Fiddler on the Roof

Set in the Pale Settlement of Imperial Russia in 1905, this musical, with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and based on book written by Jospeh Stein centres on the life of Tevye, a milkman, a father of five daughters and his attempts to maintain his Jewish  religious and cultural beliefs whilst outside influences encroach. He must cope, both with the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters, who wish to marry for love – each one's choice of a husband moves further away from the customs and beliefs of their Jewish faith and heritage – and then, a decree from the Tsar, means that ‘Tevye’, his family and all the Jews living in his ‘shtetl’ (village) are to be evicted.

Liz Clarke (Director) opens up her programme note with the words ‘TRADITION, FAMILY, FAITH ...those three words, as Liz suggests, form the basis of what this musical is all about! Congratulations to Liz, Steve Chesters (Choreographer) and David Wall (Musical Director) and his fabulous orchestra on a job well done!  It was obvious from the opening song ‘TRADITION’ that each knew what they needed to do to bring this production to life and bring it to life they did! (PS: Liz…you achieved your aim!)

Alan Casserley, in only his second show, took on the massive and integral role of ‘Tevye’.  ‘Tevye’ must be strong and engaging with his audience - and that’s just what we got. Alan brought warmth and a genuine sense of humour to the part, especially during his many conversations with God. ‘If I were a Richman’ .... was memorable!  ‘Golde’, ‘Tevye’s’ ‘exasperated wife’ was sensitively played by Heather Lewis. Heather gave a great performance as the ‘loving mother’, ‘sharp tongued wife’ and without doubt, the ‘true head of the family’.  Their rendition of ‘Do You Love Me’ was believable and poignant.  Be proud guys!

The older daughters ‘Tzeitel’ played by Lucie Colman, ‘Hodel’ played by Samantha Keen and Chava played by Abbie Coy, were well cast and each gave a really confident performance. Whilst not wanting to upset the family, all three were determined to make their own choices about marriage. I thought Samantha’s rendition of ‘Far From the Home I Love’ was ‘so special’, well done!  The two younger daughters; ‘Shprintze’ was played by Ella Mooney and ‘Bielke’ by Zahra Bhatti ... well done girls, you really did look like you enjoyed every minute!

Our three ‘husbands’ to be.......
‘Motel’ a wonderful character part was played really well by Craig Billington.  Craig took us on a journey which saw him grow in ‘confidence’ and finally ‘pluck up’ the courage to ask ‘Tevye’ for his daughter ‘Tzeital’s’ hand in marriage.

‘Perchik’ played by Carl Sedman; a revolutionary student from Kiev, arrives in the village and quickly makes his presence and his opinions known.   Great characterisation, great passion, great presence ...well done!

Finally, the smallest of the three roles, but the one with the biggest impact on the family - ‘Fyedka’ played by Tom Hallsworth a Russian Soldier...the ‘step too far’ for ‘Tevye’. Tom looked the part and made it his own, well done! 

Lisa Tatler gave a convincing performance as ‘Yente’, The Matchmaker. She had great comedic timing and a manner of realism that made her very believable....be proud!

Alastair Johnson played the part of Lazar Wolf. What a time he had... thought he’d got his bride, only
to be ‘gazumped’ at the last minute!  Alastair played this part well and his banter with Tevye when trying to land his bride (whilst getting drunk) was well timed and very funny!

It is not possible to mention by name the other 12 supporting cast members all of who portrayed some interesting and colourful characters, nor the 16 male and females chorus members, but everyone performed well, related well with each other, supported their principles and added so much to the overall production, well done all of you – be proud!

The staging/set was first class and added so much to the overall production...congratulations to those cast members enlisted to ‘pull, push and manoeuvre’ the set during scene changes - slick and precise... well done! The sound and lighting were excellent and again added much to the overall production...congrats to Infinity Technical Services and Alan Gosling respectively.

Costumes and props were excellent and appropriate adding much authenticity to the production and the characters.

I really did enjoy the entire show, but there were three ‘standout’ moments for me that I’d like to mention:

The ‘Prologue’ - ‘Tradition’ – as previously stated, really did set the tone for the entire show!  It was really well acted, with precise movement from the large cast and sung ever so well.  I would like to make ‘special mention’ of the ‘male singing voices’ ... they really were ‘exceptional’.

‘The Dream Sequence’.. another highlight! Great movement, great timing and great singing – loved it!

‘The Final Scene’ as the family and the rest of the ‘shtetl’ (village) were packing to leave....superbly ‘coordinated’ from start to finish; it really did bring out the ‘emotion’ and ‘sadness’ of that scene and made it so believable; yet, we still had time for just one more humorous ‘one liner’ from ‘Tevye’ – ‘Don’t forget the baby’ ......as they left for America!

Congratulations to you all as you celebrate your ‘60th Anniversary year, I hope all your celebrations go as well as ‘Fiddler’ did!  Thank you so much for inviting my wife and I, for your hospitality throughout and I hope to see you all again soon and to visit you again for ‘Sound of Music’  

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