BWW Blog: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF's Ben Rappaport- My Road To Anatevka

Let's take a trip back in time, shall we? The year was 1993 (or '94, or '95....'96?), I was 7 (or 8, or 9...10?) years old, and my parents took my sister and me to the Three Little Bakers dinner theater in Wilmington, Delaware, where 'Fiddler On The Roof' was playing. Unfortunately, I don't remember much about this experience other than that it was the first time I ever had a Shirley Temple, the waitress made me cry, and the line for the prime rib buffet was very long. This was, however, the first time those famous first strains of Jerry Bock's violin solo entered the back of my brain and psyche, and never left. Over the next several years, Fiddler lightly weaved its way in and out of my life: the occasional off key rendition of 'Sunrise, Sunset' at Jewish Community North, catching the film on AMC, and that community theatre production that my synagogue's men's club brought their families to (ironically enough, the girl playing Hodel ended up being my prom date). While at Juilliard, my best friend, Scott and I saw the 2004 revival together TWICE. Once with Alfred Molina, and another time with Harvey Fierstein and Rosie O'Donnell. For over a decade, it's been part of our rotation of inside jokes to cast Tevye and Golde with obscure and asinine choices of actors, then perform 'Do You Love Me', impersonating said actors (Keanu Reaves as Tevye and Paula Deen as Golde, anyone?). As an American suburban Jewish kid growing up in the late '90s/early 00's, Fiddler was just part of the narrative -- Chinese Food on Christmas.

Okay, now fast forward to March of 2014. I was sitting on the couch, reading the trades on my computer, when an article came up that said Bartlett Sher would be directing the next revival of Fiddler on Broadway in 2015. Danny Burstein was in talks to star. I turned to my girlfriend (now fiancée.....we'll get into that later), Megan, and said, 'I'm going to play Perchik in the next revival of Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway'. She giggled at the boldness of my declaration and said, 'Alright, babe. But, you better get your ass into voice lessons immediately.' And that's exactly what I did.

Here's the thing - I'm not really what you would call a 'Musical Theatre Actor'. I did some musicals in high school, had some singing classes at Juilliard, and I did the original workshop production of 'Bloody Bloody, Andrew Jackson' at the Williamstown Theatre Festival 10 years ago, but my singing training has been spotty at best. My focus, my bread and butter, has been working in plays, television, and movies. I hadn't been singing AT ALL. For years, I had been telling people that I wasn't really interested in doing a musical, unless it was Fiddler on the Roof. Here was my chance, and I was Hell bent on making it happen. Not only was this my new obsession, some important and deep connections to the material through my ancestry were beginning to surface - and don't you fret, we will also cover that in another blog post.

I found a voice teacher right away, told him what my goal was, and proceeded to train with him once every few weeks. We worked on one song, Perchik's solo, 'Now I Have Everything'. He gave me a series of vocal warm ups that I would do Every. Single. Day. This drove my girlfriend to drink and my neighbors to call in noise complaints. It was all Fiddler, all the time for the better part of a year. Finally, my agents emailed me with an appointment with casting and Bart Sher. I'd had a terrible audition for him 7 years earlier, and was convinced that he remembered it and hated me.

Luckily, I went in for my initial audition and he DIDN'T remember me. AND I didn't have to sing! We worked on the first scene for 20 minutes, combed through the acting beats, and really hit it off. The words 'this is a really great part for you' even came out of his mouth. Sure enough, a callback came through where I'd be singing for the music director, Ted Sperling. In the weeks leading up to this, I kicked my voice training into high gear-TWO lessons a week and an HOUR of vocal exercises instead of 30 minutes a day. I went in and sang 'Now I Have Everything' for Ted. He said I had a very pretty sound, but the long notes seemed tentative and needed work. Turned out, he and my voice teacher were friends and he was going to call him and tell him what we needed to work on before my next callback. Bart said, 'This is going to be a bit of a project, so keep studying. This would be a great part for you.' So, off I went to my voice teacher with those specific notes to work on. A month went by, then I was back in the room with Abbie Brady-Dalton, Ted, Bart, and Sheldon Harnick. Bart gave me a hug and said, 'Alright. Scene 1, scene 3, and the song.' Nervously and determinedly, I did my thing. The song ended, and Ted said, 'Yeah, you sound a lot better, its just these two long notes that feel really tentative. Let's sing a little bit at the piano.' He walked to the piano, plucked out some notes and had me sing a few different vowels on them. 'It's just these long notes, right, Sheldon?' Sheldon smirked and said, 'So? Just make 'em shorter!' It was in that moment that, I believe, I got 'a blessing on my head' from Sheldon. It was also the moment I gained the best anecdote with a theatre legend of my career, thus far. A few hours later, Megan and I were out at a bar having a glass of champagne before a friend's concert when I got the call from my agent and manager. 'It's going to be you! They kept seeing stronger singers, but started feeling bad about it because nobody can do the part like you.'

I have never worked harder for anything in my life. What I learned is that, as corny as it sounds, if you just flat out say you are going to achieve something - and will it into existence, damn it, your dreams CAN and WILL come true. This was the end of my road to Anatevka, but only the beginning of my discovery of portholes into the past (Rappa-portholes?.....oof sorry, had to), a deeper understanding of where I come from, and how that now fuels a new sense of purpose and meaning in this next chapter of my adulthood.

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Check back next Wednesday for more from BroadwayWorld's latest blogger, Ben Rappaport. Ben can currently be seen as 'Perchik' in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, playing at the Broadway Theatre. Every week, he will answer questions from fans, so be sure to comment below, or tweet him directly at @Ben_Rappaport.

Ben was last seen on Broadway in Picnic with Ellen Burstyn, directed by Sam Gold. His Off-Broadway credits include: Sex Lives Of Our Parents (Second Stage),The Gingerbread House(Rattlestick/stageFARM). Regional: Alex Timbers' original production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Williamstown Theatre Festival). On TV, Ben is best known as the star of the NBC series "Outsourced". He currently appears as Carey Zepps on "The Good Wife"(CBS) and Ollie Parker on "Mr. Robot"(USA). He has also appeared on "Elementary"(CBS). Film credits include: Hope Springs opposite Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, and Steve Carell. The Brass Teapot, Stereotypically You (upcoming), and lead of the upcoming film Landing Up. Ben trained at Juilliard, where he received the Michel and Suria Saint-Denis Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Drama.