{"id":346824,"date":"2023-11-22T21:40:34","date_gmt":"2023-11-23T02:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?p=346824"},"modified":"2023-11-22T21:40:34","modified_gmt":"2023-11-23T02:40:34","slug":"an-untraditional-fiddler-on-the-roof-plays-olney-theatre-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2023\/11\/22\/an-untraditional-fiddler-on-the-roof-plays-olney-theatre-center\/","title":{"rendered":"An untraditional ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ plays Olney Theatre Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: Since this review was originally published on November 19, it has been revised in response to readers to whom we are grateful for bringing to our attention an inadvertently insensitive subtitle.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cTRADITION\u2026TRADITION!\u201d Those words, in the opening prologue of Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick\u2019s 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof,<\/em> stir emotions. Director Peter Flynn\u2019s Fiddler,<\/em> now playing at the Olney Theatre Center, stirs its own set of emotions in 2023: as a thought-provoking, competent, and yet confounding staging of a timeless classic.<\/p>\n

This is the story of Tevye, a milkman in the village of Anatevka who struggles to provide for his family and is guided by Jewish traditions. Tevye and his daughters remain the focal point of the story throughout \u2014 as each daughter chooses to marry for love in relationships Tevye finds difficult to accept.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The ensemble of \u2018Fiddler on the Roof\u2019 at Olney Theatre Center. Photo by Teresa Castracane Photography.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fiddler on the Roof<\/em> is also the story of Jewish life in Russia at the turn of the 20th century; as such, amid a tale of love and tradition, it is also about religious persecution, pogroms, and the expulsion of Jews, which adds to the gravitas of the story. Flynn\u2019s production of Fiddler<\/em>, in a significant departure from the original, sets this story at Ellis Island \u2014 where it unfolds via flashback, and where it ends \u2014 to emphasize his perspective that this is a story of all immigrants.<\/p>\n

Howard Kaye as Tevye effectively handles the sarcastic banter of this legendary role (in one memorable scene, he humorously questions the tailor\u2019s worthiness for his daughter). He is musically best in songs like \u201cIf I Were a Rich Man,” where the veteran actor handles Harnick\u2019s fast-paced lyrics admirably. Kaye, however, lacks the commanding presence and voice that a quintessential \u201cReb Tevye\u201d demands. He harnesses the humor but not the heartbreak of this legendary character.<\/p>\n

Fiddler<\/em> has 23 different roles, and strong among the many on stage at Olney was Noah Keyishian as the student Perchik. Keyishian emotes with conviction; it is believable that he would cross the barrier to dance with women at Tzeitel\u2019s wedding. Rachel Stern as Tevye\u2019s wife, Golde, is a wonderfully loving and angst-ridden Jewish mother. Sophie Schulman as eldest daughter, Tzeitel, shows tremendous vocal chops. And Chess Jakobs as Lazar Wolf, the wealthy butcher who wants to marry Tzeitel, is striking for how he balances the pride and indignity of this character.<\/p>\n

Graciela Rey, as The Fiddler, possesses considerable talent as a dancer. Yet Flynn unfortunately does not commit to a clear role for her. She is on rooftops, pirouetting in musical interludes, one of the bottle dancers at Tzeitel\u2019s wedding, and dancing solely with Tevye in another scene. This decision to make her a focal point of this production unnecessarily steers attention away from the main characters on stage.<\/p>\n

\"\"
TOP LEFT: Ariana Caldwell as Chava, Sophie Schulman as Tzeitel, and Sumi\u00e9 Yotsukura as Hodel; TOP RIGHT: Graciela Rey as The Fiddler; ABOVE: Sophie Schulman as Tzeitel and Michael Wood as Motel, in \u2018Fiddler on the Roof\u2019 at Olney Theatre Center. Photos by Teresa Castracane Photography.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That said, Flynn is to be commended for the creative team he has pulled together. Choreography by Lorna Ventura incorporates traditional Jewish dance, most wonderfully in moments of joy like the iconic \u201cTo Life\u201d and \u201cThe Bottle Dance\u201d at Tzeitel\u2019s wedding. Scenic designer Milagros Ponce de Leon crafts different wooden sets with height and authenticity. Her work meshes beautifully with Max Doolittle\u2019s lighting design in the first act\u2019s \u201cSabbath Prayer,\u201d with candles in dimly lit windows as a stunning backdrop to the stage. Doolittle\u2019s lighting, overall, is a mix of subtle and striking spotlights \u2014 particularly in the closing scene as the cast walks through the light of doors into the new world of America.<\/p>\n

Flynn\u2019s production features a diverse cast; cast members are African American, Japanese, Ecuadorean, and of other ethnic backgrounds. It is a production, per an Olney press release, with \u201can eye toward the global shtetl.\u201d Olney effectively showcased <\/a>a plus-sized African American Belle in its 2022 production <\/a>of Disney\u2019s Beauty and the Beast<\/em> and here again recognizes the importance and necessity of diverse casting.<\/p>\n

Olney\u2019s challenge with this casting for this particular show, however, is that Fiddler on the Roof<\/em>, based on the stories of the Yiddish playwright Sholem Aleichem and the first commercially successful show about Jewish life in Russia, is a point of cultural pride for many Jewish people.<\/p>\n

Flynn\u2019s perspective \u2014 which emphasizes that this is the story of every culture, in every part of the world \u2014 is a thought-provoking one. That perspective is at the core of a production that makes a number of unconventional artistic decisions \u2014 from larger-scale choices like the role of The Fiddler, the diverse casting, and setting the play on Ellis Island to details like placing a tallit on the female actress playing The Fiddler (a tallit, or Jewish prayer shawl, is traditionally reserved for men in orthodox Jewish communities like the one Fiddler<\/em> depicts) and the fact that you do not hear a glass being broken during the musical\u2019s wedding scene.<\/p>\n

This is an enjoyable production of Bock and Harnick\u2019s classic play; it is also a complicated one, and at times, uneven. It considers a Jewish play and asks whether it can be a universal story. Credit the Olney production team for sparking this conversation, and consider what \u2018TRADITION!\u2019 means to you.<\/p>\n

Running Time: Two hours and 45 minutes with one 15-minute intermission.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fiddler on the Roof <\/i><\/strong><\/a>plays through December 31, 2023, at Olney Theatre Center, Roberts Mainstage, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD. Tickets ($39\u2013$95) are available online<\/strong><\/a> or through the box office at 301-924-3400, open from 12 pm \u2013 6 pm Wednesdays through Saturdays. Discounts are available for groups, seniors, military, and students (for details click here<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

The program for Fiddler on the Roof<\/em> is online here.<\/a><\/p>\n

COVID Safety:<\/strong> Face masks are recommended but no longer required to attend events in any Olney Theatre Center performance spaces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This enjoyable production is also a complicated one. 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