Tuesday night we opened the musical Fun Home at the Fisher Theatre.
This is absolutely one of my favorite musicals because I can really relate to the main character, Alison, as she tells the story of her family, her coming out experience, and dealing with her father's closeted sexuality and the price it paid on their family.
Now, my story is different. To my knowledge neither of my folks had closeted sexuality issues - but we had / have many many issues... which is really the reason this musical resonates with so many people. Yes it's a coming out story, and yes the Bechdel's have specific issues, but what family does not have issues and to be honest, who doesn't have something they can relate to Alison's realization that she's gay? The story is quite universal when you boil it down to its base.
There is a song in the musical called Ring Of Keys. It is about young Alison's experience seeing what the script calls an "old school butch" walk into a diner and her immediate connection to her. She was 8, maybe 10 at the time. She didn't know that she was gay, probably didn't know that the woman she saw was gay, but she had an immediate, fulfilling, sense of herself.
In that moment she had the calm, heartening, acknowledgment of "I'm like her." There was someone in the world she could relate to and that was it. Ring Of Keys makes me cry every time I listen to it. I have had these moments, many times. Not just in a sexual way -but in a self-aware, reassuring, moment that this person I'm talking to, or I'm seeing, is LIKE ME. We are connected on a deeply human level and I know more about who I am because they exist at this moment, in this space, in my life.
There are a wealth of other things to talk about from this show. I could write for days. But this celebration of the human condition, of our connection with each other, of our need to see ourselves as a part of something greater than ourselves, as like our brothers and sisters, as not alone in the world... this gives me profound joy. It is cause for celebration. It is something to seek out, find and cherish.
And see Fun Home if you have not. It is the BEST show on our season this year and many people are going to pass it up because it is an unfamiliar name/story. Don't pass it up.
http://www.broadwayindetroit.com/shows/fun-home