It was 2016. It was during my first, but brief attempt at living in New York. I woke up early with one of my roommates to go buy rush tickets for the revival of “Fiddler on the Roof” for us and our other two roommates.
I admit I’d heard the name “Fiddler on the Roof”, but I knew nothing about it. I hadn’t seen a production before nor had I seen the film. I didn’t even know Gwen Stefani had sampled the show in her song “Rich Girl”.
I watched the revival and immediately fell in love with everything about it. Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching “Fiddler on the Roof” in Yiddish off-broadway at stage 42 and fell in love all over again. Everything about it was fantastic.
Yesterday was my fiancé’s introduction to Fiddler. Like me he had never seen even the film. He ended falling in love with it as well.
The production stars Steven Skybell as Tevye and directed by Joel Gray this is as professional a production as you’ll find anywhere. Still it’s overall simplicity allows you to focus solely on the story.
If Tevye and the rest of the village of Anatevke were real, Yiddish would be the language they actually spoke. The production provides supertitles so the audience can understand what’s being said and the actors are all fantastic that getting into the groove of reading the lines is easy.
The actors are all engaging and wonderful that you could probably get away with not reading the supertitles and still know what was going on. The actors are that good. The way they use their voices and their bodies to convey everything they’re feeling is a masterclass in acting.
Of course if this is your first time watching the production reading the supertitles is probably necessary. The supertitles are in English and Russian and are projected on each side of the stage on some of the fabric that make up the set.
There were minor technical issues with the supertitles last night. Some of them changed too fast and would have to be backtracked to the correct spot. Nothing major and nothing that took away from what was going on onstage.
Despite having seen the revival in English three years ago, I understood Tevye’s story better this time around. Joseph Stein wrote the book and the majority of the drama stems from the older generation wanting to keep their traditions while the younger wants to change it. Tevye’s eldest daughter Tsaytl (Rachel Zatcoff) begs her father to let her the poor tailor she loves as opposed to the rich man chosen for her by the matchmaker. Tevye relents and gives his blessing and even fools his wife Golde (Mary Iles) into agreeing to marriage.
His next eldest daughter Hodl (Stephanie Lynne Mason) falls in love with a poor radical who ends up imprisoned in Siberia, and even then Tevye relents and gives his blessing.
Everything changes when his third eldest Khave (Rosie Jo Neddy) elopes with a Russian (and most importantly non Jew). This Tevye can never forgive and he declares her dead to the family.
I grew up in a traditional Catholic Mexican household. I understand the daughters’ struggles even if we grew up slightly differently. I know my parents disagree with some of the choices I’ve made or some of the things I believe in and I’m sure they struggled with their beliefs and mine, but ultimately they chose to support me as not doing so might have meant losing me.
That’s the universal story that most everyone can relate to. The play ends with all the Jews being asked to leave Russia with only three days notice.
Mr. Grey’s production works mainly because of its simplicity. A select few songs are big and full of spectacle. The others once again focus on the storytelling.
This only works in the production’s favor. Mr. Skybell is funny but firm as he wrestles with any decision he makes ultimately making sure that his daughters are happy. Ms. Iles is funny overall, but is able to convey the heartbreak only a mother feels when her child is dead, even if that child is only dead to the family. Jackie Hoffman as Yente the matchmaker steals any scene she’s in.
I remember enjoying the Broadway revival, but I honestly couldn’t have told you what the story was about. I was enraptured with the lives of Tevye and his family in this production and I can definitely tell you with certainty what happens in their lives. I have nothing but good things to say. I thought everything about it was spectacular.
I could relate to the story of “Fiddler on the Roof” more than I realized. It’s astounding what something as simple as changing the language does to a story.
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