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| Joey McDaniel (center) as Tevye leads the cast in "Tradition." (Christian Pizzirani) |
“Fiddler on the Roof” won Tony Awards after its
premiere in 1964 and has become a perennial favorite for good reason.
Palo Alto Players shows why it’s so popular with its
memorable music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and book by Joseph
Stein.
It opens with a solo violinist as the central
character, Tevye (Joey McDaniel) the dairyman, comes on stage to say what holds
everything together in Anatevka, a small Jewish village in Russia in 1905 -- it’s
tradition.
With that, the 33-member cast enters for the rousing
opening number, “Tradition,” which explains how things are done and how
everyone fits in.
However, tradition begins to fray for Tevye, a poor
man with five daughters, three of them old enough to marry. By tradition, the
village matchmaker, Yente (Marsha Ann Broek), finds a husband for a woman and
the father gives her to him.
However, Tzeitel (Gabrielle Goodman), the eldest
daughter, doesn’t want to marry the chosen man, Lazar Wolf (Doug Brook), a
butcher who’s much older but wealthy.
She has fallen in love with Motel (Joe Steely), a
poor tailor.
When Tevye realizes that she’ll be happy with Motel
rather than Lazar Wolf, he engages in subterfuge to convince his wife, Golde
(Brittney Mignano), to allow their marriage.
Love rather than tradition also influences the
pairing of his next daughter, Hodel (Madelyn Davis-Haddad), with a firebrand
student, Perchik (Sam Kruger).
However, Tevye absolutely draws the line when his
middle daughter, Chava (Teagan Murphy) secretly marries a non-Jewish man, Fyedka
(Kamran Flemish).
Other traditions go by the wayside, but the worst blow
of all comes when Russian officials order everyone in this village and other
villages to leave immediately in a purge of Jews.
Thus the show foreshadows the antisemitism that fueled
Hitler’s persecution and execution of Jews and other “undesirables” before and
during World War II. It’s also an ominous reminder of the antisemitism, along
with anti-immigration, that’s surfaced in this country.
Despite these undercurrents, the show is filled with
humor and great songs such as “Sunrise, Sunset,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” “To
Life” along with “Tradition” and others.
Director Jennifer Copaken, who also choreographed
the show so well, has chosen a large cast of good actors.
She and vocal and music director Amanda Ku weren’t
quite a lucky with the actors’ singing, which is adequate in most cases and
off-key in a few. However, the choral singing is quite good.
The best all-around performer is McDaniel as Tevye.
He embodies the conflicting emotions Tevye experiences as his world begins to
change. His performance is in keeping with Zero Mostel, who originated the role
on Broadway, and Topol, who starred in the film and appeared on tour in San
Francisco.
Kevin Davies’ set design places the 10-member
orchestra upstage as cast members move set pieces for scene changes. The
effective lighting is by Noah Price with sound by Gregorio Perez. Giselle
Lebedenko designed the character-appropriate costumes.
Running about two hours and 40 minutes with an
intermission, this fine production of “Fiddler on the Roof” will continue
through Nov. 24 at the Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.
For tickets and information, call (650) 329-0891 or
visit www.paplayers.org.
