'Fun Home' tour brings Des Plaines actress back to Chicago stage
Des Plaines actress Susan Moniz jokes that she and co-star Robert Petkoff seem “destined” to play dysfunctional spouses.
They did so in Chicago Shakespeare Theater's 2011 staging of the Stephen Sondheim/James Goldman musical “Follies.” And they're at it again in the national tour of the 2015 Broadway musical “Fun Home.”
“Someday in the future,” said Petkoff, a former Chicagoan, “we'll get to play a happy married couple.”
Until then, they're glad to be “back home” for the Chicago premiere of this five-time Tony Award-winning show at the Oriental Theatre.
Moniz and Petkoff play Helen and Bruce Bechdel, the troubled real-life parents of cartoonist Alison Bechdel.
Previously known for her syndicated lesbian-themed comic strip, which spawned the feminist “Bechdel Test” for judging Hollywood films, Bechdel crossed over into mainstream pop culture in 2006 with her award-winning “graphic memoir” “Fun Home.”
Bechdel's family ran a funeral home, nicknamed “Fun Home” by the Bechdel siblings. But her memoir revealed painful truths behind the family's well-maintained facade.
Bechdel's own coming out as a lesbian in 1980 occurred shortly before her mother revealed that Bruce had been having relationships with a string of younger men. And not long after that, Bruce died from a likely suicide after Helen finally asked for a divorce.
Playwright Lisa Kron (“Well,” “The Secretaries”) envisioned this unlikely source material as a musical. She approached Broadway composer Jeanine Tesori (“Caroline, or Change,” “Shrek The Musical”) as a collaborator.
Three different actresses share the role of Alison, playing her as a child, a college student and a 43-year-old artist. Northwestern University alumna and Miss America winner Kate Shindle plays grown-up Alison for director Sam Gold's reconfigured tour staging.
Both Moniz and Petkoff hope the emotional toll of their dramatic roles won't be too draining over the next year.
“I really don't get to smile much at all in the show,” Moniz said, also admitting to the acting challenges of Kron's time-shifting structure for “Fun Home.”
“(Bruce) had this central struggle of ... denying his own sexuality. It's a difficult journey,” said Petkoff, who was relieved to get Alison Bechdel's approval of his performance after she caught the tour's opening in Cleveland earlier this month.
Moniz and Petkoff are quick to mention the many joys of “Fun Home,” which they insist has lots of laughs and a score filled with up-tempo songs that recall the sound of the Jackson Five and “The Partridge Family.”
Moniz thought the time was right for her to tour since her kids are now 16 and 18. And she's glad that her offstage friendship with Petkoff will continue to grow during the tour.
“Robert's really a great guy and a perfect co-star,” she said.
“Fun Home”
Location: Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago, (800) 775-2000 or
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday (also 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3); runs Wednesday, Nov. 2, to Sunday, Nov. 13
Tickets: $22-$95