Fiddler on the Roof: Douglas Sills and Jeremy Radin – Photo: Daniel Rader
As director Joe Calarco put it to the press night audience at Signature Theatre’s Fiddler on the Roof, he had a simple pitch for what would become his twentieth Signature production.
For his Fiddler, Calarco — whose 2017 Jesus Christ Superstar at the Northern Virginia theater still ranks as tops among the handful I’ve seen — envisioned a table in the round. The family table, the community table, where so much that matters in life happens, would serve as the center for this telling of the musical composed by Jerry Bock, with lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein.
Realized handsomely in Misha Kachman’s woody scenic design, the table, actually multiple tables in various configurations, also serves as stage and floor and tavern bar, depending on the scene. Meals, meetings, toasts, dances, fateful reckonings all sit down at — or spring from — this earthy center of the tiny village Anatevka, home to dairyman Tevye, his hard-working wife Golde, their five daughters, and community of fellow Jews.
Calarco and Signature nabbed a commanding performer to head the table: Douglas Sills, Broadway staple, Tony nominee, and, of late, a Gilded Age chef gracing the finest tables in 1880s New York. A far cry from Fifth Avenue, Tevye and family endure a life of scarcity in 1905 Russia, and, though Sills looks a bit dashing for a poor milkman, he conveys Tevye’s appreciation for the treasures he does possess: his family and his traditions.
The entire cast of villagers extol those virtues in “Tradition,” the first of the show’s opening trifecta of well-known tunes, and our first chance to take in the smooth staging of this large, active cast, and fetching choreography set for them by Sarah Parker.
Fiddler on the Roof: Rosie Jo Neddy – Photo: Daniel Rader
“Tradition” also spells out the strict expectations for women in this culture of arranged marriages. The three eldest of Tevye’s daughters — Tzeitel (Beatrice Owens), Hodel (Lily Burka), and Chava (Rosie Jo Neddy) — sing of romance and resistance in “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” a fine showcase for Burka’s lovely voice and Owens’ spunky Tzeitel.
The first of Tevye’s daughters to defy tradition, Tzeitel turns up her nose at a proposed union with wealthy town butcher Lazar Wolf (Jeremy Radin) arranged by the village matchmaker, Yente (Susan Rome, a fast-talking delight). One after the other, Tevye’s children will similarly defy him. He sees the balance of his whole world under threat, from within and without.
In his household, he has to deal with willful daughters, and the men they attract or bring home. Beyond his front door, the village of Anatevka, and the peaceful lives of Jews there, are threatened by the forces of the tsar, expelling Jews from their villages throughout the region.
The production hits its most resonant notes, however, when evoking the joy and celebration rooted in home and community, and religion. From the tender blessing of the Tevye-led “Sabbath Prayer,” to the boisterously danced “To Life,” the cast shines when it’s all hands on deck for uplifting occasions.
It’s wine bottles perched atop hats for the spirited quartet dancing the first-act showstopper “The Wedding,” a number epitomizing the show’s dynamite combo of cast, score, set, costumes, and choreography, especially when the mood’s upbeat.
The dancing throughout — to my surprise, at least — impresses in ways that the singing doesn’t, with a few exceptions, including the robustly romantic act two opener “Now I Have Everything,” sung by Burka’s devoted Hodel and Ariel Neydavoud’s revolutionary Perchik.
A modern free-thinker and, per Neydavoud’s impassioned performance, an appealing foil for Tevye, student Perchik is branded a radical by the men in the village. He turns out to be a key agent of change, both welcome and not, in the lives of Tevye and his family. Along with their community, they all suffer persecution, are brutalized by pogroms, and, ultimately, expelled from their homes, one passage in the show that feels played by rote, unfortunately.
“We don’t bother them, and so far they don’t bother us,” Tevye offers at the start, unaware what tremendous change awaits. Sills marks the man’s fight against — and yielding to — those battering winds with a genuine vulnerability which permeates Tevye’s duet with Golde, “Do You Love Me?”, informs his sometimes harsh methods of parenting, and solidifies his seat at the head of this table, both strong and sturdily built.
Fiddler on the Roof (★★★☆☆) runs through Jan. 25 at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, with a Pride Night performance on Dec. 5. Tickets are $47 to $172. Call 703-820-9771, or visit sigtheatre.org.
Everyone is entitled their own opinion, but is everyone entitled to their opinion of your opinion? Furthermore, is your opinion a reflection of who you are in a greater scope as a person?
Those questions lie at the heart of Art, a starry play on Broadway that has been revived since its initial 1998 run, for which it won a Tony. Back then, it starred Alan Alda, Victor Garber, and Alfred Molina. Now, Neil Patrick Harris, Bobby Cannavale, and James Corden step into the work from French playwright Yasmina Reza, translated from its original language by Christopher Hampton.
Even in our era of short-form entertainment, the 100-minute comedy feels much too long. It evolves around a trio of three longtime friends who debate a $300,000 painting. As Porky Pig so succinctly stated, "That's all, folks!" Much like an artist and their sycophants who believe that a pretentious artpiece is masterful, theatergoers will also delude themselves into thinking that they have witnessed a show of great import. In fairness, they aren't totally wrong. Art does have more to offer than what it offers at first blush.
Estranged cousins Mina (Renea S. Brown) and Sade (Hillary Jones) in a.k. payne's intimate drama Furlough's Paradise could hardly be more different in taste and temperament, but they still share more in common than just blood.
Despite wildly differing living circumstances, both women risk hoping for their version of a better future. They both harbor dreams that feel so big they have to keep them closely guarded, and both are haunted by choices they made that led them down uncertain paths.
Mina and Sade once shared a childhood, a sisterhood and friendship, bonds that frayed as their lives arced in seemingly opposite directions. Mina, the bright Ivy League grad, now lives in L.A. on a plump Google salary. Sade, of whom far less was expected, resides in a cell inside a West Virginia state prison.
"Friends, Harlemites, countrymen, lend me your ears." The Folger has brought the Bard uptown, courtesy of Al Letson's Julius X, a deft reimagining of Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar as a depiction of the last days of Malcolm X.
As the playwright points out in the production's program notes, Shakespeare's drama of the betrayal and assassination of the political leader in ancient Rome overlaps pretty effectively, plot-wise and thematically, with an account of the betrayal and assassination of the civil rights leader in Harlem 1965.
Accordingly, for Letson's modernized mashup, stylishly staged by Nicole Brewer, the conspirators carry daggers not pistols to slay Julius X inside the Audubon Ballroom. Instead of robes and togas, they rock natty suits, courtesy of costume designer Danielle Preston, who keeps the cast dripping in Harlem swag.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.