by Maddy Lanning. @laddymanning.
CLEVELAND, Oh. - Retired school teacher Debbie Myers notified her family today that after seeing Fun Home, it just really wasn’t her cup of tea.
“I’ve always loved coming to the theater and seeing whatever comes to town,” Debbie explained while organizing the stack of Wicked playbills she has accumulated over the years. “We’ve seen just about every musical that has come through Cleveland at the Connor Palace, as we have the Broadway subscription. I knew that Funny Home would be a little different from our usual favorites but I thought, oh, what the heck!”
Harold Myers, Debbie’s husband of 32 years who just happens to be an expert in all things chick flick, didn’t have a lot to say about Fun Home, while donning a “What, Like It’s Hard?” t-shirt.
“I’m not really a big musical buff like Debs is,” Harold said while putting the book mark in his copy of Bridget Jones's Diary. “But this show was a lot different than that one with the blonde lawyer. Did you see that one? That one was incredible. Empowering. To see that lady lawyer solve the case in real time in front of the whole court? Unbelievable. I stood at the part where they all bow and I’ve never done that”.
Marla Elord, the theater's 77-year-old veteran volunteer usher, weighed in on the themes of Fun Home.
“I’ve been volunteering at this theater for 26 years. I’ve seen it all. I've watched just about every musical there is," Elrod explained, as she haphazardly pointed two audience members in the wrong direction to find their seats. "But something that really struck me about this musical was the mother discussing the father's extramarital affairs with her daughter. When my husband, Ted, was running around with his secretary, the only person I told was my tabby cat."
Debbie has since ended her Broadway Series subscription at Connor Palace. She is now giving all of her time and energy to her daughter’s high school production of Honk! Jr., where she will be playing the lead. It portrays the message of loving and accepting everyone despite their differences.
"Something they could've used in Funny Home," Debbie said, as she stepped into her yellow and orange duck costume.