The comic book Fun Home by Alison Bechdel was adapted to a stage musical, which was first performed on Broadway in 2015. The musical tells the story of the character Alison, who comes to terms with her sexuality throughout different points in her life. As Alison grows up, different characters represent her as she narrates her memoir. Alison is depicted in the present day (by actress Beth Malone), working on her comic book, as well as by the characters Small Alison (originally played by Sydney Lucas) and Medium Alison (played on Broadway by Emily Skeggs). The musical began as an off-Broadway production in 2013, and it transferred to Broadway two years later. It then went on tour across the United States in 2016 and premiered in London in 2018. In 2015, Fun Home was nominated for multiple Tony Awards, and it won Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, and more.
One aspect of Fun Home that makes it so relatable is that there really aren't any gaps in Alison's lifetime -- it is all laid out for the audience. Alison Bechdel shamelessly details her vulnerability and the struggles that she went through as a child, trying to figure out who she is as a person while also discovering a new side of her father -- throughout the story, she realizes that they have more in common than she originally thought. Her father also has a history of exploring his own sexuality, and he and Alison are able to bond over the feelings of isolation that they both have felt in their past. As the character grows older, Medium Alison journals about her worries about transitioning into college. When she is at college, Medium Alison sees the opportunity to start fresh, but the hindrances of her past still weigh on her. A transformative part of both the comic book and the musical is when Medium Alison stands outside the door of her college's gay pride club, hesitant to join. There, she meets Joan, who is confident in her identity as a lesbian. Medium Alison admires Joan, and they soon begin a relationship.
As Alison Bechdel's memoir is brought to life, her involvement in creating it as a comic book is not lost on the stage. Present-day Alison is characterized as a successful middle-aged cartoonist, and her memories are staged in song. Fun Home is a very resonant musical, and it was received very well because of its depiction of sexuality and growing up, which is proudly presented through the many awards it has won. Much of the cast identifies with the LGBTQ+ community, making their representations of the characters even more special. Beth Malone is a proud supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, and she has said that being involved in the production of Fun Home as well as reading the comic book has helped her become more publically expressive about her beliefs surrounding equality and pride (Hetrick 1).
In Broadway World's article, "Lisa Kron Talks Fun Home Book Versus Musical & More," Lisa Kron, who was on the Fun Home musical production team, discusses the way that Alison's coming out is portrayed differently in each form of the story. Kron says, " ... another one of our breakthrough moments in the writing came when we realized there was a time when Alison had viewed her coming out as a catalyst for her father's death. She says that in the book, and the book is predicated on her coming out as a catalyst. But in the theatrical version, the thing that will break your heart is that when she comes out, she's not thinking about him at all. It's her life that is opening." When Alison Bechdel created the comic book, she was still ridden with guilt about her father's death, and she placed the blame on herself. However, after the adaptation into a musical, she was able to realize that coming to terms with her sexuality is an essential part of life, and that she couldn't have predicted the death of her father. It wasn't her fault, and it took viewing her story from an outside perspective to realize that. Bechdel was evidently more involved with the creation of the comic than the production of the musical. In terms of the comic, it was just her, her thoughts, and the paper. Bechdel didn't have much outside influence in the creation of her memoir. So, all of the guilt and responsibility that she felt in relation to her father's death was blatantly reflected in the comic book. Through working with a production team, however, Bechdel was able to reevaluate her childhood and make peace with the fact that her coming out and her father's death were separate and unrelated events. In short, the comic helped Bechdel organize her thoughts about her childhood, and the musical helped her understand them.
What's beautiful about comic books and musicals is that they are both visual mediums. In American Industrial Culture and the Comic Book, M. Thomas Inge writes "we must remind ourselves that drawing and writing followed parallel paths of development and have a common origin -- that is, the need to communicate" (Inge 131). This is exactly what Bechdel did in her comic memoir. She communicated her story both to herself and others, and the adaptation into the musical allowed the narrative to reach an even wider audience. By telling such a personal story about sexuality, many minorities found themselves represented on the page and on the stage, which was exceedingly progressive. Since the comic book was a memoir, it is natural to see Alison grow older throughout the book, and the choice to cast so many children is the musical is really what made Fun Home so special. The show gave a voice to a crowd that is usually ignored, and it challenged the stereotype that you need to be an adult to have your sexuality figured out.
Overall Fun Home in both mediums was a milestone for the LGBTQ+ community. This singular adaptation brought Fun Home everywhere, with the creation of merchandise, an Original Broadway Cast Recording of the songs, fan art, and so much more. The musical increased visibility for comic book writers and readers, as well as for the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. The story continues to be revolutionary, and it opened a conversation about sexuality that is ongoing today.
