While Michael Cerveris, Judy Kuhn, and Alexandra Socha are great actors, Jeanine Tesori's score is the real star of "Fun Home", the off-Broadway musical based on Alison Bechdel's graphic memoir that premiered at The Public in September. The story, about Alison's closeted gay father killing himself when his daughter comes out as a lesbian, is already poignant. But Tesori finds the kernel of emotion in every scene and highlights it musically. One of my favorites, "Helen's Etude", is from a scene in which the father woos his underage boyfriend in one room, while young Alison bothers her beleaguered mother in another. The melancholic melody played on the piano, accompanied by Kuhn's strong voice, is the perfect song to bridge together all four characters: the chorus, "Me and him", is sung joyously by the boyfriend, and heartbreakingly by Kuhn.

Considering Tesori's previous shows ("Violet", "Caroline, or Change"), it is not surprising that she managed to convey so many conflicting emotions musically. Lisa Kron's lyrics are strongest in scenes when Alison realizes her burgeoning lesbian identity, especially "Ring of Keys" and "Changing My Major". When the show calls for a funny number, Kron's lyrics aren't as clever as I'd like them to be, as in "Come To The Fun Home", but Tesori's buoyant score makes up for it.

"Fun Home" reads like a modern, lesbian take on William Finn's "Falsettos". This is a welcome change in a form where lesbians are often only a punctuation to a predominately male show. Actually, "Fun Home" is the one of the first, perhaps the only, off-Broadway musicals to star a lesbian.

The recording, from PS Classics, is great, interspersed with dialogue from the show. Only one thing seems missing: the house, which is a great set piece, and an integral part of the show itself. Bechdel's father sometimes treated the family like ornaments in the house, as in "Welcome To Our House On Maple Avenue". While it's unfair to expect them to distill a house into an album, I can only recommend that you wash down the album by reading Bechdel's novel.