Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler on the Roof: Nancy Churnin review

Lyric reminds us why we love ‘Fiddler on the Roof’

IRVING — For 50 years, Fiddler on the Roof has been an indelible part of the American landscape. We’ve honored it, parodied it and cannibalized “Sunrise, Sunset” for weddings because few songs better express the poignancy of how swiftly children grow.

You might go to Lyric Stage thinking you know everything about Tevye the milkman, his critical wife and the stubborn daughters who shake his world in a poor Jewish shtetl in Russia at the turn of the 20th century.

Then you catch a whiff of an accordion and mandolin as the soaring melodies of Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick begin to swell and something long forgotten stirs as the 34-piece orchestra plays.

One by one, you catch the look in each daughter’s eyes as Tzeitel (Katie Moyes Williams) pleads for permission, Hodel (Mary McElree) for a blessing and Chava (Jäd Saxton) for acceptance as they choose mates progressively different from those their father wanted. Suddenly, emotions run raw as Tevye (Jason Kane) implores God for guidance as to how far he can bend for each one.

Tevye is the star role in this universal tug of war between parents and children. The beauty of Kane’s performance is in his lack of showiness, as he portrays Tevye’s wry self-awareness, his existential conversations and, above all, his care for the people in his world.

Under Len Pfluger’s direction, the drama grows more compelling as the tale flows from the daughters singing the spirited “Matchmaker,” where they envision perfect grooms, to the moments where they risk their father’s wrath.

As a would-be groom, Seth Womack brings a crackle of nervous energy to Tzeitel’s Motel that contrasts comically with Anthony Fortino’s arrogant but touching bravado as Perchik, who woos Hodel. Leslie Alexander’s Golde reveals compelling cracks of vulnerability as her character realizes she may lose touch with children she’d bossed so sternly not long before.

It’s not a perfect production. The accents elude many in the ensemble. The painted backdrops lack imagination. But Lyric gets big things right in its 22nd season of preserving the classic American musical, including a larger orchestra than you’ll find nearly anywhere, performing with precision under Jay Dias. The production also offers the original Jerome Robbins choreography, recreated by Ann Neiman.

Best of all, Lyric takes a show many take for granted and asks, as Tevye asks Golde, “Do You Love Me?”

My answer, like Golde’s: “I suppose I do.” As the couple goes on to sing: “It doesn’t change a thing, but even so, after 25 years, it’s nice to know.”

Though in this case, it’s 25 years times 2.

Fiddler on the Roof: Gregory Sullivan Isaacs review

Match Made

At Lyric Stage, a marvelous revival of Fiddler on the Roof with a 34-piece orchestra works out brilliantly for audiences who love great musical theater.

Irving — Fiddler on the Roof, the justifiably much-honored musical by composer Jerry Bock, lyricist Sheldon Harnick and playwright Joseph Stein, opened the season in a marvelous production at Lyric Stage in Irving. The reason for this excellence is the equally effective collaboration of producer Steven Jones and music director Jay Dias. Here is why: Dias takes a musicologist’s approach to these big production musicals, digging out the original orchestrations, and Jones has the wisdom to back him and fund the 34-piece orchestra required. Few, if any, companies do this. Elsewhere, a couple of overworked instrumentalists and a synthesizer suffice, but nothing can come close to the sound of Lyric’s orchestra coupled with a fully staged musical.

The production itself is worthy of Dias’ efforts. In an era of updates, director Len Pfluger stays true to the original, set in the hardscrabble Russian שטעטלm (shtetl or small town) of Anatevka in 1905. As in most musicals set in a historical setting, such as in The Music Man’s River City, it is so cleaned up as to be quaint. At the time of the premiere (1964), its bucolic picture of rural Russian Jewish life at the turn of the century, based on the story Tevye and his Daughters by Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich, known by his nom de plume Sholem Aleichem, was nearly as foreign to American Jews as it was to the rest of the country.

The story is so well known that be doesn’t bear rehashing here. In short, Tevye the milkman uncomfortably finds himself in a world that is changing around him as his daughters wed husbands that are progressively more troublesome.

The set looks vaguely familiar and so generic that the one Russian spire painted on the horizon looks silly. Even if it existed, you would never have seen it from that village anyway. However, it serves the purpose and, like Jones, we would all trade a fancy set for a few more violins.

Costumes are serviceably appropriate. The chorus shines and Ann Nieman’s recreation of Jerome Robbins’ original choreography remains undimmed. Accents are mishmash.

