Welcome to Fun Home, an unforgettable, groundbreaking musical like no other.
Where memories linger like snowflakes, and the truth is always opaque. Where finding yourself means looking to the past and seeing yourself reflected in your father, who is exactly the same and still so different than you. It’s a place filled with humor, secrets, anger, unexpected joy, self-revelation and the most confounding thing of all: family.
Paramount Theatre presents the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Fun Home – book and lyrics by Lisa Kron, music by Jeanine Tesori, based on the popular graphic novel of the same name by Alison Bechdel – as the third production in its inaugural four-show BOLD Series.
Bechdel’s autobiographical story about her discovery of her own sexuality, her relationship with her closeted gay father, and her attempts to unlock the mysteries surrounding his life is in line with the BOLD mission: to bring fearless, thought-provoking and unexpected new forms of live theater to downtown Aurora.
Jim Corti, Paramount Theatre’s Artistic Director, co-directs Fun Home with Landree Fleming, in her Paramount directing debut.
Previews start August 3, 2022, at Paramount’s new Copley Theatre, 8 E. Galena Blvd., in the North Island Center in downtown Aurora. Press openings are Wednesday, August 10, and Thursday, August 11, 2022 at 7 p.m.
Performances run through September 18: Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. and
7 p.m.; Thursdays at 7 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Pay What You Can performances are Thursday, August 4 at 7 p.m., and Saturday, August 6 at 2 p.m. (see website for details). Regular tickets are $67 to $74.
For tickets and information to Fun Home at the Copley, visit paramountaurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Note: Fun Home is suggested for ages 13 and up for or some adult language and references to adult sexual content and suicide.
The Copley Theatre, a sleek, state-of-the-art, 165-seat theater with a modern new lobby bar and lounge, located right across the street from Paramount, reopened this past March as downtown Aurora’s newest live theater space following a two-year, $2 million, top-to-bottom renovation.
Behind-the scenes of Paramount’s BOLD Series production, Fun Home
Fun Home, the musical, traces author Alison Bechdel’s coming-of-age, from her youth, to her years at Oberlin College, and finally to the present, where Alison, now grown, is struggling to write her own graphic autobiography. As Alison reflects on her past, she struggles to make sense of it, particularly her relationship with her father, Bruce, a closeted gay man and the owner of the family business -- the Bechdel Funeral Home (“fun” home, as it’s known to young Alison and her brothers, John and Christian). As she watches her father’s self-loathing consume him, Alison recognizes her own experience of discovering, and ultimately embracing, her identity as a lesbian.
Paramount’s BOLD Series production of Fun Home, co-directed by (top, from left) Jim Corti and Landree Fleming, features Emilie Modaff as Alison, Elizabeth Stenholt as Medium Alison, Maya Keane and Milla Liss rotating as Small Alison, (bottom) Stephen Schellhardt as Bruce Bechdel, Emily Rohm as Helen Bechdel, Jaxon Mitchell as Christian Bechdel, Will Daly as Christian Bechdel (at certain performances), Ezekiel Ruiz as John Bechdel, Jordan Anthony Arredondo as Roy/Mark/Pete/Bobby Jeremy, and Devon Hayakawa as Joan.
Paramount’s cast for Fun Home features Emilie Modaff as Alison, Elizabeth Stenholt as Medium Alison, with Maya Keane and Milla Liss rotating performances as Small Alison. Stephen Schellhardt plays Alison’s dad, Bruce Bechdel, and Emily Rohm plays Alison’s mother, Helen Bechdel. The cast also features Jaxon Mitchell as Christian Bechdel, Will Daly as Christian Bechdel (at certain performances), Ezekiel Ruiz as John Bechdel, Jordan Anthony Arredondo as Roy/Mark/Pete/Bobby Jeremy, and Devon Hayakawa as Joan.
Jim Corti and Landree Fleming are co-directors. The Fun Home production team includes Ariel Etana Triunfo, choreographer; Kory Danielson, music director and conductor; Yeaji Kim, scenic designer; Jordan Ross, costume designer; Mac Vaughey, lighting designer; Liz Gomez, associate lighting designer; Adam Rosenthal, sound designer; Jesse Gaffney, properties designer; Ethan Deppe, electronic music designer; Jyreika Guest, intimacy director; Mary Zanger, stage manager; and Madeline Scott, assistant stage manager.
