BWW Blog: Tim Pappalardo of Merrick Theater's FIDDLER ON THE ROOF - It's a Tradition, Right?

Since late August, I have been leading the production team of Merrick Theater and Center for the Arts main stage production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF- and it's been full of drama (on the stage that is - yuck yuck). The theater's management (Joe, Tony, Joanne and Ben) are all cool cats, each with their own personalities but all with the same expectation: that my team and I create a wonderful production of Hal Prince's classic . And boy, do I have the team to make it happen!

First, our choreographer, Alyse Arpino. She's incredibly talented with the patience and wit needed to mesh with any/all personalities. She tells it like it is, never "sugar-coats" anything - and I love the collection of Crocks she wears.

Second, our musical director, Michael McCarthy. He does everything with a smile; the man knows how to make a cast sing amazing well together (and our cast can sing yo).

Third, our stage manager, Karen Brucia. I joke that she really is the boss - Karen is so organized and on top of things, I ask myself, does the lady sleep? She has all her "ducks in row," along with mine and everyone elses. She's awesome - but stay away from her other directors, this gal is all mine until November 17.

If you are a theater goer, you most likely have seen a version of the show; so what does a production team do to make sure they have successful FIDDLER? My mentor Noel S. Ruiz, a man of great wisdom and intelligence told me bluntly if you don't have an amazing Tevye & Golde, you're what he politely called, "SCREWED." Luckily we have two amazing actors, David Fellner and Amy Jorrisch along with many other wonderful performers like Jaclyn Blair, Bobby Peterson, Joseph Anthony Smith, Kara Vertucci, Elizabeth Earle, Michael Damato, Alexis Monetti, Andrea Conwell, Paul Lichtman and Bob Hertz. The entire cast is awesome - I just ran out of space to keep mentioning everyone (sort of like at the TONY Awards during a winner's speech when the music starts to play).

So - with only two weeks to go until our scheduled opening on Saturday, October 26, we're working our hardest to make this a show people want to see (we're already sold out for 2 of our 11 performances!) with audience members saying "Mazel Tov" as they leave. Leading this show at Merrick as been a great experience thus far and I look forward to making our "Tradition" come alive on Merrick's stage soon.

For tickets to FIDDLER, just call Merrick's box office at 516-868-6400 or visit http://merricktheatreandcenterforthearts.com/.