The freeFall production of Fiddler on the Roofis so inventive that it startles. Recalling troupes of players traveling through Eastern Europe as 19th joined 20th centuries, the play is compressed to seem a “trunk show” (using many carts, some as stages for action by puppets) both telling and acting out the story. It is, of course, that of the tiny village of Anatevka’s Jewish community and especially poor milkman Tevye and his wife and three girls.
David Mann’s incomparable Tevye is the first I’ve seen who in no way imitates Zero Mostel yet whose joys, difficulties, and disappointments are as memorably illustrated and shared with God and audience. He’s also more attractive than usual, as is his Golde, though Meghan Moroney keeps her stern enough in her yearnings as well as her everyday bossy conduct. These leads are among the very few in the cast who are not also musicians -- and effectively performing ones.
Susan Haldeman’s Yente proves formidable as that matchmaker and two other traditional oldsters. Georgia Guy heads off, as Tzeitel, the daughters (played by Hannah Benitez and Anna Tobin) whom we cheer breaking marriage traditions. Nick Orfanelle makes getting a sewing machine a dream we long to come true for him, and we’re also made to favor the aspirations of the suitors played by Lucas Wells and Daniel Schwab.
Wayne LeGwtt had me a tad sorry for his Lazar the butcher losing his bride of choice. His too youthful appearance almost lost my full last star rating for this show. No quarrel, though, with Matthew McGee’s ability to triple roles with a mere change of costume, as different as Constable and Rabbi.
Configuring freeFall Studio arena-style, with most staging in the round (but still using entrance/exit spaces as if side stages), director Eric Davis organically offers the circle as scenic metaphor for the action and village, the tight-knit Jewish community, Tevye’s family and close friends. It’s especially effective in the wedding-dance scene when the rope separating males and females (who have danced in their own separate circles) is removed and couples are united.
Carts get imaginative as well as utilitarian uses, including puppets popping up from circles cut in a surface, while being manipulated from below by the arms of actors who also voice dialogue from positions at each cart’s side. Four screens above and around the audience bring in the outside world with limited but cogent scenes, such as of a pogrom.
Fiddler on the Roof at freeFall is not just another version of a popular musical. I found it worth taking a special trip because its destination is a “Miracle of Miracles” indeed.
