Casting for the national tour of the Tony-winning musical Fun Home has been announced, and Chicago’s own Susan Moniz will play a leading role.
The musical by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori, adapted from the graphic memoir by cartoonist Alison Bechdel (Dykes to Watch Out For) about growing up gay with a funeral-director father who hid his own homosexuality, uses three actors to portray Alison at different ages, while the actors portraying her mother and father remain constant. For the tour, Robert Petkoff (Broadway’s Ragtime, All the Way and Anything Goes) will play patriarch Bruce (the role for which Michael Cerveris won a Tony last year). Moniz, a Marriott Theatre regular who appeared on Broadway in the ’90s revival of Grease, will play Alison’s mother, Helen. Kate Shindle, who in addition to her onstage career is both a former Miss America and the current president of Actors’ Equity Association, will play adult Alison, who narrates the show as she sifts through her memories.
Alessandra Baldacchino, currently an understudy for elementary-school-age “Small Alison” on Broadway, will take that role on the road. (The Broadway production is scheduled to close September 10.) Abby Corrigan will play college-age “Medium Alison.” Others in the cast include Karen Eilbacher as Joan, Robert Hager as Roy, Lennon Nate Hammond as John and Pierson Salvador as Christian. Carly Gold is the alternate Small Alison at certain performances, with Anthony Fortino, Amanda Naughton, Sofia Trimarchi and Michael Winther completing the touring cast.
The Fun Home tour kicks off October 2 in Cleveland. It arrives in Chicago on November 2, playing through November 13 at the Oriental Theatre.