On the Tony Awards this year, Fun Home was recognized with five awards, including Best Musical. It’s an unlikely winner, based on the graphic memoir of cartoonist Alison Bechdel.
During the Awards telecast, the cast performed “Ring of Keys,” primarily a solo by an 11-year-old version of Bechdel. It stunningly depicts a moment of recognition:
We aren’t all looking for that particular moment of recognition. We are all trying to find people like us. Can you remember meeting someone and instantly recognizing, “she’s like me.” Or in a group, “you’re one of us.”
It’s one of the things I love about being a choir director: watching students have that experience. Someone joins choir because they deep, deep down love to sing. When they recognize kindred spirits around the room – when they can let go of the “meh” attitude and show their passion, they are having the same discovery as young Alison in Fun Home.