It has been 10 years since the Tony-winning Best Musical Fun Home opened on Broadway at Circle in the Square Theatre. The show, which was adapted from Alison Bechdel's 2006 graphic memoir of the same name, featured music by Jeanine Tesori, a book and lyrics by Lisa Kron, and direction by Sam Gold. The chamber musical ended up being one of the most impressive underdog stories in recent Tony history.
The musical tracks Bechdel's journey of self-discovery from childhood as she comes to terms with her identity as a lesbian, as well as her complicated relationship with her father, a closeted gay man. The production received rave reviews, particularly for its ground-breaking portrayal of a lesbian woman coming-of-age. As wrote: "gay men increasingly claim pride of place in musical theatre, gay women remain largely invisible there."
The then-uncommon representation Fun Home offered鈥攃oupled with its soaring, dynamic score鈥攃aptivated audiences. The initial Off-Broadway run at the Public was extended , before making a Broadway transfer, where it won five Tonys, including Best Musical, Best Direction for Gold, Best Actor for Michael Cerveris, Best Book for Kron, and Best Score for Kron and Tesori. The latter two wins marked the first time an all-female writing team received those awards. The show opened April 19, 2015 and closed September 10, 2016, after running 583 performances.
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Fun Home, 半岛体育 is checking in with the original Broadway cast to see where they've journeyed since leaving the house on Maple Avenue.
Michael Cerveris (Bruce)
Cerveris won his second Tony award for his tragic performance as Bruce, the father of Alison Bechdel. Before Fun Home, Cerveris was already one of the most critically lauded actors of his generation, having made his Broadway debut in The Who's Tommy in 1993 before taking on some of musical theatres most recognizable roles, including the titular demon barber in the 2005 revival of Sweeney Todd, Juan Per贸n in Evita, and John Wilkes Booth in Assassins (which earned him his first Tony). After Fun Home, Cerveris took an extended break from Broadway, spending much of his time in his beloved New Orleans with his band . Cerveris returned to Broadway in 2024, bringing the wicked Jerry Falwell to life in the short-lived Tammy Faye. Fingers crossed we see him back on the boards again soon!
Judy Kuhn (Helen)
Four-time Tony nominee Judy Kuhn, who played opposite Cerveris as Bechdel's mother Helen, was also a Broadway legend before she broke our hearts singing "Days and Days." Broadway's original Cosette in Les Mis茅rables, Kuhn's star turns in Rags, Chess, She Loves Me, and more have made her one of the most recognizable soprano voices on Broadway. Kuhn is always busy. She joined the cast of the 2015 Fiddler on the Roof revival just one month after Fun Home closed on Broadway. In the last decade, she's turned her attention to the Off-Broadway space, appearing in Classic Stage Company's productions of Assassins and I Can Get It for You Wholesale, the City Center Encores! stagings of Hey, Look Me Over! and Titanic. She can currently be seen in Becoming Eve at New York Theatre Workshop.
Sydney Lucas (Small Alison)
Lucas was only 10 years old when she starred in Fun Home as the youngest iteration of Bechdel, making waves for her yearning-filled rendition of "Ring of Keys" at the 2015 Tony Awards. Since then, she has worked hard to balance her performance career with the art of growing up, attending New York University in addition to her stage appearance as Mary Lennox in Lincoln Center's 2016 concert version of The Secret Garden, and her screen performances in Netflix film Dude and AMC's television show The Son. In recent years, Lucas has put much of her focus on work within the medical field, receiving her EMT certification while being mentored by the world renowned neuro-oncologist Dr. Henry Friedman. Now 21 years old, Lucas has opted out of an active social media presence as she figures out what she wants her life to look like after Tony-nominated child stardom. We wish her the best!
Emily Skeggs (Medium Alison)
Skeggs has had quite a career on screen since she sang "Changing My Major" in Fun Home! Following her Tony-nominated performance, Skeggs played activist Roma Guy in ABC's miniseries When We Rise, which explored the LGBT civil rights movement in the United States over several decades. She followed the project up with the critically acclaimed film Dinner in America, which took off as a cult favorite four years after its premiere at Sundance in 2020, in part because of Skeggs' rendition of the song "Watermelon" in the film going viral on TikTok. Currently, Skeggs is back on the promotional circuit for the film thanks to its new burst of success, and she is in the middle of rehearsing for her return to the stage in the musical The Apple Boys at Bucks County Playhouse, which will run May 2鈥�25.
Beth Malone (Alison)
Malone was no stranger to the New York stage when the opportunity to play adult Alison Bechdel came around, and she hasn't been a stranger since. Malone appeared as the Angel in Angels in America on Broadway shortly after receiving her Tony nomination for Fun Home. She also appeared in partial costume as Alison for a cameo in the film adaptation of tick, tick... BOOM! (directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda). She then played another powerful real-life woman in the 2020 Off-Broadway revival of The Unsinkable Molly Brown. These days, she's put much of her focus on her screen career, with the occasional regional jaunt (she played The Cat in the Hat in Seussical at Pittsburgh CLO). She's currently at work writing a musical鈥�Starstruck, an updated, queer Cyrano鈥攃o-written with Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls and Mary Ann Stratton. Caption: Beth Malone as Cyrano? Sign us up.
