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

[Bob Abelman]

'Fiddler' milestone mere icing for GLTG production

 

Bob Abelman

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

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review appeared in the News-Herald 3/20/09

 

Last Saturday night's presentation of the Geauga Lyric Theater Guild's Fiddler on the Roof marked the 1000th Fiddler performance for Marty Ross Moskow, who plays the lead role of Tevya.  As monumental as this is, it is not Moskow's most significant contribution.  Rather, for two and a half hours, he helps the sleepy bedroom community of Chardon be in touch with its Semitic side.

 

The musical 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.  He 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.  

 

Nothing could be further from the ancestry of most of the folks on either side of the Geauga Theater stage.  Yet Moskow's marvelous performance of one of the most cherished roles in one of the most well-crafted Broadway shows in history manages to hit home.

 

His bold baritone supports every ensemble number and is the foundation that sustains this production.

 

His boundless energy and passion for this play lifts and carries the more than 50 members of this cast.

 

His understanding and communication of the spiritual roots of this story help transport both the cast and the audience to another time and a far-away place to gain insight into a heritage that is not their own.

 

Sure, there are moments when this community theater production falters.  Some of Moskow's motions and motivations lack spontaneity, the consequence of having reenacted them 999 times.  Some of the lead role performances pale by comparison, the consequence of having a ringer in the room.  Some of Lisa-Marie French's choreography suffers simply by having more than 50 bodies simultaneously crammed into the same small space, causing joyous scenes to be less joyful.

 

Nonetheless, this is a monumental effort by director Karen Porter and her production team of Bruce Locke, John Hazard, Jim Koehnle, Pat Ingram, Kerry Allenby and Terri Zernechel.  The entire show looks and sounds beautiful, and there are many marvelous moments to be proud of.

 

The bottle dance during Tzeitel's wedding is superb.  The "Do You Love Me" duet between Tevya and his wife Golda, played by Julie Douglass, is tender and moving.  The staging of the very poignant pilgrimage out of Anatevka at the end of Act 2 is a masterful combination of traffic control and theatrical wherewithal. 

 

In addition, stellar performances are delivered by Jim Ray as Lazar Wolf the Butcher, Mayim Hambeln as Tevya's middle daughter Chava, Civia Wiesner as Yenta the Matchmaker, and Anthony Nedelman as Mendel the Rabbi's son.  Brief cameo appearances by Cindi Verbelum as the dead Fruma-Sarah and Patricia Osredkar as Grandma Tzeitel are superb.  

 

Perhaps the finest and most genuine performance during the evening of Moskow's 1000th was turned in by a novice to the community theater stage, four-year-old Jeanna Sukey.  She danced with absolute abandon, was in the moment every moment, and stepped out of the ensemble curtain call to take her very own bow.  

 

This musical's title was inspired by a wall panel painting by Marc Chagall.  It depicts a carefree 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  GLTG tapped that metaphor, in large part due to big Marty Ross Moskow reliving it and little Jeanna Sukey learning about it.

 

 Fiddler on the Roof continues through April 5 at the Geauga Theater, 101 Water St., Chardon.  For tickets, which are $12 for students/seniors and $14 for adults, call 440-286-2255 or visit www.geaugatheater.org.

 
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