FIDDLER On The Roof is one of those musicals many of us grew up with from when it hit Broadway in the 1960s and of course, we can all sing the first lines of ‘If I Were A Rich Man’.
Since then, it has had many outings both amateur and professional plus of course the movie. Nothing has surpassed the original though until perhaps now. This latest production, which premiered at the Regent ‘s Park Open Air Theatre and opened last night at Birmingham’s Alexandra, really does reinvent the classic tale and well deserves all the awards and praise heaped upon it. It’s a witty and emotional phenomenon, which leaves you drained and making many comparisons with what is happening in the world today.
Picture by Marc Brenner. s
The story is set in the countryside of Imperial Russia 1905, where, away from the pomp of the royal palaces and their clique, Tzar Nicholas II is the butt of everyone’s jokes. Tevye, a wise-cracking Jewish small dairy farmer is desperately trying to keep hold of his traditions in a changing world. He has no sons to help him, just Golde, his no-nonsense matriarchal wife and five daughters who he needs to marry off. Love gets in the way of traditions and old customs collide with new ideology.
The Fiddler of the title – a magical tour-de-force by Roman Lytwyniw – really does open the show by playing on the roof – in actuality it is a cornfield as high above the stage as you can possibly get. His haunting notes on his fiddle make you hold your breath less you break the spell. He then proceeds to play throughout the story popping up everywhere – unseen by the proud villagers of Anatevka, whilst acting as our personal guide.
Picture by Johan Persson. s
Tom Scutt’s design is simple but all embracing, from the cornfields that comprise a roof in the sky and the wings, to a huge open acting area where all the action happens – sometimes watched by us watching villagers watching the story and at other times capturing tight focuses on intimate moments. It is complemented by unobtrusive but compelling lighting designed by Aideen Malone.
Choreographer Julia Cheng mixes tradition with modern with everything from adrenalin-fuelled full-on acrobatics to essays in emotional stillness. Director Jordon Fein treats us to a storytelling masterclass – he does not shy away from the difficult bits of being Jewish nor does he ram it down our throats. It’s half celebration, half woeful – and a total triumph.
Picture by Marc Brenner. s
The musical director Livi van Warmelo is well served by a wonderful on and offstage orchestra. The score with music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick includes some of the most iconic songs in musical theatre – ‘Tradition,’ ‘Matchmaker, Matchmaker,’ ‘If I Were A Rich Man,’ ‘To Life!’ and ‘Sunrise, Sunset.’ Each one is a classic in its own right, carrying the original book writer Joseph Stein’s story forward with heart, soul and passion. My personal favourite was the moving ‘Sabbath Prayer’.
Jodie Jacobs is spot on the money as the Tevye’s devoted but ‘I’ll take-no-nonsense’ wife Golde. She is simply the kind of woman you would want in your corner if the chips were down. She laughs at Tevye’s jokes whilst steering him through his dreams back to practicality.
Picture by Marc Brenner. s
Matthew Woodyatt puts in a remarkable performance as Tevye. From the get-go he brings us into his world, he shares his thoughts, hopes and dreams and makes us feel his joy and pain as if we were him. It is a performance that is becoming as loved and famous as the original Topol’s – a name everyone remembers – and now Woodyatt’s is joining it in theatrical history.
The whole cast is outstanding with a passion that is truly infectious.
A special shout out though to Beverley Klein for her hysterical delivery as The Matchmaker – she had the audience in stitches every time she spoke.
‘Fiddler On The Roof’ is in The Alex for the whole of the festive season – up until January 3 – and is quite simply ‘Unmissable’. Click here for times, tickets and more information.
*****