Jerry Bock’s wondrous score has some songs that could be transported to any ol’ musical, but most of the score brings the joys of Jewish klezmer music to a wider public.

With its modal harmonies and mostly minor overtones, klezmer tries to imitate the singing and wailing of the human voice. The famous clarinet slide that opens Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue comes right out of klezmer. In addition to the clarinet (here played by Christy Springer), the band usually has an accordion (played by Mary Medrick), a singer, a violinist (the fiddler on the roof), a bass or cello and some kind of drum. Frequently there is a dulcimer (here a mandolin/guitar/lute played by Maristella Feustle). Dias restores all of this original instrumentation to the performance.

The show rests on the weary shoulders of the much put-upon Tevye and Jason Kane rises to the occasion in the grand tradition of all of those that have inhabited this tour de force of a role. He is on stage for almost the entire show and he commands the stage for every moment. His singing voice may flag here and there but his characterization never does.

Leslie Alexander’s Golde perfectly captures the patient exasperation that is the birthright of every Jewish Mother. The voice she uses is wonderfully irritating but her inner warmth always comes across.

The rest of the cast is equally strong. The daughters, Tzeitel (Katie Moyes Williams), Hodel (Mary McElree) and Chava (Jād Saxton) all have excellent singing voices and create very different characters. The three can all be easily distinguished from body language alone.

The collection of husbands that so baffles Tevye are up to the task.

Seth Womack plays Tzeitel’s Motel as a nervous wreck that cowers before Tevye even speaks to him. Anthony Fortino takes a completely opposite track as Hodel’s Perchik, bristling with idealistic bravura. Chava’s Fydeka announces himself with a brilliant tenor voice worthy of the opera stage and plays the conflicted Cossack with a touching shyness and remarkable respect for her family and situation. Cheers also go to all of the supporting characters, without whom this village would not exist. Violinist Steven Beall wanders around the stage as a Greek Chorus, representing “tradition,” invisible to everyone until the very last moment.

Lyric’s production is excellent all around, but it warrants some reflections on the bigger issues Fiddler on the Roof raises to modern audiences.

First: Music Theater International offers an 18-piece and a 10-piece reduced version. The also offer something called OrchEXTRA (be afraid, very afraid). This is how they describe it:

“Many organizations interested in producing musicals don’t have access to enough musicians to make up an orchestra. OrchEXTRA was developed to assist these groups by providing the missing instruments needed to realize a full Broadway score, while at the same time encouraging all available musicians to participate.”

While they laudably do not exclude “available musicians,” it is Dias’ research of, and return to, the original full orchestration that sets Lyric Stage apart.

Second: The big surprise in viewing this remarkable musical on Saturday evening was to discover that it is as much about marriage, and how it fits into society, than it is about the Jews in Anatevka. This is a subject that is right out of today’s headlines. Do we as humans, endowed by our creator with those famous Unalienable Rights, have the right to marry whom we choose, even if it flies disruptively right in the face of the “Tradition” of the opening song?

When his oldest daughter, Tzeitel, refuses the arranged marriage and begs to marry for love to the tailor Motel. Unheard of. When his next daughter, Hodel, pledges herself to the radical Perchik, he is horrified as his tattered “tradition” is further shredded. When his next daughter, Chava, elopes with the Catholic Cossack Fyedka he is pushed past his breaking point. His “NO” is resounding with finality. But when the townspeople are exiled at the musical’s bitter ending, he grumbles a grudging “God Bless You” to the couple he knows he will never see again. It is a crumb, but worth the whole loaf of the bread of approval to the couple.

What would have been his reaction if Chava had married a woman? Oy Vey! Flabbergasted doesn’t do it justice. It would have been so far out of his experience and set of common denominators that she might have well have married a Martian and flew off in a spaceship.

Today, only Orthodox Jews ban same-sex marriage and many same-sex Jewish couples stand under the chuppah (traditional marriage canopy).  While there are contemporary Tevyes, of all religions and beliefs, that leave that “God Bless You” unuttered, more parents today move past the window that Tevyes of the past opened to approval and inclusion into the family.

Third: The other issue that runs through Fiddler is the treatment of the Jewish communities throughout history, but specifically the harassment that started to raise its ugly head at the turn of the century. It was not much of a step from the expulsion that takes place at the end of the musical to Hitler’s unimaginable horrors.

The so-called May Laws introduced by Tsar Alexander III of Russia in 1882 banned Jews from rural areas and towns of fewer than ten thousand people. They stayed in effect until 1917, no matter that they were ruinous to the Imperial economy. In 1904, the Rothschild banking firm cut Russia off from the funds it needed for the war against Japan while the New York banking firm of Kuhn-Loeb & Co. New York gave the Japanese all the credit it requested and then some.

