FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
So as the audience was gathering for last night’s opening of Fiddler on the Roof in Wharton Center’s Great Hall, the significantly younger man in the next seat turned to me and said, “What’s this about, anyway?” Really. So I explained – Jewish life in the little Russian village of Anatevka, with some people getting married – and realized there’s not a whole lot of plot.
Then why has this musical endured to become an inescapable staple of high school and community theater? The songs, of course, and the lack of sex and violence; but probably more because of the universality of the story of a simple man just trying to get through a simple life and trying to maintain some semblance of family and tradition.
This is a crackerjack production originally directed for the 2015 Broadway revival by Bartlett Sher, who has worked wonders and won Tonys with revivals of other big musicals. Here he gives us simple yet effective staging with great choreography harkening back to the original work of Jerome Robbins in 1963. And the fiddler gets a lot more stage time.
(When this touring production was announced a few months ago, the Israeli TV actor Yehezkel Lazarov was to be the star; but now, although his name is on the lobby cast board, he is nowhere to be found in the printed program.)
Broadway regular Danny Arnold does a fine job as Tevye, singing and acting to perfection. And yet… he seems almost too young to have five mostly adult daughters, and in any case presents as a, well, Broadway leading man. Perhaps I too much remember Tevyes like Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernardi and Topol, but I was looking for a little more bluster and even weariness in the role.
A particular highlight here is the completely restaged “Teyve’s Dream” featuring Fruma-Sarah and a host of creepy dead people worthy of a Tim Burton nightmare. And after watching generations of high-schoolers with bottles glued to their heads, it was fun to see five guys do an actual freehand bottle dance in the wedding scene.
This vigorously-staged production is certainly worth a visit to Wharton Center at this family-centered time of year and runs through December 9 at varying times – consult the website for details.
http://www.whartoncenter.com