Review: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at Fairfield Center Stage

On Saturday, October 3rd, I had the pleasure of seeing a phenomenal performance of one of my absolute favorite musicals of all-time, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, performed by Fairfield Center Stage at City Wide Church in Bridgeport, CT.  Director Joel Fenster, Choreographer Lindsay Johnson, and Music Director Clay Zambo combine their talents to help bring out the best in this first-rate ensemble cast! With book by Joseph Stein, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, this show continues to entertain audiences for over half a century! This musical is packed with a multitude of first-rate songs, no cheap fillers!

The venue is ideal for the show, a former synagogue turned into a church. It has stained glass windows, yet retains a dome on the ceiling up front, above the stage. The set includes a small building on stage right, where a fiddler plays on the roof.

The story is set in 1905, right before the Russian Revolution. It takes place in a fictional Jewish village called Anatevka, which would be located within what is now part of the Ukraine. Tradition plays a strong role in the culture of this village. Among the traditions is generally arranged marriages, set up by a matchmaker, known as a Yente. Jacqueline MacLean is excellent in this role of the village Yente. After the prologue, the opening number is the song “Tradition.” The fathers, the mothers, the sons, and the daughters all sing about their traditional roles. The lyrics, “I hope she’s pretty,” sung by the sons in this song show the primary concern that the young men had regarding the wives who would be “picked” for them, by the matchmaker. To the sons’ credit, though, they don’t really care whether she is rich or poor.

Despite the single guys not caring about how rich their future brides are, the single girls seem to think their own wealth or lack thereof is an issue regarding the quality of a husband they can acquire. Three sisters named Tzeitel, Hodel, and Chava are wonderfully performed by Kiersten Bjork, Lindsay Protsko, and Kaylee Haggerty respectively. Tzeitel, Hodel, and Chava express their desires to be matched with a husband in their song “Matchmaker,” a song that despite being upbeat and light musically is extremely dark lyrically, when the eldest sister, Tzeitel takes over and through comedic loving sarcasm exposes some of the potential dangers of arranged marriages to her sisters.

Ken Legun excels as Tevye, the central protagonist, a devoutly Jewish man, the father of five daughters, including Tzeitel, Hodel, and Chava, who are his eldest three. Tevye is a man who dreams of being wealthy, expressed in the classic song, “If I Were a Rich Man.” In this song, Tevye expresses a deep human longing for a better life, feeling the pressures of a deficiency of wealth. While this can be a highly relatable mindset during times of financial struggle, it can also become a deceptively convincing thought trap to depend on money for contentment. Those who receive what they thought they wanted find out the hard way that it does not satisfy the deep yearning within them. Those who have not yet learned to truly be grateful for all the blessings that have already been lavished upon them will remain unsatisfied no matter how many more blessings are given to them. True joy is never rooted in fleeting external circumstances, but requires an unshakeable attitude of gratitude, one in which we all have the freewill choice to embrace, regardless of our quantity or quality of material possessions. While Tevye was on the right track, addressing his desires to God, almost as if the song was a sung prayer, Tevye’s desires were still primarily geared towards the temporal rather than the eternal. Tevye wanted God to give him more money, rather than a changed heart to appreciate how rich he already truly was in blessings that matter, if only he appreciated them.

The moving ensemble number “Sabbath Prayer,” musically led by Tevye and his wife Golde who is magnificently performed by Lisa Dahlstrom, reflects a much more ordered and genuine musical prayer, revealing far more depth to Tevye’s character and a deeper devotion to God and what is truly important than what one would glean merely from “If I Were a Rich Man.” So while “If I Were a Rich Man,” in many ways helps make Tevye a relatable character for many, “Sabbath Prayer,” makes him all the more likeable, both of which are necessary components to get an audience emotionally invested in this iconic central protagonist.

Ken Skjeveland gives a strong performance as Lazar Wolf, who with Tevye sings the song “To Life,” which is one of the more jovial songs in the show, a song about how Lazar Wolf, a widowed butcher has made plans with Tevye, to marry Tzeitel, with Tevye’s permission and blessing.

