FIDDLER ON THE ROOF New Theatre, Cardiff

Original New York Stage Production Jerome Robbins.

Based on the Sholem Aleichem Stories

Book by Joseph Stein

Music: Jerry Block

Lyrics:Sheldon Harnick

Director & Choreographer: Craig Revel Horwood

Musical Director: Sarah Travis

Reviewer: Barbara Michaels

Rating: 4.5

For any actor, following in the footsteps of an actor who has become identified with a role is a major challenge.  When the forerunner has become iconic in his own lifetime, it is even more mind-boggling.  Huge credit is due, therefore, to Paul Michael Glaser who manages the feat of keeping the characteristics made iconic by Topol, back in 1964, as  Tevye, the philosophical Jewish milkman and father of five in a poverty-stricken stetle in Tsarist Russia yet at the same time adding in nuances that put his own stamp on the role.

      Best known for playing David Starsky in the TV series ‘Starsky and Hutch’ back in the Seventies, Glaser reveals that he is capable of interpreting  the hidden depths of a demanding part calling for both comedy and tears – not to mention the ability to sing.   This new production with the weight of a cache of memorable songs such as ‘If I Were A Richman’ – rendered by Glaser with a nicely ironic touch and a richness of sound that is also heard in ‘Tradition’ - delivers the goods in every sense of the word.

     Mention must also be made of Karen Mann, playing opposite Glaser as Tevye’s wife Golde.  Mann gives us a Golde with whom we can both empathize and sympathise as her matriarchal control over her family slowly disintegrates as the outside world intrudes and traditional values are overturned.   Her trio of grown up daughters are ably portrayed by Emily O’Keefe, as the eldest daughter Tzeitel, Liz Singleton as Hodel and Clare Petzal as Chava, all of whom give spirited performances and bring a freshness of touch to their roles.

       Not only does Craig Revel Horwood direct this production with the surety and flair  of a master but – as one might expect – the choreography is amazing.  The sheer expertise and exuberance of high speed Ukranian folk dancing in Scene 4 is outstanding.   If there is a proviso anywhere, it is in the dream sequence where a bridal-clad Fruma-Sarah, played by Susannah Van Den Berg, rises from her coffin in a slow motion up-and-down style that comes dangerously close to pantomime,  thus loosing what should be a spine-chilling moment.  But this is merely a caveat for – quite incredibly, with a cast called upon to fulfil the mammoth task of acting, singing, dancing while at the same time playing an instrument, for the onstage cast is also the orchestra – Revel Horwood and musical director Sarah Travis pull of what can only be viewed as a Herculean task with panache and to a high standard deserving of an accolade.  As the fiddler, Jennifer Douglas provides the link which runs throughout, bending her bow with a fine musicality but never intruding.     Imaginative, innovative and thoroughly enjoyable throughout has to be the verdict on this production of a one of the best-loved musicals of our time.

. 

Runs until Saturday February 8th