piece of theater becomes doing some-
thing other than telling one person’s
story. The interest is in crafting a story
that is more of an archetype, more
generally about the human condition.
“I think artists are mercenaries, and
they look for stories they can use to
make a connection with their audi-
ences.”
Kron, Tesori and Bechdel felt a
kinship because they are close in age,
growing up in the late ’60s and ’70s.
Kron felt an additional connection in
that the questions asked about father-
daughter relationships in the book
generally are questions Kron asked
about her own parent-child connec-
tions even though the actual stories
are very different.
“My being gay wasn’t what my par-
ents expected, and they had to adjust
to it,” she says.
As Kron and Tesori collaborated,
they sent Bechdel fragmented script
material and demos of songs with
reminders of the inventions and con-
flations. The response was that even

NOW
ON SALE!

February 1 – 26

| Detroit Opera House

BroadwayInDetroit.com | 866-870 -2717

Groups (12+): 313-871-1132

©Disney

ABOVE: Alessandra Baldacchino as
“Small Alison” and Robert Petkoff
as “Bruce” INSET: An illustration
panel from Bechdel’s graphic novel
LEFT: A scene from Fun Home

the made-up parts felt true.
“Because of the timeline of theater,
I’m always working on multiple things
at the same time,” says Kron, a found-
ing member of the theater company
The Five Lesbian Brothers. “Also
because of collaboration, we’re always
working around availability of col-
laborators.
“From the time we started, I also
wrote my show In the Wake and was
in a production of The Good Person of
Szechwan by Brecht, one of my favor-
ite plays of all time. The Brecht play
moved from La MaMa Experimental
Theatre Club to the Public Theater
in New York so it was playing at the
Public Theater the same time Fun
Home premiered there.
“That was one of the great experi-
ences of my theatrical life. In the same
building, I was in one show and could
see the show I had written.”
While growing up in Lansing, Kron
attended services at Kehillat Israel and
was a member of Young Judaea. She
and her partner, playwright Madeliene
George, are members of B’nai
Jeshurun in New York City.
“Right now, I’m working on another
musical as an adaptation of the
Russian movie Stilyagi,” says Kron,
whose visit to Michigan will include a
presentation in Ann Arbor — Eileen
Myles & Lisa Kron in Conversation
with Holly Hughes. “It’s about the
desire for human expressiveness and
political pushback against that, which
presents a lot of problems interesting
to me.
“Because a musical is such an
American form, has such a sense of
personal quest as well as struggle
over adversity and [offers] eventual
triumph, it is interesting to figure
out how to get that propulsion into a
social system that is about the collec-
tive and not the individual.”

22122210

*

details

Fun Home runs Nov. 29-Dec. 11, at the Fisher Theatre in Detroit. Tickets start at
$39. (313) 872-1000; broadwayindetroit.com.
Eileen Myles & Lisa Kron in Conversation with Holly Hughes will be presented
6-7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29, in the Helmut Stern Auditorium at the University of
Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor. No admission fee. (734) 764-INFO.

2132580

November 17 • 2016

43

