Interview: MSMT Panel Examines the Enduring Appeal of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

One week into the virtually sold-out run of MSMT's Fiddler on the Roof, cast members, Bill Nolte, Susan Cella, Erick Devine, and Rachel Rhodes-Devey, together with MSMT's Managing Director Stephanie Dupal convened in the third Peek Behind the Curtain panel discussion at the Curtis Memorial Library on July 27, 2016, to examine the phenomenon of the show that continues to mesmerize audiences fifty-two years after its Broadway debut. In response to moderator Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold's observation that Fiddler is a show which - like its characters - survives, the participants discussed their individual perspectives on the show, their characters, and the universal themes that continue to speak powerfully to audiences.

Managing Director Stephanie Dupal set the stage for the discussion by noting that MSMT is having a record breaking season so far in terms of ticket sales, citing the addition of two performances of Fiddler and three Saturday matinees for Mamma Mia, as well as extending the co-production [with Portland Stage] of The Irish and How They Got That Way for an additional week until September 11. She credited the loyal audiences who have been coming in droves, as well as the fact that the company is blessed with "dedicated cast and crew members, who are work night and day, talented directors like Fiddler's Gary John LaRosa, and the theatre's annual staff who put in long year-round hours to insure the season becomes as successful as it now is."

Turning to what makes the Jerry Bock-Sheldon Harnick-Joseph Stein show special, the cast members began by talking about their characters and how over the years they have deepened their portrayals of the roles. For Bill Nolte this Tevye was his third essay of the mammoth part. "The first time was when I was on tour playing Lazar Wolf and trying to learn the part of Tevye (as understudy), and that was not the best experience. When I did I play him for what I consider the first actual time at the Westchester Dinner Theatre, we had a very short rehearsal period. So it was like my jumping onto a running machine. I didn't have too many chances to explore, take chances, and fail in rehearsal. Then two and a half years ago I did the show with Gary John LaRosa in North Carolina, and that's when I felt we got closer to my Tevye."

Nolte goes on to say how LaRosa then wanted to cast him as Tevye in this new MSMT production and proposed the idea to Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark, who insisted on meeting and seeing Nolte himself, but ended by concurring with LaRosa. "Gary John wanted people he had worked with - ones he knew would hold up their ends of the bargain - while he could concentrate on the interns, some of the other characters surrounding the principals, and have time to go deeper into the situations, details, and nuances of the show. I feel we did that at MSMT. It is the first time I have been able to explore and find my own Tevye, and, of course, Sue [Cella] has been a big part of that by her being so wonderful that I feel we have a real relationship as Tevye and Golde. We have a real connection."

Cella, who has played somewhere around one thousand performances of Golde, expands on his thoughts. "I love this show because it is about real people in real situations, and the family relationships are so well written that the piece feeds me. I get to run the gamut of emotions, and it is so rewarding to be able to continue to perform it and continue to explore it. I don't know how many Tevyes I have been married to," she quips, "and naturally, my Golde changes depending on the Tevye. Theodore Bikel was one of my favorites, and I loved working with Harvey Fierstein - a funny, wonderful man, not the norm. My current 'husband,' Bill Nolte and I are probably the closest in age, rather than the Tervye being considerably older. His Tevye is very human with foibles, humor, kindness. He makes the show lovely to do each night, and I can depend on him if something goes wrong to have my back."

Erick Devine who portrays Lazar Wolf is also undertaking his part for the third time. He says that each time he has tried to make the butcher "into a more interesting person rather than a boorish jerk. I want him to be a nice guy who is lonely because his wife died of cancer a few years ago, and I want the audience to think 'He's too old, but Tzeitel could do worse. Because unless he wins the audience sympathy, there will not be any tension surrounding his suit of Tevye's oldest daughter. Most of my scenes are with Bill and we have a lovely relationship on stage, even in our goodbye scene where we find a moment of humor that I had never found before. An actor has to change and adapt from production to production. Theatre happens in the moment, and wouldn't it be nice if we all lived our lives that way - not just for three hours on stage?" Devine goes on to comment on the vocal demands of Fiddler, noting that while Nolte is taxed with most of the singing, the score doesn't make complex demands on the cast. Rather "its appeal is in the simplicity of the settings- even the ensemble numbers which are in three or four part harmony that makes them direct and powerful." He also notes that the real challenge comes in managing the voice in the lengthy book scenes, where characters like Golde have a great deal of talking and shouting to do. "It is all about support, openness, relaxation and using your vocal technique to keep from shredding your voice."

Rachel Rhodes-Devey, who has played all three daughters at various times in her career, sees her current role, the oldest Tzeitel, as "the ripple that starts the tidal wave." She also likes the fact that "Tzeitel and Motl have loved each other from childhood, and it has always been her dream to marry him. There is something so grounded about Tezitel."