Roberta Colindrez (Joan)
Since Fun Home, Colindrez has been hard at work in the film industry, pushing for less stereotypical depictions of queer Latine people on screen. Her breakout role came in 2017, when her portrayal of a butch artist on the show I Love Dick rocketed her to mainstream attention. Colindrez quickly follow that with HBO's The Deuce (about the life of sex workers in 1970s New York), the Starz series Vida (about two Mexican-American sisters reorienting their life after the death of their mother), and the 2020 Amazon series remake of A League of Their Own, where she played Lupe, the star pitcher in an all-female baseball team. In 2024, Colindrez returned to Broadway where she played Pippa, who spends a tense Christmas with her wife's ultra-religious family in Leslye Headland's Cult of Love.
Zell Steele Morrow (John)
Like many child stars, Morrow has been easing into adulthood. After Fun Home, Morrow appeared in the Encores Off Center revival of Really Rosie and the Broadway run of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child before taking a step away to grow up and complete his schooling at New York's Professional Performing Arts High School. We're all eager to see what Morrow will do next!
Jo茅l P茅rez (Roy/Mark/Pete/Bobby/Jeremy)
Perez may have been a jack of all trades in Fun Home, but in the decade since, he has stepped into center stage. He played Vittorio, Daddy Brubeck, Herman, and Charlie in the Off-Broadway revival of Sweet Charity with Sutton Foster, and Pepe in Kiss My Aztec at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. As a voice actor, he portrays the moth demon Valentino in Hazbin Hotel. As a director, he led the film Villa Encanto, a coming-of-age film set in 1960s Spanish Harlem and a Puerto Rican summer resort, which is set to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival later this year.
Oscar Williams (Christian)
The third of the child actors in the show, Williams reunited with Lucas in the 2016 Lincoln Center concert of The Secret Garden, playing her sickly cousin Colin Craven. Currently, he is hard at work on his studies, refining his craft as a musical theatre major at Pace University. In 2023, he put together his solo cabaret debut for 54 Below, exploring the music he loves and the roles he hopes to one day play. We can't wait to see where he goes once his diploma is in hand!
Lauren Patten (Understudy Joan, Medium Alison)
Fun Home's talented coterie of understudies included at least one future Tony winner! Patten made her Broadway debut with Fun Home before stepping into the developmental process of Jagged Little Pill, where her portrayal of Jo (singing the Alanis Morissette anthem "You Oughta Know") won her the 2020 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. Last year, she led the rock musical The Lonely Few at Off-Broadway's MCC Theater. On-screen, she had a 21-episode arc on the procedural Blue Bloods, and was in the main cast of the murder mystery show Death and Other Details on Hulu.
Gabriella Pizzolo (Understudy Small Alison, John, Christian)
Pizzolo was already a big deal in the child star market before Fun Home, as a former Broadway Matilda. Her career after Fun Home took her to even greater heights. In 2019, Pizzolo received widespread acclaim for her recurring role as Suzie Bingham in the hit Netflix series Stranger Things, which has kept her busy on the screen and across the fan convention circuit, in addition to her hard work developing new work, and leading .
Marrick Smith (Understudy Roy/Mark/Pete/Bobby/Jeremy)
Since Fun Home, Smith has shifted most of his focus to becoming an audio engineer, working as the lead engineer at Les Paul's Iridium in Midtown Manhattan. Smith has collaborated with music icons like Marc Lettieri, Jimmy Vivino, and Chris Baron of the Spin Doctors, translating artists' visions into sonic realities. He has also written the scores for several successful films, including The Screens (Best Short Film, Ferrara Film Festival), Tuesday (WeShort), and The Hosts.
Jim Stanek (Understudy Bruce)
Stanek was a familiar Broadway face long before Fun Home, having starred in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Little Women, Lestat, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, and more. After Fun Home, Stanek returned to Broadway in 2022, performing as the Steward in the hit revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's fairytale musical Into The Woods. Stanek then took the show out on tour. He's now back in the Tri-State area, acting in numerous workshops and regional productions.
Nicole Van Giesen (Understudy Helen, Alison)
After Fun Home, Van Giesen joined the understudy crew for another Broadway musical about a dysfunctional family: Dear Evan Hansen. Van Giesen remained with Dear Evan Hansen for many years, sticking with the show through its Broadway closure in 2022. In the years since, she has put much of her focus on raising her sons, with sojourns back to the stage and screen as a part of The Gilded Age and Law and Order.
BONUS: Rebecca Luker (Replacement Helen)
While not a part of Fun Home's original Broadway cast, we would be remiss to overlook three-time Tony nominee Rebecca Luker's time as the matriarch of the Bechdel family. Luker stepped in to cover for Kuhn when she needed to take a month-long leave of absence following hip surgery. Fun Home marked Luker's final appearance on the Broadway stage before her unfortunate passing in 2020 from ALS. A treasured member of the theatre community, Luker is deeply and dearly missed. 半岛体育 continues to support Project ALS in their mission to find and fund a cure for the neurological disorder; .
Take a look back at the original Broadway run of Fun Home below.
