Review: Fiddler on the Roof at Paramount Theater
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| Harvey Fierstein and cast of Fiddler in the Roof photo ©2010 Carol Rosegg |
Tradition is very important to Tevye, an impoverished milkman living in the Russian village of Anatevka in 1905. Tradition is how Tevye, his family, and his fellow villagers keep order in their lives. Tevye fantasizes about how much easier his life would be if he were a rich man, but despite all the grumbling he does, Tevye is generally happy with the status quo. Tradition works for him.
His children, on the other hand, aren’t exactly thrilled with tradition. His three oldest daughters have all reached the age to consider marriage. Tradition dictates that marriages be arranged but first Tevye’s oldest daughter Tzeitel successfully begs her father to free her from her arranged marriage so she can marry the man she truly loves. Next his second daughter, Hodel, tells him she is marrying young radical Perchik and they are asking for a blessing, not permission. Underneath his bluff, blustery exterior is a man who dearly loves his children and wants them to be happy, so Tevye forces himself to consider that there may be times when it’s okay to make a new tradition. Third daughter Chava, however, pushes him too far by defying his orders to stay away from the gentile she loves and running off to secretly marry him. Although it breaks his heart, Tevye insists on casting her from their family.
Soon after, word comes to the village that the Tsar is ordering all Jews out of the village in three days’ time. With heavy hearts, Tevye, his family and friends all must leave their home and scatter to the winds. Knowing that she may never see her family again, Chava returns to tell them goodbye and let them know that she and her husband Fyedka are leaving the village themselves, unable to live in a place so cruel. Tevye then must make one final choice between tradition and his love for his daughters.
Harvey Fierstein stars as Tevye. His is a warm, funny Tevye – you can’t help but like him, even when he’s being cranky or conceited, which he is quite often. He is completely believable as a man willing to bend from the tradition he values for the sake of the children he values even more. Fierstein puts the distinctively gravelly voice he’s so well known for to good use throughout his dialogue, making the funny parts just that much more funny. However, his voice is a limitation in a play with so many notable songs – here he is adequate, at best.
The rest of the cast is mostly strong. Susan Cella has the thankless task of playing Tevye’s wife Golde who spends most of the play being a shrew. Cella manages to inject enough humanity into Golde to make her emotions believable, a task considerably more impressive than it might sound. All three of the women portraying Tevye’s oldest daughters – Kaitlin Stilwell as Tzeitel, Jamie Davis as Hodel, and Deborah Grausman as Chava – are outstanding. Less thrilling were the actors playing the men each of these young women breaks tradition for: Colby Foytik’s Perchik is so appealing it’s easy to understand why Hodel would be willing to leave the home she loves for the bitter cold of Siberia to be with him but Zal Owen’s Motel the Tailor is far too passive, particularly in what’s meant to be his shining moment of bravery leading up to “Miracle of Miracles”. As Fyedka, Matthew Marks seems almost a stereotype of bland niceness.
Two of the strongest performances were from minor characters: Mary Stout’s Yente is adorably funny every time she’s on stage and Stephen Lee Anderson infuses the Constable with enough life to make his betrayals of Tevye and the villagers truly painful.
Fiddler on the Roof continues at the Paramount through May 30.