One small technicality with the impending wedding between Lazar Wolf and Tzeitel, however, is that Tzeitel has fallen in love with someone else, a tailor named Motel Camzoil who is wonderfully performed by Martin Shedd. Motel and Tzeitel will to marry each other, something that Tevye eventually agrees to support, leading to Motel’s song “Miracle of Miracles,” which reflects a musical prayer of thanksgiving, the attitude that Tevye should have shown earlier.

The story takes a temporary turn to horror in the song “Tevye’s Dream,” which features two characters unique to that song; Grandma Tzeitel and Fruma Sarah who are both phenomenally performed by Sarah McCormack and Jennifer Turner, respectively. Tevye  realizes that he needs to get Golde on board with this sudden change from Tzeitel marrying Lazar Wolf to Tzeitel marrying Motel Camzoil, instead. So, Tevye invents a dream he had, telling Golde it was real. Grandma Tzeitel is Golde’s deceased grandmother who in the dream was congratulating Tevye on the fact that his daughter Tzeitel would soon be married, but not to Lazar Wolf, but instead to Motel. During this song, Tevye, Golde, Grandma Tzeitel, and the guests argue back and forth as to who will be Tzeitel’s husband. It gets even more serious when Fruma Sarah, the deceased first wife of Lazar Wolf arrives and threatens to kill Tzeitel if she marries Lazar Wolf. By the time the song is over, Golde is convinced that Motel is the man to marry Tzeitel. A possibly unintentional fourth-dimensional addition to this song is a result of the choreography. Some cast members who are in front of the stage have a synchronized jumping moment that sends a ripple through the audience along the floor when the performers all land. This provides a physical element that the audience gets to experience, beyond sight and sound.

“Sunrise, Sunset,” the song sung during the wedding of Motel and Tzeitel, is perhaps the most recognizable song in this musical, and is also my favorite. While numerous characters have solos in this song, the primary focus is on Tevye and Golde and how quickly the time has flown from Tzeitel’s birth to her wedding day. The emotion and sentiment is perhaps that which can best be appreciated by parents who had the blessing of seeing their children grow up and experience happiness as adults.

An instrumental dance number called “Wedding Dance” would follow. This also showcases some of the other cast members. Greg Hatzis (who plays Avram), Darin Horne (who plays Nachim), and CJ Newsom do some impressive dancing with bottles on their heads. Additional talented ensemble members include Evelyn Brady, Iris Brady, Claudia Caryevschi, Levi Dahlstrom, Andrew Epstein, Melissa Kennedy, Maggie Kruse, and Sadie Walker.

As for Hodel, self-chosen romance was also coming to be, with a man named Perchik, who is excellently performed by David Chuba. Perchik has some ideas that depart from and even threaten the tradition of the village. At Motel and Tzeitel’s wedding, Perchik creates a stir by asking Hodel to dance, which she accepts. Perchik had beliefs that many would see aligning, in the modern day, with the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. belief that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. In Anatevka, however, Perchik’s  “radical” ideas were not met with such acceptance. Perchik is perhaps the most intriguing character in the show in that his challenges to tradition come across as dangerously bold and rebellious, yet his intent is honorable and his perception is accurate. In any society, especially one that revolves around a shared religion, when an outside agitator comes in and threatens the customary traditions around which that society lives and breathes, and starts attempting to indoctrinate women and children with his new ideas, major red flags go up, usually for understandably just reasons. In the case of Perchik, however, his challenges are not towards core faith-based doctrine, but towards customs that are not specifically attributable to solid religious belief. What he is attacking are cultural norms that are not theologically mandated, yet have become such a part of Anatevka’s culture that even the devoutly religious may mistake them for doctrine. In many ways, one can see a connection with the way Jesus reprimanded the religious leaders of His day for teaching human precepts as doctrine.

“Now I Have Everything” is a song reflecting the gratitude felt by Perchik when Hodel agrees to marry him and they became engaged. Nevertheless, after initial resistance from Tevye, on the grounds that Perchik was leaving the village to pursue his ideals, Perchik manages to win over Tevye’s blessing to marry Hodel who falls in love with him.

