Fiddler on the Roof

This was an interesting, well thought out interpretation of this ever popular musical. There was some lovely singing and characterisation from the principals. Tevye’s dialogue and lyrics were delivered well although at times his voice had a rather abrasive quality. Golde sang and acted well – a very believable mother – and their duet was lovely, sung with understanding. The girls were delightful, and “Matchmaker” was well choreographed and performed, but they were all good at showing their individual characters. “Far from the Home” - my favourite song in the show – was beautifully sung by Hodel and brought a tear to my eye. The boys were interesting too and I was very impressed with Motel’s rendition of “Miracle of Miracles”. Yente was a very fussy Matchmaker and at times was quite funny. The other principals all had very clear dialogue although it was difficult to hear all of the words on the scene at the inn.The chorus was in good voice and “Tradition” was well performed – a satisfactory start to the production. At times the stage seemed a little overcrowded but we understood how the “grey chorus” was portraying the background to the main stories. There were some touching scenes too – “Sunrise, Sunset” was quite charming – and the finale with the back projections, was very moving, with the premonitions of troubles still to come.The set was in some ways quite basic, but extremely versatile, and moved very easily. It was used with good effect in the dream scene and Fruma-Sarah’s entrance was quite spectacular. Actually that whole scene was excellent, with good singing and movement from all, and smooth manipulation of the scenery. The lyrics were very clear too, bringing some welcome humour to the proceedings. The orchestra did well, although on occasions they were a little too loud and the costumes were very suitable – although I wasn’t too sure of the Fiddlers brightly coloured blouse.David and his team worked very hard and overall it was a slightly unusual, but thoughtful production. 

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