Fiddling up a delight: Fiddler on the Roof at Pantages Theatre

Fiddler on the Roof is back to fiddle some more, to remind us how much times have changed and how some things never change.

The touring production is playing at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood through Sunday, August 9, then moves the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa for a two week run beginning August 11.

Times may change, but no one likes change. This story of a Jewish family in a tiny Russian village in 1905 trying to remain true to their traditions while coping with an ever changing world offers something for everyone. Many of the Jewish customs and traditions they hold true may be foreign to non-Jewish audiences. But everyone can relate to the frustration and resistance they experience as the world evolves around them.

Watching Chaim Topol (pictured above) as farmer Tevye, the father trying to hold his family together, you realize you’re in the presence of a master. Of course, Topol knows Tevye better than anyone else since he’s played the part more than anyone else. Topol first performed Tevye in 1967 when Fiddler opened in London and has gone on to star in numerous revivals of Fiddler, both in the West End and on Broadway. But he became an international star after playing Tevye in the 1971 movie version of Fiddler, earning an Oscar nod and winning a Golden Globe for his performance.

It’s a tour de force for a man who has lived the role for over 40 years, more than 2,5000 shows. He knows the part by heart, but there are a few times when you can see Tevye’s hands shaking slightly. One doesn’t know if it’s the character doing that or the aging actor. Nevertheless, it’s a masterful interpretation. But if there’s any doubt that this man is in complete charge, all that disappears after his heartbreaking rendition of “If I Were a Rich Man” early in the first act.

That first act is LONG, clocking in at 1 hour, 45 minutes. So much plot to get in there. But some great musical numbers too. The opening number, “Tradition” sets the play’s theme so perfectly. And the second number, “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” is a joy. It feels out of place in a musical otherwise filled with Klezmer music. It feels like it could fit in Sound of Music or My Fair Lady or even Hello Dolly better (ironically, Hello Dolly is the musical version of the play The Matchmaker).

This production reproduces the original Jerome Robbins choreography from the 1964 Broadway debut. It’s refreshing to see that 45-year-old choreography works so well today, even with some nice flourishes, such as an exchange of the mops during the aforementioned “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” number. And of course, the act closes with the reknowned "Bottle Dance" in which the men manage to dance with bottles sitting atop their hats without the bottles falling to the floor. This spectaculr number never fails to amaze; you want to hit the rewind button to take it in, to marvel at the skill these dancers have at keeping their bodies moving while balacning these bottles. Alas, there are no rewind buttons in live theatre.

By the second act, everything comes together nicely, sailing along in just over an hour’s time. Those plots that were just dangling all wrap up nicely and the characters you didn’t think you knew all seem very familiar by this point.

One of the inherent problems with the story is keeping each of Tevye’s five daughters straight. It’s made even more difficult because the actresses are all wearing the traditional scarves on their heads to cover their hair. But after a while, you realize it’s not so important to distinguish each of the five as it is to just enjoy the performances. And to enjoy the show, which everyone surely will.

To purchase Fiddler tickets at the Pantages Theatre.

To purchase Fiddler tickets at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.