By Brooklynn Wong
Do yourself a favor and get out to the Segerstrom Center to see “Fiddler on the Roof.” It’s only there until the 19th. As a first-time “Fiddler” viewer with a cursory knowledge of some of the songs and elements of the musical, it was a delight to see the whole product, and a high quality one at that.
The house was packed out for opening night (May 7) as Southern Californians from near and far came out to see the beloved musical.
“Fiddler on the Roof” first opened on Broadway in 1964, and won the Tony Award for best musical the next year, along with eight other Tonys. It gained even more notoriety when it was made into a film in 1971.
It tells the story of a family, and a Jewish village, in 1905 Russia, and their traditions, and of fathers and daughters and parents and children, and what to do when those you love most defy what you think is best for them.
It also takes on a serious note in its historical setting—in Imperial Russia, during the pogroms in which Jews were rounded up and removed from their longtime homelands.
The parents were the highlight of the show—Yehezkel Lazarov in the protagonist role of Tevye, the father of five daughters and a poor dairyman; and Maite Uzal as Golde, his stern yet comical wife.
Lazarov is Israeli and is well-known in certain niches there, and for being in numerous shows and movies.
And Uzal is Spanish, and has won Latin ACE and and HOLA Awards.
Each in their own ways are humorous and charming, and they play off one another well.
The three oldest daughters also have starring roles, and Mel Weyn as Tzeitel and Natalie Powers as Chava are particularly good.
Most of the musical numbers were wildly entertaining, with choreographer Hofesh Shechter being brought onboard to revamp some of the original dancing, while still keeping some central and beloved elements, like the dancing while balancing wine bottles atop the heads at the wedding.
“Tradition” and “If I Were a Rich Man” were the best of the musical numbers.
The sets were minimalist, perfect for portraying a simple village.
Overall, it’s a wonderful story of family and of community. It deals with growing up and letting go of children, of teaching them your values but ultimately leaving it to them to decide the way in which they will live, and deciding whether or how to still love and support them if they make choices different from what you had hoped.
Tevye and Golde’s daughters choose their own husbands rather than marrying the matches the town matchmaker picks out for them, one marries outside the religion, and one marries a man with revolutionary, cosmopolitan ideas and moves far away from her parents for him. And the parents must come to grips with their mixed feelings of disappointment but prevailing love for family, all while they are in the end being forced from their village by the government.
And that is how the show ends—no explicitly “happy” ending, no nicely packaged story, but that is satisfactory for a show like this one. It covers the whole spectrum of human emotion, with plenty of moments of laughter, of suspense and of seriousness. And the audience is left to take from it what they will.
It makes for a very good night at the theater.
Between now and May 19, the show plays every day of the week but Mondays, with one evening show each weekday and a matinee and evening show on weekends.
See scfta.org for tickets.