Cella picks up the theme of family relationships and speaks about her own personal experiences and how these come into play in her characterization of Golde. " I am one hundred percent Neopolitan Italian-American from the small Massachusetts town of Revere, where seventy-five percent of the population was Italian-American when I was growing up. Until I went off to college, I didn't realize that the world was diverse. I was surrounded by both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins; we spent all the holidays together and observed all the Italian-American customs. When I was a kid my entire family would come to every glee club concert, every science fair. At that age I would be truly embarrassed to have a hundred relatives show up. And even when I moved to New York and started to perform, they would arrive by car, by bus in hordes. It wasn't until I was older that I realized how lucky I was to have them. At that time I wanted my independence. And this background applies to Fiddler in terms of the sense of tradition and the importance of the family in our lives. The show has resonance way beyond its Russian Jewish context because it is all about love, family support systems, and change."

Rhodes-Devey comments on how working with La Rosa, "who has this huge wealth of knowledge about the time period and Jewish culture has been invaluable to the entire cast. "He is the caretaker of the Jerome Robbins's staging, but what was so wonderful was that he did not come to MSMT intent on reproducing an earlier production. Rather than plug us into a set staging, he was open to collaboration and to discovery."

Cella continues, "Even though the rehearsal time was short, when he gave us stage business, he didn't just tell us to do it. He explained why - like little details of kissing the Mezuzah each time you leave the house. This enriched the process for everyone, especially the young kids - (she is referring to the intern company) - who had no idea about Russian-Jewish shtetl life in 1905.

Nolte concurs, "For these interns to experience the rehearsal process on this classic masterpiece with such an expert is something they will take with them their whole lives, just as the audience will take away this authentic experience of the show. You are seeing Fiddler as it was intended to be performed, as it was performed over fifty years ago.

Dupal joins the chorus of praise in this assessment, explaining, "When Curt [Dale Clark] and I chose the director, we did not want someone who would do his own retelling. We believe if a show is not broken, don't fix it. We wanted a director to tell the story and the history behind it, and since MSMT is also an educational theatre, we wanted them to learn everything they could about Fiddler while they were here."

Devine jumps in with a fascinating anecdote about how Jerome Robbins created the Bottle Dance for Fiddler. "Until Fiddler opened in 1964, there was no such tradition of a bottle dance at Jewish weddings. This was something Robbins created himself from an image he observed at a Jewish wedding in Brooklyn when he was doing research to create his choreography. He saw the wedding coordinator, who was hired to orchestrate the merriment, put a bottle on his head and sway around in imitation of being intoxicated, and from that idea was born one of the most rousing numbers in the show." He also recounts how he had been in a production in Florida that did not use the Jerome Robbins staging, and the director created instead a dance for Golde and Shandel. "The audience, who was almost entirely Jewish, were disappointed and wanted to know 'where is the Bottle Dance?'" Both Devine and Nolte hasten to explain to an audience query about what "trick" is used to keep the bottles on the dancers' heads: "Nothing at all. The trick is they are incredibly talented dancers."

The discussion turns to two of the play's most memorable devices, the Fiddler, himself, and Tevye's endearing habit of engaging in personal conversations with God. Asked what they believe the Fiddler represents, the panel offers a few different interpretations. Cella says that he reminds her of the Marc Chagall murals, and she views him as "an imaginary figure whom only Tevye actually sees." Jokingly she remarks, "He's Tevye's little buddy, but he is such an ingenious device."

Devine throws out the image of Jiminy Cricket, while an audience member suggests Tinkerbelle. Nolte, however, who as Tevye has the most interaction with the Fiddler explains it this way: "He's my Muse who keeps me going every day. He's my advisor of whom I can ask questions, and when I start talking to him, the audience begins to notice he's there and hears him as well. And that's when I go ahead and explain. He comes back when I am wrestling with some difficult issues. I don't want to see tradition changed, and I dialogue with my Muse. The violin part represents the ideas that dance around in Tevye's and everyone else's heads."

Tevye's tacit and spoken dialogue with the Fiddler is similar to his highly personal conversations with God. Nolte explains that at first he would address the unseen divine as being in different places on stage. "My first instinct was to find God anywhere, but Gary John said 'you have to put him in one place so the audience knows whom you're talking to.'" The actor is amused when an audience member asks him if he has noticed that when he looks up to the heavens for God, people sitting in the orchestra look up, too."

And perhaps it is that very ability for these Everyman characters to engage the audience's sympathy and identification that accounts most for Fiddler on the Roof's longevity and universality. That - and as Nolte asserts - "the crazy times we live in. It is very hard to watch the news and see what is happening in Syria and around the world and not be profoundly moved. Hopefully this play will make people see what is going on in the world and help them to have empathy for those less fortunate, to accept others, to get out of their comfort zones and make room for growth. It is a very powerful show!"

Cella also speaks to the emotional resonance of the story throughout the years: "There are so many moments with which I personally - and others, too - can identify. We all have family we love; we all have had to say goodbye; we all mourn things past, and we all have to figure out how to deal with change and loss. It is a pretty remarkable show!"

Based on the throngs pouring into the Pickard Theater each evening, it seems that audiences agree!

Photograph Olivia Wenner

Fiddler on the Roof runs at MSMT until August 6. Two additional performances have been added to the schedule. For tickets and information, visit www.msmt.org 207-725-8769