Last night, we went to see the second performance of “Fiddler on the Roof” at Nobel Middle School. Our daughter was very involved with this program the previous two years, and we’re still generally supportive and involved with it. This production was the culmination of the third year of the drama program at Nobel Middle School.
I don’t believe I need to repeat the story of Fiddler on the Roof. You can easily find the synopsis on Wikipedia. It tells the story of Tevye the Milkman and his 5 daughters (the original story by Sholem Aleichem had 7 daughters), and features a book by Joseph Stein, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. This particular production was based on the Fiddler Jr. version (which provided them with most of the musical accompaniment), but had some songs restored (such as Wonder of Wonders and the first half of Tevye’s Dream). I note that the Junior version takes some of the standard version songs and turns them into recitations, particularly the second half of Tevye’s Dream and The Rumor. A number of songs were cut from the second act: Now I Have Everything and Chaveleh, and the dancing after To Life was significantly cut. The Junior version also makes the production a single act; Nobel added an intermission after Wonder of Wonders, which is a non-standard and jarring break. To the instructor’s (Fanny Araña and Jean Martellaro) credit, they did not augment the story to create additional characters, which in my eyes is a step forward for the Nobel drama program. I do hope that one day the drama program selections can be integrated in the rest of the curriculum, as plays like this provide a wonderful context to teach literature aspects as well as historical aspects in conjunction with the production, and that can serve to get the entire student body involved. This play, in particular, provides a wonderful opportunity for discussing the impact of hate crimes, the wave of immigration to American in the early 1900s from eastern Europe and its affect on society, and how traditions shape society.
The acting, for the most part, was above typical middle-school quality, and exhibited the usual mix of strong actors and students going through the paces (the latter mostly buried in the ensembles). The cast numbered 55 students, so I’m not going to list them all. However, there are a few noteworthy performances I want to highlight, starting with that of Camille Martellaro (Hodel). I’ve seen this young women’s talent grow over the years, and I am always impressed with her. She has strong acting and exceptionally strong singing skills, and was particularly touching in Matchmaker and Far From The Home I Love. Also notable was Henry Rosen (Tevye): although his singing was a bit weaker (I’m told he was having vocal trouble last night), his acting and bathos were quite strong. Kelsey Trammell had the right shrillness for Fruma Sarah, and it would have been interesting to see her sing instead of speak the song. I also liked Devon Yaffe as Motel. Also worthy of mention was Chloe Rosen (Chava), who did a nice job on Matchmaker and in her final scene with Tevye. I should also note that their “Fiddler on the Roof” (Kinsey Cohen) was an actual violinist, although she only played one short bit, and simulated the rest. Other students in lead roles were Emma Wolgast (Golde), Teal Fink (Tzeitel), Sonni Vargas (Shprintze), Emily Hart (Bielke), Elliott Aronson (Perchik), Nicole Araña-Zweig (Yente), Paul Supanish (Lazar Wolf), Mariana Mora (Grandmother Tzeitel Z”L), Nicholas Lutfi (Constable), and Drake Irvine (Fyedka).
Turning to the technical side of things. The sound setup at Nobel has improved immensely from when they restarted this program, and all of the actors could be heard clearly from the back of the auditorium. However, there was a balance problem, in that the music at times overpowered the actors. As for the lighting… sigh…. it served to clearly light the stage, making everything equally visible. The lighting could have been used to much better effect: it could have highlighted the mood, and served to better delineate Tevye’s monologues. But it just lit the stage. Our daughter did submit a lighting design (and spent a fair amount of time in the lighting cage ensuring that what equipment could work did), but for whatever reason (most likely cost and students to operate it) it wasn’t used. Nobel is starting a technical theatre program next year, so hopefully they will improve in this area and start to use lighting to better effect — and hopefully they will integrate the technical theatre with the Math-Science magnet, as sound and lighting design are wonderful opportunities to teach rudimentary physics and the corresponding supporting mathematics (have you discovered by now I’m a big believer in integrating activities into curriculums, and making everying a learning opportunity). The sets (designed by Dennis Kull, a community volunteer) were effective, and exceptionally strong for a middle school production. The backdrop, however, could have been stronger (I’m guessing this was due to lack of time and budget). Costumes were typical peasant style, although more of the male characters (some of which were played by women) should have had beards, given the traditions at the time.
There are two more performances of Fiddler: today at 2pm and at 7pm at Nobel Middle School, which is located at Tampa and Lassen in Northridge CA (for some reason, they still don’t put their address on the flyers). Donations at the door.
Upcoming Theatre: Our next production is Sunday, May 31 @ 2pm, when we see “Setup and Punch” at The Blank Theatre Company. I’m still unsure if we are seeing anything the weekend of June 6: I’ve been interested in “Breaking the Code” at The Production Company in North Hollywood (5/15-6/20/09), but they only seem to put up 2 tickets on LAStageTix, and they don’t have anything on Goldstar. June 20 @ 8pm is “The Little Foxes” at The Pasadena Playhouse. Lastly, July 11 will bring “Fat Pig” at Repertory East Playhouse. Other shows pending scheduling and ticketing include “Spamalot” at the Ahmanson (7/7-9/6/09), the “Guys and Dolls” concert at the Hollywood Bowl (7/31-8/2/09), and Liza Minelli at the Hollywood Bowl (8/28-8/29/09). Also of potential interest are: “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” at the Neighborhood Playhouse (Venue Goldstar) (7/9-7/26/09); and “The Apple Tree” at Crown City Theatre in North Hollywood (6/5-6/28/09) (LAStageTix). I’m also always looking for interesting productions on Goldstar and LA Stage Tix.