Barrington's 'Fiddler' Takes Musical To New Heights
PITTSFIELD, Mass.
Julianne Boyd and Barrington Stage Company love to take chances. Big musicals require large casts and sets, and represent a serious financial commitment. Sponsors (like Berkshire Bank) take a risk too. Happily, if you ask anyone who was at Sunday's opening of Fiddler on the Roof — which is the first musical of the Berkshire summer — Barrington Stage has once again staged a total and complete winner. It has everything. Make your plans now, you are guaranteed to leave the theatre with a whole raft of colorful characters dancing in your head, and humming some wonderful old fashioned tunes.The major reason for this Fiddler's success is its lead actor.
The role of Tevye is being played — for the first time — by Brad Oscar who opens the show with the popular song "Tradition" and then rockets to the heights as the musical unfolds. In the end, we watch him slowly hauling his milk wagon off the stage — now filled with a few household possessions — as the curtain comes down and the audience applauds and applauds until their hands are red. Opening night, there was a standing ovation to boot.Back in 1964 when the original show opened, Howard Taubman of the Times wrote that if "Sholem Aleichem had known Zero Mostel, he would have chosen him, one is sure, for Tevye." He might update that reference had he been able to see Oscar.
Oscar portrays Tevye so perfectly, one can only think of that classic show business phrase: "Brad Oscar is Tevye." He has even incorporated small bits of stage business that are a homage to his predecessors Zero Mostel, Topol and even Nathan Lane, who once did a takeoff on the show. It's a remarkably complex depiction which is ultimately uniquely his own.
You might say it takes a village to create a musical, and in the case of "Fiddler on the Roof," nothing could be more true.
When the lights come up we are taken to the Russian hamlet of Anatevka in 1905 as the czar was evicting Jews from their villages. It is based on the Yiddish books of Sholem Aleichem about Tevye the Milkman, and dozens of other characters who were his neighbors.
So in fact, the village and its people are the heart and soul of this musical.
Another standout in this production is Joanna Glushak as Golde, Tevye's wife, who is as intimidating as she is hard working. She is the ultimate practical and grounded partner to a husband who clearly lets his heart rule as often as his intellect. In the second act when she sings "Do You Love Me?" with Tevye, we finally get a fleeting glimpse of the human side of her. Glushak's portrayal is strong enough to stand up to, and on occasion, dominate their scenes on stage together. Such chemistry is wonderful to see.
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Yente the Matchmaker (Rachel Coloff) was all business, all the time, and Motel the Tailor (Colin Israel) was perfect in his role. Alexander Levin as Perchik the revolutionary student and teacher delivered a solid reading, as did Jason Simon as Lazar Wolf, the Butcher.
I was especially impressed by Travis Nesbitt who played one of the Russian soldiers, but perhaps it was for the frustrated humanity he represented in a story of Jews and Gentiles alike, both of whom seemed to have blinders on.
Present at the performance was the lyricist for "Fiddler on the Roof" Sheldon Harnick, who worked with composer Jerry Bock and Joseph Stein the writer of the book. Earlier, he regaled a rapt audience of his own at a free Barrington Stage "Conversations with ..." in the same theater. His ability to conjure up the days of the musical's creation and journey from idea to one of the most popular musicals ever written helped give the performance that followed an almost historic aura.
Like the original production of "Fiddler," which was both choreographed and directed by Jerome Robbins, this production had just one leader for both elements as well, Gary John La Rosa who formerly was a Berkshire actor, now making his BSC directing debut. He has staged 200 productions elsewhere and his experience and panache are very much on view. The dance elements were as strong as the dramatic ones, and were so seamlessly integrated it is hard to remember where one left off and the other began.
 Brad Oscar is Tevye in this 'Fiddler' production. |
On stage there were 27 people in the cast, (BSC's "West Side Story" had previously set the mark at 24) while in the pit is the largest orchestra (nine pieces plus conductor) that Barrington Stage has ever fielded in Pittsfield. They made a glorious sound, a brilliant blend of strings, brass and other instruments that provided substantial heft and diversity for the ear. Music director Darren Cohen had a perfect sense of balance between the voices and instruments, and Ed Chapman's sound design — which included some hilarious corks popping in the wedding scene — made sure everyone could hear every word.
The scenic designer did well on the multipurpose stage house and tailor shops, but the impressionistic (minimalist?) large drop pieces were undistinguished, and in one case looked unfinished. Anatevka is more suggested than realistic. The lighting by Jeff Davis was mostly unobtrusive, though once in a while had some hot spots — as in the family photo that begins this review — with too much contrast between Tevye and his family, a minor quibble at best.
It is a pleasure to see such an honest production of a classic tale, with deliberate craftsmanship as director Gary John La Rosa sought to reproduce the joys of the original show, including its stunning choreography. As a result, this "Fiddler on the Roof" is likely to go down as one of the classic productions at Barrington Stage Company. It is one big, winning musical, the first blockbuster hit of the summer.
Larry Murray is a contributor to iBerkshires.com and offers reviews and arts news from around the region at Berkshire On Stage.
Tags: Barrington Stage, musical,
