Marc J Franklin
Fun Home
Book and lyrics by Lisa Kron
Based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel
Music composed by Jeanine Tesori
Directed by Logan Ellis
The Huntington Theatre
Nov. 14 – Dec. 14, 2025
The Huntington Theatre’s production of Fun Home asks how one can find joy in the most serious moments. The musical won five Tony Awards in 2015, which includes Best Musical. Based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir under the same name and directed by Logan Ellis, Fun Home presents a moving story about family, identity and grief that still manages to make you laugh in the most unexpected moments.
Fun Home follows Alison as she grapples with her past and her relationship with her parents. In the production, older Alison (Sarah Bockel) shares the stage with her younger counterparts (Maya Jacobson and Lyla Randall). Through her now-adult eyes, Alison looks back at her childhood in Pennsylvania, where she grew up in a family-run funeral home. She recalls the college days that led her to discover her sexual orientation, which then causes her to reflect on her father’s role in her life and make peace with his death. “He was gay and I was gay,” Alison says at the top of the show. “He killed himself and I… became a lesbian cartoonist.”
The one-act musical jumps back and forth through time using a series of songs. The first half of the story is more fast-paced; Alison paints a succession of short images of her childhood through choral, dynamic musical numbers that flow from one to the other. The second half, however, becomes darker and slower as each of the characters gets their much-awaited self-confrontation moment in which they examine their inner conflicts and expand on their experiences. Although necessary, the pacing of the story suffers slightly and leaves the audience wishing for an expanded run time that would allow them to meet the rest of the characters in the present, especially Alison’s mother Helen and her two brothers, who are never mentioned by Older Alison.
Performance-wise, Jacobson and Randall are standouts. As Young Alison and Medium Alison, they delivered the two key numbers, “Changing My Major” and “Ring of Keys” with incredible humor, heart, and skill. The first is hilarious while the second is heartwarming, but they both perfectly depict Alison seeing herself for who she truly is and what she aspires to become, freed from her father’s heteronormative expectations.
Bockel has perhaps the hardest role in the show, as well as the most thankless one. For most of the story, she is asked to remain onstage as a silent witness to her past. She only makes short interjections during awkward moments of her childhood, such as seeing herself draw or attempting to flirt for the first time. However, the audience gets no details on Alison’s life as an adult. Providing more context about Older Alison’s life and relationships would have given Bockel the chance to act as the protagonist and showcase her talent. Instead, the younger versions of herself end up stealing most of the spotlight. It is only at the end of the musical, when Bockel sings “Telephone Wire,” that she truly demonstrates her talent.
Nick Duckart and Jennifer Ellis are fantastic as Alison’s parents, Bruce and Helen. Duckart skillfully balances the charming, loveable father Alison wants and remembers along with the manipulative, self-loathing and abusive adult that he could be at the same time. By doing so, Duckart keeps both sides fully grounded in reality. Next to him is Ellis’s quiet, calm Helen, playing the dutiful loving wife who holds the house together until she no longer can. The song “Days and Days” allows Helen to break the image of the perfect family she had fought so hard to maintain and wish for something better for her daughter.
Besides the authentic acting, Tanya Orellana’s set design is also a highlight of the musical. The exposed orchestra keeps the music at the center of the performance, while the moving set pieces give the perfect atmosphere of the old historic house Bruce works to restore. The props are smart and eye-catching, with the larger ones, such as TVs or caskets, designed so the younger actors can jump out of them. The only set that is never developed is the car, portrayed only through Philip Rosenberg’s lighting design. This choice is confusing in a few scenes towards the halfway mark, but it’s justified because it makes a final moment even more heartwrenching.
Despite the theme of grief, this is also a story about freedom: Alison breaks free from the expectations and self-hatred that chained her father and chooses to embrace her identity. The Huntington Theatre’s production creates a space where the audience can experience the joys of childhood and finding one’s true self, as well as the admiration of one’s parents along with the hurt and grief that come with losing them.