At the end of the show, Hodel goes to Siberia to care for her arrested husband. Chava and her husband Fyedka are leaving for Krakow, disgusted by the forced relocation. Motel and Tzeitel go to Warsaw, Poland, but plan join the rest of the family when they have saved up enough money. As Tevye, Golde and his two youngest daughters leave the village for America (to Golde’s brother).

At the very end, the fiddler is finally recognized. Tevye beckons with a nod, and the traditions follow them out of the village. True, traditions will always be important, but they’re going to have to morph as society moves forward.

Fiddler on the Roof: Punch Shaw review

IRVING — In the immortal words of dairyman Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, there’s something to be said for tradition. It’s one of those musicals that directors know better than to mess with, and when done almost to perfection — as happens at Lyric Stage — it solidifies its place as one of the masterpieces of 20th-century musical theater.

No surprise that Lyric honors it beautifully, as the group has a knack for this sort of thing: a classic revived with a full orchestra and original orchestrations, but never coming across as a museum piece. This Fiddler, directed by Len Pfluger and with music direction by Jay Dias, is full of life (l’chaim!) and performances with the stamp of individuality.

Based on Sholem Aleichem’s stories about struggling Jewish dairyman Tevye (Jason Kane) in 1905 Russia, who along with his wife, Golde (Leslie Alexander), is raising five daughters and fighting changing times and an oppressive government, Fiddler features unforgettable klezmer-influenced music by Jerry Bock and clever lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, with a book by Joseph Stein that serves as a model for great musical theater storytelling.

Kane is probably closer in age to Tevye (late 40s/early 50s?) than it has often been played (Topol, who starred in the movie, kept playing it into his 70s). Here’s a man who talks to God — and jokes with and questions him — and who clearly has faith, but who also has a willingness to embrace change.

You can see Kane coming by his decisions with intelligence. Even when there’s reluctance he ultimately does what’s right without losing his values. It’s a demanding acting role, and if not as demanding vocally, still no easy feat. Kane doesn’t rely on the well-known performances in this role; he makes it his own without straying far from the map.

The same can be said for Alexander as Golde, who isn’t as willing to embrace change — but because women generally weren’t allowed their own opinions. As the three eldest daughters who each find their husbands, Katie Moyes Williams (Tzeitel), Mary McElree (Hodel) and Jād Saxton (Chava), have songbird vocals and clear paths for their respective characters.

Equally compelling work comes from their respective suitors, Seth Womack (Motel), Anthony Fortino (Perchik) and Dennis Wees (Fydeka), with Fortino a standout as a revolutionary who wins over Hodel and her parents.

As expected, local stalwarts Deborah Brown and Greg Dulcie are memorable in the character roles of matchmaker Yente and butcher Lazar Wolf, respectively.

Fiddler also has the benefit of Jerome Robbins’ choreography, one of the greats who knew how to tell a story with movement. His Wedding Dance is standing ovation-worthy in itself. Ann Nieman reproduces it nicely here, with beautiful dancing by the male chorus. Scenic (Paul Sannerud) and costume designs (Elizabeth Cox) do their jobs, and show that Lyric knows where to put its money.

That goes double for the 34-piece orchestra, conducted marvelously by Dias. What a treat to hear all those instruments, especially those prevalent in klezmer — clarinet, mandolin, accordion — adding a new layer of depth.

With this season-opening production, Lyric proves that a masterpiece doesn’t need to be updated; the direction and performances don’t need to wink at the audience. When the Russians kick the Jews out of their village of Anatevka, you’re reminded of the current land-grab crisis in Ukraine, but the mind still stays firmly in 1905.

Part of the greatness of Fiddler (aside from the vivid characters and that music) is that, when treated right, it’s always fresh and relevant — not to mention entertaining; a rewarding theatrical experience.

Fiddler on the Roof: Elaine Liner review

Lyric Stage and Fiddler on the Roof Are a Match Made in Musical Heaven

Seeing a show at Lyric Stage isn’t just a chance to revisit a beloved piece of American musical theater; it’s an education in how musicals were done, and still can be done, on a grand scale. Lyric’s specialty, its sole focus, is reviving big American musicals, so the draw of a show likeFiddler on the Roof, opening the company’s 22nd season, is to see it in the style in which it originally hit the Broadway stage decades ago.

