Fiddler on the Roof 2009-10 Tour

[YouOverThere]

I don't go to a lot of plays, but after debating whether I wanted to spend the $$ to see the national touring cast of Fiddler on the Roof I finally decided to go. Believe it or not, I hadn't seen Fiddler on the Roof in over 20 years. Unfortunately, by the time I decided the only performance with tickets still available at a price that I was willing to pay was a Friday evening performance. Regardless of how my week went (and this week was NOT a good one for me), I'm usually pretty worn down by Friday evening and often have trouble getting into concerts or shows.

The reason for my hesitancy on going to this show was the fear that it wouldn't come off all that well in a large theater (it was held in the Colorado Ballet's home, the 2600-seat Ellie Caulkins Opera House). Though I had a decent seat considering the price I paid (front row in the lowest of the 3 balconies), I never did feel really connected. Perhaps if I had forked out $$$ for an upfront seat I would have connected more.

This particular staging takes a somewhat light-hearted approach, almost a comedy. As a result, the somber scenes just weren't all that moving. When they left the village, it seemed more like people leaving a business that had gone out of business after only a few years than people leaving homes and friends that they had known for decades. It was as if they wanted the audience to be happy and didn't want any negativity to intrude. And there just seems to be something lost when the actors use microphones. The actors often faced the audience rather than the character to whom they were speaking. This company has been on tour for months, and I wonder if it's getting a llittle stale for them. None of the men were terribly convincing IMHO; the actor who played Perchik in particular struck me as mechanical.

I didn't care much for Harvey Fierstein as Tevye. His raspy voice made him hard to understand and his singing was almost inaudible. The woman who played Golde was only an OK singer, so their duets, most noticeably in "Sunrise, Sunset", didn't have much impact on me. His attempt to portray Tevye's pain over letting his stubborn adherence to principle prevent him from saying a final good-bye to Chava was unconvincing.

[papeetepatrick]

This particular staging takes a somewhat light-hearted approach, almost a comedy. As a result, the somber scenes just weren't all that moving. When they left the village, it seemed more like people leaving a business that had gone out of business after only a few years than people leaving homes and friends that they had known for decades. It was as if they wanted the audience to be happy and didn't want any negativity to intrude.

I appreciate what you're saying, YOT, and noticed it a lot during the 00's. I think some of that--it's really a kind of 'sterilization', wouldn't you say?--is finally itself beginning to bore people, instead of being this inevitable kind of freeze-dried quality I've seen, and which always gave me the impression that it would never let up, as if at some irreversible cul-de-sac. Although it has done so, as proved by flesh-and-blood shows like 'In the Heights' and even the revival of 'Gypsy', for all its faults, was still not as if made for a brave new digital age. Your phrase 'more like people leaving a business that have gone out of business after only a few years than people leaving homes and friends...' is perfect: It made me remember that, even though I never have seen a stage presentation myself, when I was a 20-year-old student in Paris, I skipped class one afternoon, and went to see the movie of this. I just got dreadfully overemotional about it, and yet have never seen it again. So I do know what that show is capable of, even if it's got its hokey side (most musicals do.) I hope musical theater is going to continue to evolve into more human expression as it used to have, albeit some of the old forms have been exhausted, instead of that weird sterilized sensation that is not unlike watching many TV sitcoms: They just evaporate a few minutes after you've left the theater.

[dirac]

Thanks for telling us about the performance, YouOverThere. Fierstein isn't my idea of Tevye either but I can't think of many 'name' stage stars who would be ideal.

[Helene]

Alfred Molina sounded wonderful in the revival cast album. Fierstein is being touted on the big board at The Paramount Theatre in Seattle, where Mark Morris Dance Group is performing through tomorrow afternoon.

[YouOverThere]

I appreciate what you're saying, YOT, and noticed it a lot during the 00's. I think some of that--it's really a kind of 'sterilization', wouldn't you say?--is finally itself beginning to bore people, instead of being this inevitable kind of freeze-dried quality I've seen, and which always gave me the impression that it would never let up, as if at some irreversible cul-de-sac. Although it has done so, as proved by flesh-and-blood shows like 'In the Heights' and even the revival of 'Gypsy', for all its faults, was still not as if made for a brave new digital age. Your phrase 'more like people leaving a business that have gone out of business after only a few years than people leaving homes and friends...' is perfect: It made me remember that, even though I never have seen a stage presentation myself, when I was a 20-year-old student in Paris, I skipped class one afternoon, and went to see the movie of this. I just got dreadfully overemotional about it, and yet have never seen it again. So I do know what that show is capable of, even if it's got its hokey side (most musicals do.) I hope musical theater is going to continue to evolve into more human expression as it used to have, albeit some of the old forms have been exhausted, instead of that weird sterilized sensation that is not unlike watching many TV sitcoms: They just evaporate a few minutes after you've left the theater.

"Sterile" is a good word. Or maybe "sugar-coated". And I'm not saying that the show was bad; I'm being a very tough grader since the show was hyped as a sort of final definitive performance (it is being advertised in some markets as a "farewell tour", though it's hard to believe FotR will ever be retired from the repertory), with ticket prices to match. It was a nice show, but I was hoping for something with a little bite, something to make it stand out from a local production. Then again, maybe if I had forked out the mega-bucks for a closer seat I would have found more in the production. Or maybe good theatre needs a more intimate environment than a 2600-seat concert hall. Or maybe Echoing of Trumpets created unrealistic expectations for other shows.