Stage: Davidson Community Players' Fun Home
An excellent cast does justice to Alison Bechdel's acclaimed autobiographical musical.
Davidson Community Players, a theater group just north of Charlotte, was founded by Queen City theater legend Connie Welsh in 1965 and has operated continuously since the early 80s. Kicking off its new season with the musical Fun Home, DCP opted to push the limits of their most intimate performance space, the Armour Street Theatre, and achieved excellent results.
In its original Broadway run, Fun Home earned twelve nominations at the 2015 Tonys and won five of them, including Best Musical. If you are not familiar with the show, it doesn’t fit neatly into its category. Based on the acclaimed graphic novel “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic” by Alison Bechdel, the musical faithfully brings to life Alison’s coming out story and her reflections on her relationship with her closeted father.
It is remarkably personal subject matter for a Broadway musical, and made all the more intimate by its small scale: the play takes place across a couple living rooms, a college dorm room, and the front seat of a car. Director Danielle Melendez has crafted a tight, earnest production with heartrending impact.
Fun Home
by Davidson Community Players
at Armour Street Theatre
307 Armour Street, Davidson, NC 28036
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Book and Lyrics by Lisa Kron
Based on the Graphic Novel by Alison Bechdel
Starring Kel Wright as Alison & Ashby Blakely as Bruce
February 22 – March 10, 2024
Shows at 7:30 PM Thursday-Saturday
2:00 PM Sundays
Additional 2:00 PM Matinee on Saturday, March 9
Purchase Tickets
Charlotte has seen a production of Fun Home since its Broadway debut, at Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte in 2019. Four crew members of that production at ATC, which closed in 2022 after thirty-four seasons, have reunited for DCP’s production: Melendez returns to direct, the show’s production and stage managers are Carrie Cranford and Kathryn Harding, and Chip Decker is in charge of scenic design.
With Bailey Fischer’s inspired, dumbstruck awe in “Ring Of Keys,” and Ann Schnabel’s flabbergasted exultation in “Changing My Major,” Fun Home reminds us how awakening love can be both grounding and dizzying. With Alison Rhinehardt’s heart wrenching shifts on “Days and Days,” and Ashby Blakely drumming gently on Bruce Bechdel’s leitmotif, “I might still break a heart or two,” in “Edges of the World,” the play also reminds us of how the heart will drown when it doesn’t find safe harbor.
The cast’s excellence doesn’t undermine its unity. The principals each deliver a punch, but the pacing and choreography on Melendez’s stage is balanced. Schnabel’s uncanny comedic timing and genuine presence in Medium Alison’s budding romance stands out, as does Blakely’s grasp of Bruce’s dual character – his emotional switches from sweet to stern are subtle but crushing. Fischer’s confident performance as Small Alison makes this world feel real.
At least musically, there are moments of Broadway bombast available to a theater producing Fun Home. DCP has balanced against this, and Chip Decker’s set feels like a pencil-line ghost of a home in an unfolding origami box. The play’s sparse construction – a middle aged Alison looking back on her “Medium” and “Small” selves – allows the tiny theater space at Armour Street, filled with music, to feel broad and deep.
The scenery recalls the folded page, a white living room corner accented with a powder blue ombre. It is a winning nod to the musical’s graphic novel source material and is supported by two LED picture windows that project Alison’s sketches. Sharp triangles protruding above the stage might reference paper airplanes, but also underscore the discontent at the Bechdel Funeral Home - the “Fun Home.”
As timely today as it was when the graphic novel was first published in 2006, Fun Home is not only about one family’s unique trials. It is about the catharsis of coming out, and the purity of joy found in new love. It is also a cautionary tale about the costs of lifelong shame, which twists and harms the individual who harbors it, and sends ripples of pain radiating from them.
DCP’s production of Fun Home runs through March 10, with a recently added matinee on Saturday, March 9.