Duke Anderson, left, plays father to Alison Bechdel’s adult and small versions played by Leslie Marie Collins and Summer Stern. (Photo courtesy Uptown Players.)

Uptown Players’ ‘Fun Home’ is heartbreakingly exquisite

Rich Lopez  | Staff Writer
rich@dallasvoice.com

Fun Home opens with, of all things, a spoiler alert. In the first song, the audience learns that the father dies, but it’s what that piece of information does for the whole show. With the musical’s emotional ups and downs, that knowledge adds a troublesome cloud in Uptown Players’ latest production that waits throughout the show to spring at the right moment.

Based on Alison Bechdel’s autobiographical book in graphic novel form, Lisa Kron’s writing is a beautifully quilted mix of happiness, frustration, queerness and anger captured primarily in the funeral home where the Bechdel’s live. As Alison discovers her own lesbian identity, her father has been hiding his while also leading a double sneaky life.

The musical features three Alisons: Small (Summer Stern), Medium (Emily Truelove) and Adult (Leslie Marie Collins). The latter is predominantly onstage at all times serving as a present day Alison telling her story as they come to life. She’s reliving the good and bad of her past for her book.

In those stories, the audience meets her father Bruce (Duke Anderson), her mother Helen (Jennifer Kuenzer) and brothers John and Christian (Hunter Hall and Max Rudelman).

Like any family — and under the polished direction of Cheryl Denson — this one has its problems, and the cast’s chemistry felt like watching a complete family story unravel onstage.

Stern’s command of Small Alison was a revelation. She seemed to approach her character as an adult giving Small Alison layers of depth. She could rely on childish cuteness when needed as in the scene where she and her brothers film a commercial for the funeral home. But then she was tender and vulnerable in scenes with Anderson where either the two were in conflict or sharing a moment.

Collins had the trickiest of versions. Despite being the main character, she had to be on the sidelines much of her time onstage.

Collins made her presence known still and sometimes silently depending on her stage blocking. And when centerstage, particularly in “Telephone Wire,” she was unforgettable.

Truelove’s performance as Middle Alison found the character in her formative college years. Of the Alison’s, this was the most layered. Truelove went from naive young adult to a newly sexually active lesbian with the help of the confident and sexy Joan (Ashlie Whitworth). Truelove captured young love excitement with aplomb and then countered it with shock to learn about her father’s own gay identity. Her story — or this version — was perhaps the most compelling because the audience knew where she’s coming from and where she’s going.

Despite the difference in performances, there are enough similarities that truly embody one Alison.

In the beginning, Anderson was the all-American dad type fixing up the house and playing with his children. As more was revealed, Anderson navigated Bruce into scary territories from his explosive demeanor toward his family to a dark seedy side that tempted underage men and family friends. As Anderson peeled the layers as the show progressed, he revealed a shell of a man so conflicted that made it hard to decide how to judge him. Was he sympathetic? Was he pathetic? Both? That Anderson could orchestrate both a performance and those emotions was masterful. That the audience knows the outcome doesn’t make his demise any less shocking.

As the doting but not passive wife, Kuenzer’s Helen was an eggshell performance. Eventually she would crack under pressure. Kuenzer had the wherewithal to blend motherly love with sexual and romantic frustration mixed in with feelings of betrayal. When she finally has her moment, Kuenzer knocked it out with a gut-wrenching ache.

Fun Home isn’t a Rodgers and Hammerstein type musical. There isn’t happiness abounding in every corner, but the story is so human, and Denson not only took her actors to that place where family comes with pain and misery but also moments of joy and love. Donna Marquet’s sets and Amanda West’s lighting gave added drama and warmth. Music director Isaac Leaverton’s orchestra was crisp and lush at the same time evoking all the necessary emotions for Fun Home’s scenes.

Leaving Fun Home, and even the Kalita Humphreys Theater, the heartbreak of the story remained, and sympathy for all of those characters lingered. That’s what made this production such a joy to see. Uptown Players and the show’s cast and crew not only put on a show, but created an experience that is worth thinking about long after.

Fun Home runs through Aug. 29 at the Kalita Humphreys Theater. For tickets, visit uptownplayers.org.