Through Sun 5/25
Magic, beguiling fiddler, romance, song, and dance? Yes, please, thank you.
The engaging Cleveland Play House production, directed by Michael Barakiva, lights up Playhouse Square’s Allen Theatre. It makes clear why Tony Award-winning Fiddler on the Roof has remained popular since its 1964 Broadway premiere. With book by Joseph Stein, music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, produced by Harold Prince and choreography by Jerome Robbins, it’s an affirmation of creativity and community.
The simple (not simple) story is set in Russia during the early 1900s. Big-city social upheaval has begun to affect the Jewish villagers in the shtetl of Anatevka. Our hero, milkman Tevye (Robert Cuccioli), and his wife Golde, have five daughters, daughters who require suitable husbands. (Marriage was the most acceptable career choice then.)
Naturally, their spunky dancing daughters Tzeitel (Maria Noel Fallouh), Hodel (Bebe Moss), Chava (Sasha Geisser), Shprintze (Addie Wisniewski) and Bielke (Christina McSheffrey), have ideas of their own.
Cuccioli’s Tevye excels in comic meditations, sometimes via bouncy songs, such as “If I Were a Rich Man,” and sometimes via ironic “discussions” with God. When his delivery wagon-pulling horse breaks down, for example, Tevye now pulling the heavy cart, looks up and says “Sometimes I think when things are too quiet up there, You say to Yourself: ‘Let’s see, what kind of mischief can I play on my friend Tevye?’”
Other musical treats include “Do You Love Me?” — Tevy’s comic duet with his wife Golde (a spirited Joanna Glushak), as well as the stage-shaking songs with other villagers, such as “Tradition” and “Anatevka.”
The suitors who pursue and (eventually win) Tevye’s oldest daughters are Michael Glavan (as Fyedka, who becomes the bookish Chava’s suitor), Brendan Lowry (as the tailor Motel, Tzeitel’s love), and Avery LaMar Pope (as Perchik, the tutor who charms Hodel).
Choreographer Staś Kmieć integrated story with motion. Most impressive are the Russian dancers and bottle dancers. (I think their legs should be eligible for spa treatments — those bent-knee steps could ruin a person.)
Diane Louie directed the orchestra (including, yes, a fiddler). The sound was well-modulated and the tuneful notes swept us away.
Ensemble members also include Elliot Block, Carolyn Demanelis, Ethan Flanagan, Amy Fritsche, Lester Gonzalez, Matt Koenig, David Lenahan, Calder Meis, Marc Moritz, Geoffrey Short, James Monroe Števko, Kristine Zbornik, Madalyn Baker, Meredith Nelson and Adam Ortega.
The simple, but beautiful set, designed by Raul Abrego, enhanced Staś Kmieć’s choreography. Costumes by Suwatana “Pla” Rockland suited country and military folk, with one dramatic (and impressive exception), the long gown fashioned for Tevye’s dream ghost (designed by Ian Petroni).
Lighting design by Zach Blane, sound design by Lindsay Jones, associate direction by Jailyn Sherill Harris, assistant direction by Madalyn Baker and Meredith Nelson, casting direction by Calleri Jenson Davis, stage management by John Godbout, and assistant stage direction by Pamela Salling also helped make the Fiddler’s village.
It’s all very real, sometimes sad, and mostly funny.
Bottom Line: One of the season’s most delightful musicals. It speaks to the heart and of how a community can embrace and celebrate life despite hardships. And, if you really want to be in a musical, Fiddler on the Roof offers reasonably priced seats right on the stage so you too can feel as if you are part of the village. I sat in the balcony for the first time and the view was terrific and highly recommended.
[Written by Laura Kennelly]
