Review: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF Provides Perfect Curtain Call for Stefano

It has been 18 years between John Stefano's performances as John Adams in 1776 and his return on April 7 as Tevye in Otterbein University's production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. The chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance, who is retiring after 24 years at Otterbein, never lost a beat.

Stefano's Tevye was one of the many of the highlights in the university's outstanding production of the enduring classic. The two-act, three-hour show opened April 7 and closes April 16 at the Fritsche Theatre at Cowan Hall (30 S. Grove Street in Westerville).

Stefano picked a good show to return and retire with. He owns the role of Tevye, the long-suffering Jewish patriarch who considers it his chief duty to approve of five husbands for his five daughters.

His first three daughters, Tzeitel (Lauren Kent), Hodel (Natalie Szczerba) and Chava (Abigail Isom), however, rebel against their father's wishes and marry for love. Each girl draws farther and farther away from their family's traditions with each choice. When Chava elopes with Fyedka (Andre Spathelf-Sanders), a Christian, Tevye ponders where he went wrong as a father.

Kent (the hopeless romantic), Szczerba (the sharp tongued skeptic) and Isom (the shy bookworm) each bring something unique and special to their roles. Each is attracted to a different kind of suitor. Tzeitel loves her childhood friend Motel Kamzoil (Connor Cook) and accepts his proposal even after her father has pledged her to marry Lazar Wolf (Jack Labrecque). Hodel, on the other hand, falls for Perchik (Connor Allston), a fiery Bolshevik student leader who moves to Kiev and then is exiled to Siberia. When Chava then becomes smitten and runs off with someone outside of the faith after Tevye forbids them to see each other, the patriarch considers her "dead" to the rest of the family.

When it first debuted in 1964, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF won nine Tony Awards and held the record for the longest run on Broadway until being usurped by GREASE. As a good as a script and lyrics are in FIDDLER, it takes a well-honed cast to pull the show together.

Under the direction of Lenny Leibowitz and the musical direction of Lori Kay Harvey, FIDDLER has become one of those shows where every member of the cast contributes a verse to making the show complete. Aubree Tally has created a host of memorable characters in her work in past Otterbein productions RENT and INTO THE WOODS, is mesmerizing as Golde, Tevye's iron willed wife. The back-and-forth between Stefano and Tally in "Do You Love Me" is one of the shows highlights.

Dana Cullinane brings manic energy to her role as Yente the Matchmaker and the interactions between Labrecque and Stefano at the wedding adds richness to the show.

With its hummable classics like "Tradition," "Sunrise, Sunset," and "If I Were A Rich Man," FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is one of those shows where audience members spend the next four days with its tunes stuck in their heads. Thanks to the quality of Otterbein production, one doesn't mind that so much.

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF will be performed 8 p.m. April 9 and 14-16 and 2 p.m. April 10 at the Fritsche Theatre at Cowan Hall (30 S. Grove Street in Westerville). For tickets, call the Otterbein box at 614-823-1109.

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