While the idea of arranged marriages and daughters having no say over who they get to marry is horrifying, especially when viewed through the lens of modern society, we also see how compromises on tradition lead to cultural erosion, regardless of whether we support that element of the culture or not. Tevye allowed his eldest daughter Tzeitel to circumvent tradition by choosing her own husband, even after Tevye had already promised Tzeitel to another man. Now, Hodel and Perchik decided that they were not seeking permission, just a blessing, for the marriage that they planned to follow through with regardless of Tevye’s decision, an act of disrespect to Tevye. It was Tzeitel who initially put a crack in Tevye’s armor of tradition, which allowed Hodel to further expand that exposed weakness. At this rate, how much further down that slippery slope might his third eldest daughter Chava slide? Read on.

Impressed by the true love that his eldest two daughters have found, apart from a matchmaker, why does Tevye have such a difficult time being grateful for his circumstances? Perhaps the answer can be found in the next song that sheds light on the arranged marriage between Tevye and Golde. This is a duet called “Do You Love Me?” This is not the song about a pathetic young man asking a fickle ex-girlfriend if she loves him now that he can dance, but is far more heart wrenching in that it is a song about Tevye asking his wife of twenty-five years whether she loves him. Her initial responses seem to dodge the question, but he persists, seeking a direct answer, which ultimately is provided, although in an indirect way. It seems that Golde’s initial avoidance of the question spoke volumes louder than the indirect conclusion at the end of the song.

The song “The Rumor” is a comedic number that gives various additional cast members some brief solos. It sends a strong message not to believe everything that someone says about someone else, as stories have a way of becoming distorted through perceptions and poetic license.

Chava would also find romance. Chava’s desire to marry a Russian Christian named Fyedka goes even deeper down the slippery slope that was started by Tzeitel and continued with Hodel. Fyedka is excellently performed by Antonio Mantero who has some incredible dance moves. When Tevye found out that Chava and Fyedka eloped, he disowned Chava. While the disowning of a child is an extreme overreaction, I can understand Tevye’s deeply held emotional anguish over seeing someone he loves reject what he sees as the path to Heaven, sacrificing eternity for some guy. I am sure that many parents with deep religious convictions whose children have abandoned their faith for a relationship can relate to that emotionally devastating feeling of being stung to the deepest reaches of their souls. At the same time, the audience also feels for Chava, the equally gut-wrenching feeling of having been disowned and rejected, especially on the grounds that while she married outside of her faith, she never claimed to have therefore abandoned her faith.

Hodel would soon leave the village and everything familiar to her, to join Perchik who had been imprisoned as a revolutionary in Siberia. She shares a heartbreaking song with Tevye called, “Far From The Home I Love,” telling about the path her future holds. This song continues to showcase Lindsay Protsko’s amazing singing voice that was earlier showcased in “Matchmaker.” Tevye trusts God’s guidance over Hodel’s future.

With all the heartache caused by Chava, Tevye still has two younger daughters below marriageable age to consider, Shprintze and Bielke who are magnificently performed by young actresses Suraya Noonan and Maddie Legum respectively.

As for Anatevka itself, the Jewish villagers would soon be forced to abandon their home. They sing a bittersweet tale of woe about their village, the song appropriately called, “Anatevka.” It is a very sad picturing an entire community being disbanded against their will. While this is a fictional story, it puts faces on real people facing similar real current events in that region, and breaks our hearts for them.

In addition to the moving violin playing of John McNeil Johnston from stage, there is a talented live orchestra to the right of stage right which also features Mac Johnston on violin, when not on stage. This orchestra is conducted by keyboardist Clay Zambo and also includes Kate Testani on reeds, Mark Dennis on trumpet, Charles Casimiro on bass, and Gabe Nappi on percussion.

Other stand-out performances include Mike Traum as the Constable, John McNeil Johnston as the Fiddler, Jim Hisey II as the Rabbi, and John Moran as Mordcha the innkeeper.

My favorite character in this show is Mendel, the Rabbi’s son, because that is the role that I played when I was in this show 29 years ago, back when I was young enough to play the role. As someone who therefore has strong knowledge of what this role of Mendel requires, I am happy to say that Noah Legum absolutely excels in bringing everything to this character required to remain my favorite character in the show!

While watching this show brought up fond memories of performing in it 29 years ago, the reality set in, for the first time ever, that there are characters who I have portrayed in the past, yet will never be young enough again to reprise if I ever appeared in a future production of that same show. Amazingly, I had not previously given that any thought.

How does this story end? Come to the show to find out!

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