Celebratory high-flying musical raises the roof

Rainbow Stage closes its summer season with an ode to life and the power of resilience.

The limited run of the beloved 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof, co-produced with Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, also features members of the Rusalka Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, the high-flying dance numbers infusing the briskly paced three-hour production with propulsive energy.

The adaptation, based on a set of short stories penned by Sholem Aleichem between 1895 and 1915, and featuring a book by Joseph Stein with music/lyrics by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, became the longest running musical theatre production in Broadway history following its première.

Tevye the milkman lives in the fictional village shtetl of Anatevka around the turn of the 20th century. As he grapples with the winds of change and even darker storm clouds of rising pogroms and persecution of Jews during Cszarist Russia, his three eldest daughters defy tradition by establishing independently minded lives through their own marriages, countering their father’s early declaration: “Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof!”

Director Dan Petrenko, artistic director of WJT, must surely be kvelling at bringing together a who’s who of local theatre royalty, including several Rainbow fan favourites. Marking his debut “under the dome” is Canadian actor Daniel Kash as the tale’s proud protagonist.

It’s no small feat stepping into Tevye’s battered boots, as famously portrayed by Topol and Zero Mostel, among others. Much closer to home, Rainbow fans with long memories — and there will be many — will recall the late Cliff Gardner, a Winnipegger who (astonishingly) played the role during each of the company’s prior productions in 1971, 1977, 1984 and 1993.

Kash makes his Tevye his own, infusing his portrayal with warmth and humanity as he belts out If I Were a Rich Man and, later, its poignant flipside Do You Love Me?, sung to his long-suffering wife, Golde.

The actor successfully traverses his emotional arc, although several moments — such as when he turns his back on his daughter Chava (Alyssa Crockett) for marrying out of the faith with the Russian Orthodox soldier Fyedka (Evan Taylor Benyacar, whose initial piercing vocal entry during a rousing To Life injects real danger into the show) — could be given more weight, as they arguably form the crux of the narrative.

But any musical needs full-bore passion and these cast members are clearly up for the task. Their visceral, gutsy opener, Tradition, enthralls, as they whisk the audience to their rustic village, captured by set/props designer Brian Dudkiewicz’s tiered wooden set serving as Tevye’s home, the town’s bar, street and sundry other locales.

More movable set pieces would have added further variety, as the blocking feels overly static at times.

Siobhán Sleath’s dramatic lighting design is particularly effective during Tevye’s internal monologues and conversations/debates with God, in which the stage is flooded with jewel-toned hues.

Music director/conductor Konrad Pluta skilfully leads the 17-piece orchestra tucked upstage in delivering one iconic hit after another, including Matchmaker, Matchermaker, Sunrise, Sunset and a particularly zesty To Life. (Pluta had to navigate several nail-biting moments on opening night when singers and band were precariously out of synch; the situation was resolved by opening the wall’s panel doors after intermission, but this might have been anticipated during rehearsals.)

Bravo to the onstage fiddler, Malacai Hiebert, for his spot-on rendering of the show’s iconic theme as he pops up during key moments that symbolize crumbling traditions.

Tevye’s “dream,” a nightmarish ploy in which he convinces his wife that their eldest daughter Tzeitel (a solid Lauren Mayer) should marry her childhood sweetheart, poor tailor Motel (Joshua Kilimnik, bursting at the seams with youthful optimism), and summon Jennifer Lyon’s Grandma Tzeitel and Sarah Luby’s shrieking Fruma Sarah from the grave.

Special mention also goes to Tzeitel’s siblings: Hodel (Chanel Kattenat-Larsen), who falls in love with bookish scholar Perchik (Josh Bellan); the younger Bielke (Mara Rivers); and Shprintze (Scarlett Nozick) rounding out the family unit.

What a joy to see a trio of local theatre veterans appearing together on this stage. Debbie Maslowsky (also Tzeitel in Rainbow’s 1993 staging) displays a backbone of steel, propelled by practical common sense and powerhouse vocals as Golde, destined to play second fiddle to her husband. Leading her family during Sabbath Prayer while wearing her real-life grandmother’s lace head covering, adds a verisimilitude that truly stirs the soul.

Mariam Bernstein’s deliciously animated, meddling matchmaker Yente gossips and strikes deals with the shtetl’s anxious townfolk intent on finding good husbands — preferably rich — for their children.

And then there’s the always wonderful Harry Nelken, reprising the role of Rabbi he performed 42 years ago. Every carefully paced word brings gravitas to the stage as he offers wise counsel to the Anatevkians and helps them stare down their oppressors.

Dov Mickelson’s Lazar Wolf cuts like a knife, although his portrayal would be stronger if he fleshed out his crusty butcher with greater emotional vulnerability, bargaining, begging — and even attempting to bribe — Tevye for Tzeitel’s hand in marriage. He declares that he’s lonely, but you don’t feel it.

Another undeniable highlight is the dancing, choreographed by Jillian Willems. In Tzeitel and Motel’s wedding scene, the Rusalka performers toss off their athletic choreography, including backflips and high kicks, with wild, raw energy. Fiddler fans will be pleased that the bottle dance is included, with nary a drop spilled thanks to strategic costuming.

A leitmotiv in Fiddler is Tevye’s continual deferring to the Bible — “as the good book says” — as he struggles to maintain his equilibrium while at risk of toppling off his own roof of staunch tradition. In this case, it’s Jerry Stein’s more theatrically inclined book that provides him with ballast as he states, “You must not forget who you are.”

Words of wisdom for the ages, not just for the resilient Anatevkians, but for us, living in increasingly perilous times.

holly.harris@shaw.ca