Fun Home originally opened Off-Broadway at The Public Theater in 2013. It received nine Lucille Lortel Awards (winning three, including Outstanding Musical), two Obie Awards, eight Drama Desk Awards, and was named a finalist for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The subsequent 2015 Broadway production, recognized as the first Broadway show to have a lesbian protagonist, was hailed by the New York Times as “a beautiful heartbreaker of a musical.” It went on to earn 12 Tony nominations, winning five, including Best Musical. The Fun Home cast album also was nominated for the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
Special Events
Paramount will offer two Pay What You Can Performances on Thursday, August 4, at 7 p.m., and Saturday, August 6, at 2 p.m.
Paramount will host Drag Night, a performance where all who wish to attend in full drag are welcome, on Wednesday, August 24, at 7 p.m. The bar will be open an hour after the show for the community to socialize in the Copley Lounge
Paramount will host LGBTQIA+ Night, a performance where the LGBTQIA+ community is encouraged to attend in a safe space, on Sunday, August 28, at 5:30 p.m. The bar will be open an hour after the show for the community to socialize in the Copley Lounge.
Access Services
Paramount will offer an American Sign Language interpreted performance on Friday, September 9, at 8 p.m.
If you require wheelchair or special seating or other assistance, please contact the box office at (630) 896-6666 or boxoffice@paramountarts.com in advance.
Paramount offers assistive listening devices free of charge at all performances. Check in at the coat room before the show to borrow a listening device.
Paramount Theatre’s Covid-19 commitment to and safety and protocol
Paramount Theatre has followed, and will continue to follow, the requirements of the State of Illinois and the Kane County Health Department. Therefore, Paramount is following the guidance of the State of Illinois and recommends, but no longer requires, masks, proof of vaccination or negative COVID test for patrons. Mask wearing is strongly encouraged, but will be optional. For complete details, please read Paramount’s full Covid Policy.
Up next in Paramount Theatre's new Bold Series
BULL: a love story
World Premiere
Written by Nancy García Loza
Directed by Laura Alcalá Baker
October 5-November 20, 2022
Press opening: Wednesday, October 12, and Thursday, October 13, 2022 at 7 p.m.
Bull dealt drugs, got caught, and served his time. For a decade, he’s thought about one thing: coming home. On the day Bull is released from prison, he returns to his old Chicago neighborhood, Lakeview, now unrecognizable. Hopeful and eager, he is ready to resume life with his family, only to discover how much has moved on without him. His dream now within grasp, what will it take to get home? Find out in BULL: a love story, a world premiere drama, originally presented as a virtual staged reading via Paramount’s new play development program, The Inception Project, in January, 2021. Suggested rating 13+
Four-show BOLD Series subscriptions are still on sale, ranging from just $134-$148. That’s a “buy two shows, get two shows free” offer. Single tickets to individual performances are $67-$74. To purchase subscriptions, single tickets or for more information, visit ParamountAurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
All four BOLD Series performances are staged in Copley Theatre, located in the North Island Center, 8 E. Galena Blvd., in downtown Aurora.
Photos of new Copley Theatre and lobby bar by Thomas J. King.
About Paramount Theatre
Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., is the center for performing arts in Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois. The beautiful, 1,843-seat theater, graced with a strong 1930s Art Deco influence and original Venetian décor, nationally known for its high-quality productions, superb acoustics and historic grandeur, has been downtown Aurora’s anchor attraction since 1931.
After launching its own Broadway Series in 2011, Paramount Theatre grew to be the second largest subscription house in the U.S. Before Covid, more than 41,000 subscribers from all over Chicagoland and the Midwest were enjoying Paramount’s critically acclaimed, 2019-20 Broadway-caliber productions. In addition, Paramount also presents an array of internationally known comedians, musicians, dance troupes and family shows annually.
Paramount Theatre is one of four live performance venues programmed and managed by the Aurora Civic Center Authority. ACCA also oversees downtown Aurora’s newly renovated 165-seat Copley Theatre, home to Paramount’s new BOLD Series, along with the Paramount School of the Arts, RiverEdge Park, the city’s 6,000-seat outdoor summer concert venue, and Stolp Island Theatre, an immersive space opening in summer 2023.
Paramount Theatre continues to expand its artistic and institutional boundaries under the guidance of Tim Rater, President and CEO, Aurora Civic Center Authority; Jim Corti, Artistic Director, Paramount Theatre; a dedicated Board of Trustees and a devoted staff of live theater and music professionals.
For the latest updates, visit ParamountAurora.com or follow @ParamountAurora on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.