San Francisco’s Curran Theatre celebrates its official reopening January 26 with Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori’s Tony-winning musical Fun Home. The historic venue opens its doors following two years of renovations.
Built in 1922, the Curran recently underwent a major rehabilitation that included newly remodeled lobbies and bars, refurbished seats, carpeting, lighting, and more. The theatre has staged more than 8,000 performances and seen such stars as Edith Piaf, Isadora Duncan, Ingrid Bergman, the Lunts, Katharine Hepburn, Carol Channing, Sir Ian McKellen, and Hugh Jackman.
The production of Fun Home, which began performances at the Curran January 25, marks the first event of 2017 at the newly renovated theatre. Based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic-novel memoir, Fun Home has book and lyrics by Kron, music by Tesori, and direction by Sam Gold. Following a successful Broadway run, the show launched its first national tour October 2, 2016, in Cleveland, Ohio.
The touring production stars Kate Shindle (Legally Blonde, Cabaret) as Alison, with Broadway cast member Alessandra Baldacchino as Small Alison and Abby Corrigan as Medium Alison. At certain performances, Carly Gold plays the role of Small Alison. The cast also includes Robertf Petkoff (Ragtime) as Bruce Bechdel, with Susan Moniz (Grease!) as Helen Bechdel, Karen Eilbacher as Joan, Robert Hager as Roy, Lennon Nate Hammond as John, Pierson Salavdor as Christian, Anthony Fortino, Amanda Naughton, Sofia Trimarchi, and Michael Winther.
In celebration of the first performance at the Curran, Shindle, who is also the president of Actors’ Equity Association, was joined onstage by Bechdel for a surprise talkback January 25.
INDEED. surprise! https://t.co/SSYdm5RGa4
— Kate Shindle (@AEAPresident) January 26, 2017
Fun Home is scheduled to play San Francisco through February 19 before moving on to Los Angeles’ Ahmanson Theatre February 21–April 1. For the complete list of upcoming tour dates, visit playbill.com.
Also slated for the Curran’s 2017 season is Eclipsed by Danai Gurira with direction by Liesl Tommy (March 7–19), and Simon McBurney’s monologue play The Encounter (April 25–May 7). For more information visit sfcurran.com.
