Lisa Kron is an actress and playwright. She is best known for writing the lyrics and book to the musical Fun Home for which she won both the Tony Award for Best Original Score and the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. Fun Home was also awarded the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2015 and the 2014 Obie Award for writing for musical theater. Alison Bechdel's acclaimed graphic novel/memoir Fun Home serves as the basis for the musical. Her major works also include 2.5 Minute Ride, Well, and In the Wake. Performances include roles in her own shows such as Fun Home, and 2.5 Minute Ride, and other shows such as All My Hopes and Dreams, and Brides of the Moon.
Lisa and I talked about her entrepreneurial and unexpected journey in the theater including . . .
- Her #1 rule to success: if a door opened, and she was scared, she forced herself to step through it. (Words to live by.)
- Why her early writing horrified her. And how she got better.
- How performing stand-up helped hone her stage writing.
- Being mistaken for a seat-filler at the Tony Awards . . . the year she was nominated!
- Who young writers should be trying to connect to in order to have a successful career (hint: it’s NOT who you think).
- Why trying to increase diversity in terms of gender and race is like looking for your keys. (This is such a brilliant analogy – only a Tony Award-winning writer could come up with it, so make sure you listen.)
Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway