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Regional Reviews: Washington, D.C. Fiddler on the Roof
Part of the challenge of staging Fiddler is how Joseph Stein's book balances soliloquies and two-person scenes with the larger moments, and director Joe Calarco handles these with sensitivity and skill. Choreographer Sarah Parker has created dances inspired by Jerome Robbins' iconic work without simply copying them, especially in the wedding scene. Most importantly, Douglas Sills is a magnificent Tevye, the Jewish dairyman who anchors the story of a traditional society learning to face the challenges it can no longer ignore. His performance is larger than life, as it has to be to carry the weight of a lost world and its stories, and Sills has a ringing voice that makes the most of Jerry Bock's music and Sheldon Harnick's lyrics. The opening visual image of Misha Kachman's scenic design is a large, multi-piece wooden table, around which the cast members (and, symbolically, the audience) gather during the opening number, "Tradition." The table itself works like a jigsaw puzzle throughout the performance, as actors remove and rearrange various pieces to create wagons, beds, bar furnishings, and other set elements. (Audience members should also look up or they'll miss the elaborate, colorful Jewish symbols painted on diagonal beams above the stage.) Amie Bermowitz presents Golde as a woman who knows what she wants; she may not like everything her husband does, but she has accepted him as he is for 25 years and that is never going to change. Beatrice Owens (Tzeitel), Lily Burka (Hodel), and Rosie Jo Neddy (Chava) give beautifully three-dimensional performances as the daughters–they sometimes get angry and exasperated like everyone else–while Jake Loewenthal is a sweet and determined Motel. (One clever detail in Ivania Stack's costume designs is to give the tailor an elaborate vest to wear.) While most of Calarco's vision is straightforward and polished, one must mention two peculiar and puzzling conceits. The more important one is that the allegorical Fiddler does not appear onstage with Tevye; violinist Jennifer Rickard, a member of the fine 10-member orchestra conducted by Jon Kalbfleisch, appears in a spotlight from the orchestra loft–but this change takes away the symbolic power of the show's closing moments. The other is a plot-driven dream ballet that, for some reason, distractingly takes place in a field of tall sunflowers. Fiddler on the Roof runs through January 26, 2026, at Signature Theatre, MAX Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington VA. For tickets and information, please call 703-820-9771 or visit www.SigTheatre.org. Book by Joseph Stein Cast: |
