“Fun Home” Lyricist Lisa Kron Receives Kleban Prize for Musical Theater
Lisa Kron, who wrote the book and lyrics for the musical “Fun Home,” recently received the 2017 Kleban Prize, which includes $100,000, for writing in musical theater, the New York Times writes. She was awarded the Kleban for “most promising musical theater librettist.”
Kron might be best-known for “Fun Home,” for which she won two Tonys, but her theater career extends far beyond the adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s acclaimed graphic memoir. According to the Times, Kron has acted in “Good Person of Szechwan,” was part of the acting troupe Five Lesbian Brothers — whose members developed and appeared in “The Secretaries” and “Oedipus at Palm Springs” — and wrote and starred in the autobiographical one-woman shows “2.5 Minute Ride” and “Well.”
“Fun Home” traces Bechdel’s relationship with her closeted father, Bruce, and her own sexual awakening. Bruce committed suicide shortly after Bechdel came out as a lesbian. The musical adaptation was a Broadway hit and won five Tonys, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score. Kron and Jeanine Tesori, the latter of whom wrote the music for “Fun Home,” became the first all-female writing team to win a Tony for Best Original Score.
Some of the musical’s show-stopping numbers include “It All Comes Back,” “Come to the Fun Home,” “Changing My Major,” “Maps,” and “Ring of Keys.”
The judges for this year’s Kleban Prize were “Frozen” songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, actress Mary Testa, and producer Ira Weitzman. The Kleban Foundation was originally established in 1988 as part of Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and lyricist Edward Kleban’s will.
