In pre-revolutionary Russia, a Jewish peasant with traditional values contends with marrying off three of his daughters with modern romantic ideals while growing anti-Semitic sentiment threatens his village.
In a slow-moving story about life in Russia at the turn of the century, an outspoken Jewish Dairy Farmer daydreams about how life would be if he were rich and even better if he were to find well-to-do husbands for each of his five daughters. In the small village of Anatevka around 1905, Tevye (Jonathan Hashmonay) and his outspoken wife, Golde (Maite Uzal), have many conversations about how they wish their daily grind were easier. When Golde approaches Tevye about meeting with a wealthy local butcher by the name of Lazar Wolf (Andrew Hendrick), he is confident that Lazar Wolf wants to discuss the possibility of purchasing a cow, when instead he desires to marry his daughter, Tzeitel (Leah Platt). After Tevye warms up to the possibility of Tzeitel marrying a man close to his own age, he believes the good outweighs the bad and that Tzeitel will never go hungry. He and Lazar Wolf then make a verbal agreement for his daughter’s hand in marriage; however, when he later presents the idea to Tzeitel, she begs her father not to force her to do it while she secretly wishes for the opportunity to marry Motel Kamzoil (Elliott Lazar), the local tailor and family friend who literally has nothing to offer. When Tevlye realizes he must honor his daughter’s wishes, he and Golde make up a story to spook Lazar Wolf so he won’t be bitter.
While the town’s local matchmaker, Yente (Mary Beth Webber), is busy making undesirable matches for Tevye’s daughters, a young tutor name Perchik (Austin J. Gresham) from Kyiv that Tevye has hired to tutor his younger daughters is changing the girls’ minds about modern-day romance while at the same time becoming more desirable to Tevye’s daughter, Hodel (Graceann Kontak) who has fallen in love with him. Just as it seems that Tevye’s luck is changing by getting his daughter’s married off, a Russian villager named Fyedka (Carson Robinette), who is outside of the Jewish faith, proposes to marry Chava (Yarden Barr), and when Tevye doesn’t give his blessing on the marriage, Chava and Fyedka choose to get married anyway. Chava is then banned from the family.
When trouble rears its ugly head in the small town and the Jewish Villagers are forced to pack their things and leave, Chava returns to make peace with her father, and while Tevye refuses to face her, he still wishes her well. While there are many underlying themes throughout the storyline, what prevails most is a father’s desire to keep peace in the family despite wanting more for them and himself, as well as recognition of the changing of the times when women are allowed to make their own choices about their mates and destiny in life.
While there have been many versions of “Fiddler on the Roof” over the past century, this current production is filled with the constant recognition of triumph amid defeat. The quick-witted humor that Tevye displays at all times carries the storyline and makes the hard times not seem so pervasive as the family struggles to get through the changing times together at the turn of the century. Broadway at the Center could not have made a wiser choice in selecting this highly entertaining production with a hugely talented cast, extremely gifted vocalists, actors, a colorful collection of costumes and imagery, and an awesome Fiddler (Ali Arian Molaei)!
“Fiddler on the Roof” recently played at the Winspear Opera House
