Fiddler On The Roof

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

One of the most beloved musicals of all time, Fiddler On The Roof, sparkles with a depth of love, compassion and insight in its production at Littleton’s Town Hall. Rightfully so.

Back: Sara Michael as Tzeitel, and Mark Middlebrooks as Motel. Front: Ken Street as Tevye in Town Hall’s production of Fiddler On The Roof. Photo by Sam Trojanovich

Director Sharlene Wanger brought it to life with the 27 cast members head on from the inside out. She had reason to pour high energy into it, and consequently the cast had reason to pour the energy right into the lap of the audience. Wanger’s grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants. She knows. Her family knows the impact of having one’s home taken away, and what happens when a small village is forced to face striking and startling changes in a new world.

2000 years from now, I suspect Fiddler will remain high on the list of beloved favorites just because it reaches into the heart of the human condition. Our world frequently sees and feels the impact of refugees having to flee their homes for one reason or another. And now with the Mortgage upset running unbridled across the United States, our culture sees it, feels it, clutches over it.

Home, family, and tradition get torn to shreds with political whims and fancies with the bottom line of dollars wielding a double-edged sword.

Town Hall’s cast and production crew embrace the stunning characters created by Joseph Stein’s Book, Jerry Bock’s gorgeous music, and Sheldon Harnick’s penetrating lyrics.

Fiddler is not just a musical for the fun of doing a musical. This is a story of hope, change, determination, and values riding the sharp winds of change surviving through growth and wisdom.

Ken Street brings honest humor, wisdom and dedication to Tevye, the milkman who has to replace his lame horse, who talks with and argues with God, who sees tradition as the glue for his community, who understands tradition as precarious as a fiddler on the roof.

Street disappears behind Tevye’s persona with an ownership flowing through his eyes.

In any theatre production, eyes tell me a great deal. They tell me where the actor is, and how much he/she invests in the role. Street allows Tevye to take over the use of his eyes. And there stands Tevye.

With 27 actors playing 33 roles, it is easy for a costumed character to feel lost in the shuffle, giving only what the costume demands. Not one of the characters in this production falls into this shadow. I watched all of their eyes, and their eyes told me exactly where they were and who they were every second of the production.

Gracie Carr wears Golda with practical determination. She has the house to run, five girls to ready for marriage, and disgust to keep under her bonnet for a husband who sleeps late, and drinks a little too much at the pub. Love and romance for her comes in ironing, cooking, cleaning, and keeping track of necessities, a full-time 24-hour job. Golda and Tevye’s song Do You Love Me exemplify the two positions with warmth and humor as Golda’s eyes dart with surprise and confusion. 25 years of cooking, cleaning, mending, and he wants to know if she loves him?

Fiddler begins with a strong thrilling defining moment of the song “Tradition.” Nola Rocco’s precise choreography gives power to Anatevka, a 1905 small village in Russia, just prior to the Russian Revolution.

Every village had a Matchmaker, and Yente is Anatevka’s. Chip Winn Wells rocks with Yente’s optimistic motor mouth laced with gossipy humor.

The three oldest girls don’t see it that way, however. Yente has Lazer Wolfe, the Butcher, (Eric Fry) all picked out for Tzeitel, (Sara Michael) the eldest of Teyve’s daughters. That presents a major problem. Tzeitel doesn’t want to marry him. She loves Model, (Mark Middlebrooks), the Tailor. Shy, leery, but determined, the two know they stand against years of tradition. What? Marrying for love? Unheard of. Out of sight of their parents, Tzeitel and two sisters, Hodel, (Melissa Scher), and Chava. (Rachel Turner) combine their chores while poking fun at Yente with their charming song, “Matchmaker.” Michael, Scher. And Turner provides distinct flavored personalities to the three girls.

The scene at the Inn with Tevye and Lazer Wolfe, wracked with misunderstanding is as hilarious in this production as it was the first time Fiddler hit the boards. Tevye thinks Lazer Wolfe wants to buy a cow. Lazer Wolfe wants to ask for Tzeitel’s hand in marriage. Street and Fry play it straight allowing the humor to unfold on its own merit.

Tevye sees the love in the eyes of Tzeitel and Motel expressing his dilemma through his Monologue. Aye, but how to break the news to Golda?

The Dream Scene plays wonderfully with Golda, Tevye, Grandma Tzeitel (Nancy E. Harris) Rabbi (Mike Pearl), and Fruma Sarah (Vicki Pierce) handling choreography high on stilts.

Hodel falls for the radical, eyes-wide-open Student, Perchik, (Joel Sutliffe), and Chava becomes enamored with Fyedka, (Brandon Miller) a Russian soldier who protects her from taunting by others, and loans her a book. The most precarious and dangerous liaison of all is met with hurtful anguish by Tevye as the Russian’s tear apart the village.

Donna Kolpan Debreceni supplied the music, it is unfortunate Fiddler could not have been graced by the live orchestra. The music definitely held the Debriceni magical touch, but the sound system at Town Hall “tin-efied” the music.

Elizabeth Williams wondrously played the Fiddler connecting with Tevye and the villagers. She baffled me at first. Was this really a woman? Yes, and a very beautiful woman captivated in a stunning Fiddler costume and beard, who knows her way inside and out with a violin.

Lisa Murray’s costume design is right on target for an early 1900 Russian Village. Sarah Opstad, the Beard Artisan for Tevye, Fiddler, and Rabbi gave them honest realistic looks. Would that she could have been able to carry through with the others. The rest of the beards look like strung out Brillo pads, an unfortunate distraction.

Stuart Barr’s set design with surrealistic building exteriors and interiors with haphazard slats grew on me during the production. It works.

In perspective, the tinny sound of the music and the Brillo padded beards, play a minor discontent in the over all production. Talent, heart, spirit strong characters, and awesome voices command Town Hall’s production of Fiddler On The Roof, placing it very strongly in the Do-Not-Miss category of musical theatre. Charming, heartwarming, thought-provoking, relevance keeps this musical in the Most Beloved category. Don’t wait too long for reservations. It has all the makings of a Sell-out!