Culture Writer
The Long Beach Playhouse doesn’t attempt major musical productions very often, but I don’t know why not. Whenever in recent memory the venerable community theater has done so, it has met with success. But there is no denying that a musical can be a daunting proposition for a theater of limited resources. And Fiddler on the Roof presents additional challenges. Can you pronounce “Sholem Aleichem” ?
When thinking of Fiddler on the Roof, who doesn’t envision Tevye, the burly papa of the small village in Russia where the Broadway musical is set? The show might well have been named “Tevye” given the prominence of the character, so larger-than-life, so universal in his day-to-day concerns, so…likable.
Actor Martin Feldman is tasked with bringing Tevye to life for Long Beach Playhouse audiences, and he is everything the character demands. The bearded Feldman is large and robust, his Tevye the head of a household, a respected member of the community. He struts about authoritatively when he is not pulling his dairy cart. He pauses frequently to ask existential questions of God or to respectfully criticize God’s choices with amusing familiarity. “Would it have been too much trouble to have made me just a little less poor?” is a question Tevye might ask while looking purposefully up at the sky and shrugging, his palms turned up.
Feldman’s singing voice even measures up. “If I Were a Rich Man” is a delight. So is the touching “Do You Love Me?”
Tevye’s wife Golde is also well cast. Playhouse regular Harriet Whitmyer lends her character the proper officiousness in running her household, yet she is kind and good-natured. She performs her solo vocals beautifully.
Fiddler is really about tradition, specifically the Jewish tradition of the old country, and how things are about to change. Tevye and Golde have five daughters, three of whom are a marriageable age. Conflicts arise when daughters Tzeitel (Jennifer Bales), Hodel (Melissa Deni), and Chava (Sara Lipowsky) one by one present their parents with husbands of their own choosing. Tevye and Golde, of course, had rightfully expected to choose their daughters’ mates for them.
After much reflection, Tevye bends to the wishes of Tzeitel and Hodel. But when Chava asks him for his blessing of her marriage to a non-Jewish man, his decision is finalized when he exclaims, “No! If I bend that far, I will break!”
Russian officers threaten to evict the Jewish residents from their villages, adding another element of tension to the story.
And of course, there is the fiddler. A bearded diminutive Brenna Hanlen lightly dances about the stage like a Shakespearean sprite, a violin under her chin and bow poised to play, while uttering nary a word. The character is a metaphor for the precarious circumstances in which the villagers and their traditions find themselves.
Phyllis Gitlin is one of very few directors up to this task. She knows Jewish culture and tradition. She is versed in Yiddish language. Gitlin also has a mostly gentile cast of a melting pot variety, including several Hispanic and Asian actors, all of whom have learned their Yiddish pronunciation and inflection well. Needless to say, Gitlin also doubles as language coach.
Lovely dance numbers, some of which feature ballet, are beautifully executed. Others fill the stage with the entire cast. A dream sequence is awe-inspiring.
Other cast members are Roxanne Martinez, Joshua Benitez, Russell Malang, Richard DeVicariis, Dustin Nguyen, Randy Calcetas, Hannah Smith, Mariyah Duffie, Jeremy Krasovic, Cort Huckabone, Dennis Adrian Dyck, Jess Paxton, Zipora Shifberg-Mencher, Vanessa Evans, Natasha Muro, Lee Samuel Tanng, Evan Battle, and Tommy Doughty.
Andrew Vonderschmitt’s well detailed set and Donna Fritsche’s wonderful costumes place us firmly in the village of Anatevka of 1905.
This production of Fiddler has a distinctly community theater feel. Musical accompaniment is recorded, with no live musicians. Some vocals are admittedly less than perfect, but are charming all the same as unapologetic amateur performances.
The Long Beach Playhouse’s production of Fiddler on the Roof makes the most of its non-professional cast, and then some. It is beautiful, funny, and entertaining. It is all heart.
Fiddler on the Roof continues on the Long Beach Playhouse Mainstage through Aug. 16. General-admission tickets are $24, senior tickets are $21 and student tickets are $14 with valid student ID. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, with Sunday matinees at 2pm. The Long Beach Playhouse is located at 5021 E. Anaheim St. Call (562) 494-1014, option 1, for reservations and information. Tickets are also available at lbplayhouse.org .
