Fun Home - September 29 - October 08, 2023
Interior Independent Theatre
Stage Director's Notes
Hello everyone, my name is Bill Torgerson and thank you for coming to Interior Independent Theatre’s production of Fun Home. I’m genuinely thrilled for us to be able to share this show with you. I have lived in Fairbanks nearly all my life and I have acted in several shows over the years but this is my first time directing. It has been a bit of a struggle for me to learn all the things needed to put on this kind of production but thanks to the support and talents of all the cast and crew working on and behind the scenes we have a show that I couldn’t be prouder of.
I had not seen Fun Home when it was first chosen as our show for this year, but I had read the graphic novel that it is based on. While our situations were not quite the same, I definitely felt a connection with the subject matter. I had a rough relationship with my father, a constant contrast of wanting to be just like him and be nothing like him. To be my own person without need of his validation, but still wanting him to be proud of me. I lost my father several years ago and even still I feel his influence haunt my choices, still seeking the approval that felt always at arm’s length. So, I immediately clung to a show where the main character felt similarly polarizing sensations of love and shame, joy and anger, comfort and fear. Our conflicts were not same in subject, but at their core, I knew exactly how Alison Bechdal felt. She struggled just to be seen, to find herself, and managed to become the woman she always knew she was. She is truly an inspiration.
I am so thankful to my cast and crew for helping me share this story with Fairbanks. Every one of our actors have worked tirelessly to bring this show to life. I’ve worked with a number of them in previous shows, but with this being my first time directing I couldn’t imagine working with a cast more talented and dedicated as this has been. It means so much to me how much heart and grit they’ve poured into these characters, especially with how harsh and demanding the material requires. These actors will forever be the definitive version of these characters for me and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Thank you to all the crew and people working behind the scenes for everything you have brought to the show. They have put their all into bringing this show to life. They truly helped my dreams of this show come to fruition and be able to be displayed to all of you. A big thanks to UAF for such a perfect theater for this intimate musical. Thank you to our technical director Gwen Brazier who has been working like crazy to get everything together in these final weeks as well as giving me the opportunity to direct for the first time. Thank you Lara, our head light technician and designer, who clearly saw how to highlight every emotion in the scenes and how to make that shine through. Thank you to our musical director Scott Hansen for his astonishing drive to make the music just as technically beautiful as it is emotionally brilliant. An immensely special thank you to my stage manager Katie Nelson, I legitimately don’t think I could have managed any of this without her assistance, suggestions and dedication from the very beginning of this. I was the aimlessly artistic balloon of a director and she held everything together and assured that it found its way to keep on course. I want to thank my wife Amanda for her compassion and comfort through how much work and stress this experience has been for me. I love you Amanda and I’m so glad to be able to share this meaningful story with everyone here thanks to your support. And finally, I want to thank all of you for attending the show and supporting our theatre troupe, our cast and crew, and all the people of our city that this musical speaks so deeply to. We all need love and acceptance in our lives and by being here you show everyone that you care about others and want that love and acceptance for them too. Thank you and please enjoy IIT’s Fun Home
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