[NEohioPAL] Preview of GLTG's "Fiddler on the Roof"

[Bob Abelman]

'Fiddler' milestone to play out on the GLTG stage

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This preview appeared in the News-Herald 3/13/09

 

Award winning actor Hal Holbrook has been playing author Mark Twain for 55 years, which is nearly as long as Mark Twain played Mark Twain.  Donning thick white wig and mustache, Holbrook has performed his one-man show on tour and on Broadway over 2100 times.

 

Close on his heels is local actor Marty Ross Moskow.  He is about to embark on his 32nd production of Fiddler on the Roof, having performed in numerous community productions, a professional tour and a stint in one of the show's Broadway revivals.  The upcoming Geauga Lyric Theater Guild production is the 20th time Moskow will have played Tevye, the lead role in the musical, with the opening Saturday night of this production marking his 1000th Fiddler performance.   

 

Fiddler on the Roof tells a tale of the hardships of Jewish life in the fictional Russian village of Anatevka in 1905.  It centers on Tevye, a dairyman and the father of five strong-willed daughters, who struggles to maintain the day-to-day existence of his family and the integrity of his faith's traditions while the modern world and a tsarist government seek to terminate both.

 

The musical's title was inspired by a wall panel painting by Marc Chagall.  It depicts a joyous fiddler sitting on a chair perched on a roof and playing in a state of imbalance and peril-a metaphor for survival by maintaining an enthusiasm for life and clinging fast to tradition.

 

The original Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof, which opened in 1964, won nine Tony awards, including Best Musical and Best Composer and Lyricist for Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick's masterful work.  The show was so successful it was brought back to Broadway in 1976, 1981, 1990, and again in 2004.   

 

What inspired 68-year-old Moskow to dust off his milk cart one more time and take to the stage?  "Quite frankly, all it took was a friend calling my attention to the audition notice," admits Moskow.  "It had been nearly twenty years since I performed this show in New York and nearly ten years since I performed it last.  It was time." 

 

"Marty walked in, already looking like Tevye, and clearly understood the style and nuance of the role," says director Karen Porter.  He also brings with him first-hand knowledge of the rites and rituals that are so much a part of this show.  His parents were both Russian Jews and, although he embraces the tenets of both the Jewish and Christian faiths, the traditions that were handed down to him inform his portrayal and add authenticity to the GLTG production.  "The script merely calls for a 'wedding dance'," notes Porter, "and Marty is able to help fill in the blanks."

 

Over fifty cast members comprise this production's population of Anatevka, the result of a huge outpouring of interest from local actors.  Embracing the "community" in community theatre, Porter accommodated as many players as possible and put their collective talent to good use in the ensemble.  The production also features Julie Douglass as Tevya's wife, Golde, Sarah Wyatt as their oldest daughter Tzietel, Civia Wiesner as Yente, Jim Ray as Lazar Wolf, David Fox as Perchik and Chad Duwe as Motel.  

 

Not having access to the Geauga Theater stage for rehearsals, due to performances of the children's production of Once on This Island, this enormous cast has had to make do with make-shift work spaces around town.  This has included the theatre's annex building, the Chardon Town Hall, the log cabin on the square, the Methodist Church and St. Mary's Church.  "We haven't even opened," laughs Porter, yet we've already gone on tour." 

 

Details

 

What:       Fiddler on the Roof

When:      March 13 through April 5 (8pm Friday and Saturday, 2pm Sunday) 

Where:     Geauga Theater, 101 Water Street, Chardon.

Tickets:    $12-14

Info:           440-286-2255 or www.geuagatheater.org.

 
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