Review: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at Washington Pavilion

Sometimes the magic of theatre is such a gift, that you carry it with you for days and weeks after a performance and you feel like a bit of an apostle, testifying to the beauty and wonder of what you have experienced. If that makes it sound like attending Fiddler on the Roof at the Washington Pavilion was a religious experience, well I would have to admit that it checked all the boxes for me this weekend.

The opening number of Tradition brought forth the importance of family and the roles we all play, and transition into throughout our lives. The voices of the cast were powerful and the choreography, while rooted in traditional Jewish folk dances was fresh with some additional layered textures of gesture and energy.

The orchestra exhibited a mastery of the score that I have never heard better performed. It was a perfect balance of sound and emotion and I was completely caught up in the melodies and rhythms of the music that accompanied the vocalists.

There was some hype about this touring company on the internet and in the media in general, and this production lived up to every praising comment and exclamation point.

Tevye, played by Yehezkel Lazarov, was a much more agile and energetic character portrayal than I have ever experienced before. His timing and delivery of the quintessential lines of the dairyman, husband and father of five was exquisite. I think because of his ability to move and react with energy and by sheer innovation of his gestures, I experienced a whole new perspective on Tevye, and I loved every nuance that he brought to the character.

The dancing in the production number To Life was exhilarating and inventive and the ride was worth the price of admission. I would have loved to have seen it multiple times, for the sheer adrenaline I felt watching.

Tevye's dream was a visual and vocal delight, in that it was eerie, and then spooky, and morphed into pure horror. I loved what the costumes and props contributed to create that nightmarish spectacle.

I always love watching the bottle dance during the wedding scene and this production brought the "big guns" in for its presentation. I would have to commend the choreography team and say that all the dancing during the wedding was inventive and fresh and maintained the feel of Jewish folk dances. Bravo Hofesh Shechter! Your work was genius and yet true to the traditions of the Jewish culture.

The set in this touring production was masterful in its ability to transport us to the places and spaces in Anatevka. The most emotional visual effect for this reviewer was the scene as the people of Anatevka are told to "get out". That backdrop of slatted wood created some eerie and foreboding lighting on the stage floor, and in hindsight, a forecast of the future of the Jews in Europe.

All of the cast had lovely voices, and the principal characters and their interpretations of solos and group pieces were brilliant, one and all. I am pretty sure that this probably doesn't usually happen in reviews of the touring production, but when I saw the name of Randa Meierhenry in the program and read her credits, I was ready for her "time in the sun" as Rivke in The Rumor. Here in Sioux Falls, the name Meierhenry is synonymous with support of theatrical arts, and she mentioned time with Prairie Repertory Theatre, and that, my friends, is worth a "shout out" in this state.

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