That means a 35-piece orchestra, led by conductor Jay Dias, rich with woodwinds and strings. There are a dozen violinists in the pit for Fiddler, including soloist Stephen Beall, who appears atop that roof, plus three violists, three cellists and two on double bass. It means more than 30 actors, dancers and singers in the cast directed by Len Pfluger and choreographed by Ann Neiman, who has reproduced Jerome Robbins’ original dances from Fiddler‘s 1964 Broadway debut. Yes, the men dance with bottles on their hats in the wedding party sequence, and yes, the gimmick is still impressive.

Numbers would mean nothing, however, if performances by everyone from the bearded charmer in the leading role of Tevye, Dallas actor Jason Kane, to the musician squeezing the accordion in the pit (Mary Medrick, playing expertly) to those bottle-balancing hoofers weren’t wonderful. They all are, making this Fiddler a fine, if long (three hours), evening of heartwarming musical storytelling.

Derived from turn-of-the-last-century Yiddish tales by Sholom Aleichem, the musical’s book by Joseph Stein is built around weary Tevye’s amusing conversations with God. As a poor Orthodox Jewish milkman in the Russian village of Anatevka in 1905, Tevye can barely support his five daughters and nagging wife (Leslie Alexander). His cart horse gone gimpy, Tevye has to pull the milk wagon himself, stopping, exhausted, to wonder what life would be like “If I Were a Rich Man.”

That is Tevye’s “wish song,” which, as in most good musicals, comes right at the top of the show. He dreams of free time to be idle, to “biddy-biddy-bum.” Money would bring respect from the village rabbi and maybe a better seat in the synagogue. Winding up the song, he looks to heaven and asks, “Lord who made the lion and the lamb, You decreed I should be what I am/Would it spoil some vast, eternal plan, if I were a wealthy man?”

Well, it would certainly spoil this show, for a poor Tevye is more entertaining than a rich one.

Jason Kane, shoulders slumped like those of a man who’s put a lot of miles of cart-dragging on them, has the earthy heft, facial foliage and twinkly grin to create a lovable Tevye. He comes from the heavy-gaited Zero Mostel school of Tevyes, as opposed to the more recent Harvey Fierstein and Alfred Molina Tevyes in the 2004-’05 New York revival. (One of Broadway’s most-repeated shows, there’ll be another Fiddler there in fall 2015, directed by Bartlett Sher and possibly starring Broadway veteran Danny Burstein.)

Ever hopeful of better lives for his offspring, Tevye asks God for help finding good husbands for his girls, but he hedges his bet by enlisting the village matchmaker, Yente (Deborah Brown). Trouble is, the best prospects she has are fat old widowers like Lazar the butcher (Greg Dulcie). Tevye’s daughters don’t want arranged marriages, so one by one they defy their dad. Spunky eldest daughter Tzeitel (Katie Moyes Williams) weds her childhood sweetheart, Motel (Seth Womack), a humble tailor. Hodel (Mary McElree) falls for fiery Perchik (Anthony Forrino), an itinerant teacher espousing radical Marxist ideas. Middle daughter Chava (Jad Saxton) elopes with non-Jew Fyedka (Dennis Wees), part of the constabulary conducting pogroms on villages including Anatevka.

Using gentle comedy and that lilting, minor-key klezmer-inspired score by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, Fiddler seamlessly integrates its story lines. First, it gives a glimpse into the long-ago world of Russian Jews trying to uphold ancient rituals, as laid out in the first big dance number, “Tradition.” Second, it depicts the religion-centered home life of Tevye’s large family and his and Golde’s uneasy transition into 20th century ideas about the rights of women, mainly their daughters’ desires to be educated and to marry for love. (In one of the show’s funniest scenes, Tevye invents a ghoulish nightmare to convince Golde that Tzeitel should marry the tailor and not the butcher.) Third, it hints at the beginning of the mass migration of European Jews to America in the early 1900s. At the end of Fiddler, Anatevka’s persecuted families, forced out of their homes, are heading toward the voyage to Ellis Island.

Now half a century old, Fiddler‘s songs, stories and characters hold up better than many musicals born in the 1960s. Much of its score is on the soundtrack of our lives. Sesame Street turned “If I Were a Rich Man” into “If I Were the Letter B.” Tevye’s wedding song for Tzeitel, “Sunrise, Sunset,” was played at so many ceremonies in the 1960s and ’70s, it became a cliché. And if the idea of matchmakers like Yente seemed quaint in 1964, now they’re all over reality TV, matching millionaires and pretty gold-diggers.