Reviewed by James Karas
Fiddler on the Roof gets a sensational production at the Stratford
Festival that is a pleasure to watch from the first violin chords to the final
expulsion of the residents of Anatevka, Russia. There is no nitpicking, no
reservations, no adverse comments just fulsome praise for theatre at its best.
Fiddler on the Roof is nearing its 50th anniversary (it opened
on Broadway in 1964) and it is, by any measuring stick, a great musical. Based
on stories by Sholom Aleichem, it has a plot that is moving, funny and infused
with such humanity that it tugs at everyone’s heartstrings. The people are
unforgettable, the music and songs are memorable and the dance routines
stupendous.
Now all you need is a first-rate
director/choreographer, an outstanding cast and an army of behind-the-scenes workers
and hope that theatrical magic will descend like manna from heaven for a
theatrical marvel.
Stratford struck gold. Tevye, the poor milkman with
five daughters who talks to God but gets no answers, dominates the musical. The
role was originally played on Broadway by the inimitable Zero Mostel and a number
of other actors such as Topol, Herschel Bernardi, Theodore Bikel and Harvey
Fierstein have followed. Add the name of Scott Wentworth to the list as one of
the best Tevyes. I associate Wentworth with Shakespearean roles but he makes an
awesome Tevye. He is wonderfully human – funny, dramatic, humane, narrow-minded,
generous, put-upon and cruel in his treatment of his daughter who marries
outside the faith. Wentworth gives a performance that entitles him to the
highest praise and a contract to do Tevye for as long as he wants.
The rest of the cast deserves the highest praise as
well because they make you feel that you are in a remote Russian village in
1905 and not watching theatre in Stratford, Ontario. Tevye’s tough-minded and
enduring wife Golde is done marvelously by Kate Hennig. Their three older
daughters Tzeitel (Jennifer Stewart), Hodel (Jacquelyn French) and Chava (Keely
Hutton) are young girls everywhere who are dreaming of the future and looking
for husbands. In their society, only a matchmaker like Yente (Gabrielle Jones)
is allowed to do that and the final decision rests with the father.
None of Tevye’s daughters respect that tradition.
Tzeitel marries Motel, the tailor (Andre Morin) instead of Lazar the butcher
(Steve Ross); Hodel marries the radical Perchik (Mike Nadajewski) without
asking for her father’s consent and Chava marries the Russian Fyedka (Paul
Nolan) and Tevye declares her “dead”. He does mutter a “God be with you” when
they separate, he for America, she for Poland but that is as far as he is
willing to go.
Fiddler on the Roof has some of Broadway’s most memorable music and songs.
From the Fiddler’s plaintive and nostalgic music (played beautifully by violinist
Anna Atkinson, to the exuberant “Tradition” and “If I Were a Rich Man,” the
melodious “Matchmaker”, the moving “Sunrise, Sunset” you are treated to
magnificent music and lyrics. The singing is excellent.
Let’s sing the praises of Donna Feore as director and
choreographer. As director, she captures the essence of the musical as the
picture of a community trying to maintain the essential elements that keep it
together in a world that is changing fast. What was tradition one day becomes
unacceptable the next and people like Tevye are asked to compromise or bend so
far that they are on the verge of breaking.
There is a long list of actors and dancers in the
programme listed as The Community. That is the focal point of the musical
because the destruction of the village and the vision of America as the hope
for the future are the connecting links between tragedy and hope. We see and become a part of the community and
we want it to stay and change. You cannot have both. Great work by Feore.
She has also choreographed the production. Fiddler provides some great
opportunities for heroic and highly demanding athletic dancing and Feore has done
outstanding work in choreographing for
those scenes.
I think I have gushed enough about a musical and a
production that merit the word triumph. Go see it.
______
Fiddler on the Roof
by Joseph
Stein (book), Jerry Bock (music), Sheldon Harnick (lyrics) opened on May 28 and
will run in repertory until October 20, 2013 at the Festival Theatre, Stratford, Ontario.www.stratfordfestival.ca
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