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By Carol Davis
 SAN DIEGO—When Tevye, of the Joseph Stein, Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, now in the annals of one of the greatest Broadway musical successes, Fiddler On The Roof, tries to explain why we Jews do certain things, (like keeping their heads covered all the time) the only answer he can come up with is ‘Tradition’. I’m guessing that that’s the reason I along with so many others at the opening night production of the musical of the same name filled, to near capacity, the Civic Theatre in downtown San Diego recently. Well, that and the fact that Chaim Topol, the quintessential Tevye was appearing in person, in what was being billed as his ‘farewell tour’ with this North American Touring show. Let’s hope it means the same thing as Cher’s farewell tour. NOT!
But let’s back up. Chaim Topol is seventy-three, just about my age. I’m not bragging. In fact, I’m jealous and in awe of the way he moves around the stage. Dancing, prancing, stomping and well, just being the same Tevye character he was thirty-eight years ago in the movie version. His signature baritone voice is still as rich and marvelous as it was that many years ago. Just because he moves a little slower and milks every line for all it’s worth doesn’t diminish his star power nor detract from his performance. I’m still curious to know what vitamins he takes, but that’s another story.
Just for the record, this current production of Fiddler that I was privileged to see, and over the past thirty years I have seen many, is the best yet. To sweeten the deal this production has one hell of a talented cast and it goes deep. From the bottom up there isn’t one weak link. Beginning with the Fidder (Arthur A. Atkinson) who has played the role so many time that fingering the strings to the music gives the appearance of his really playing to the Rabbi (Joel Bernstein) who in typical tradition is asked everything from a blessing of a sewing machine to where in the Bible it says a man can’t dance with a woman.
Golde and Yenta ( Susan Cella and Mary Stout) are typical mom and matchmaker. Cella shows the delicate balance of stern mother, loving but critical wife and Stout is the wise and funny Yente whom every daughter dreads seeing. Tevye’s three oldest daughters, Tzeitel, Hodel and Chava (Rena Strober, Katie Babb, Jessica Scholl) are beautiful and characteristically right for the part. Erik Liberman is perfect as ‘Motel the Tailor Kamzoil’ whom Tevye finally recognizes as a person after he fathers a grandchild. Colby Foytik is a strong Perchik the ‘modern thinker’ and the man of Hodel’s dreams who is sent off to Siberia for his radical thinking and Eric Van Tielan is convincing as Fyedka the Russian partisan attracted to Chava. Bottle dancers, Rick Pessagno, Matthew J. Kilgore, Robbie Roby and Matthew Rossoff are awesome to watch. Every single actor was at the top of his/her game.
The frosting on the cake however is Chaim Topol’s Tevye. Topol, an Israeli by birth, is the standard by which every other actor who plays Tevye will forever be compared, for better or for worse. Since playing him in the movie, which opened in 1971, and having been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Actor category for his performance, he reprised the role in 1983 for London stages, and later went on to play on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony.
The Tevye character has such an endearing quality of fatherly love, compassion for all things living, a sense of sardonic humor and an unyielding commitment to his faith that one would have to be a hard nosed bigot, who hates everything Jewish not to love him.
But the tradition of the poor milkman from Anatevka goes on as Shalom Aleichem’s wonderful story of Tevye and His Daughters continues to play out in cities across the world. It captures the lives, trials and times of the folks of the little town of Anatevka just before and at the beginning of the pogroms in Russia as the backdrop for the story of how Tevye copes with the struggles of feeding his family, keeping them together in their faith while adhering to the Jewish
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traditions of his ancestors in an ever changing world. It captures the flavor of the community and the beauty its people personify.
If we substitute Anatevka for any city across the nation today, the same struggles continue in the modern world. Some things are disguised to look and sound like something else and for some reason seem more complicated the more diverse we become.
With songs like “If I Were a Rich Man”, “Matchmaker, Matchmaker”, “Chavelah” (that one breaks my heart every time I hear it), “Sunrise Sunset” (another tearjerker), “To Life”, Miracle of Miracles”, and of course “Tradition” this familiar musical is brought to life as audiences old and young, rich and poor, black and white identify with the trials of everyday, hard working families struggling to make things right and better for their children.
For Tevye and the good folks of Anatevka that meant leaving their homes and resettling to unfamiliar places, leaving their friends and some family members behind to catch up with them when finances permitted. As warm and fuzzy as the story is and as entertaining as the characters are, the underlying sadness at plays end even hoping for a happy ending for everyone, it leaves you with a hole in your heart.
Director Sammy Dallas Bayes uses Robbins original choreography while musical conductor David Andrews Rogers noted that all the twelve live musicians in the pit are playing acoustical instruments. No synthesizers but rather a more Klezmer sounding tone was arranged for this touring show. As impressive as that is the sound at the Civic is still uneven and hard to take. With computers moving the uncluttered sets (Steve Gillam) while the action on stage was still happening, the production sailed along without a hitch. One of the nice little extras were the musicians on stage who blended in with the community of Anatevka.
C’mon hop down to the Civic Theatre to see Tevye reason with God. It’s as good as it’s gets, this family oriented rich and touching steeped in ‘Tradition’ musical, Fiddler On The Roof. It’s here until Sunday, July 19th.
For more information go to broadwaysandiego.com
See you at the theatre.
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