Blame Google Translate if the title is poor: It gave the translation of my title for this post as פידלערס און אימיגראנטן, with the transliteration you see above. Yes, I could call my daughter, the Yiddish scholar. But she has her life; I’ll have her check it the next time we talk.
I’ve been trying to figure out how to write up “Fiddler on the Roof (in Yiddish)“, which we saw yesterday afternoon at the Soraya (Valley Performing Arts Center) on the campus of CSUN. Isn’t is beautiful? (Oh, sorry, dropped into Vin Scully mode. IYKYK).
After all, everyone has seen Fiddler: If not the excellent movie adaptation with Topol, than one of the various Broadway productions (the most recent tour came through here in 2019). If not that, than one of the many many regional productions (I want to say that Moonlight in San Diego did it this summer, for example). What can one say about the story? That it was timeless? That it reflects the Jewish experience that brought many families to America? That it reflects the triumph of love over tradition? That it reflects the battle of tradition against modernity? That it is a story that appeals to all cultures? All that and more.
But that form of deep dive doesn’t seem quite right, because this wasn’t quite a theatre production. It was a concert production. There were no sets. There were no props. There were no real costumes, other than vaguely shtetl-ish clothing. A good portion of the non-singing dialogue was cut, except the minimal necessary to frame the songs and provide context.
Perhaps I should write it up as I do concerts, which is to assess the musicians and perhaps give a set list. The performers here were top notch—perhaps that is because they imported much of the original New York cast. These performers had great voices, and brought honed characterizations to their roles. All were spectacular. I particularly enjoyed Steven Skybell as Tevye, Rachel Zatcoff as Tzeitl, Jennifer Babiak as Golde, and Kirk Geritano as Motl. Additionally, Lauren Jeanne Thomas was great as the Fiddler. But there’s not much to say there.
So I’m going to take as my plot discussion starting point an audience member, who chose to wear a MAGA hat to the production (a subdued grey one, but a MAGA hat nonetheless). There are quite a few parallels and touching-off points in Fiddler to modern times.
There is the whole notion of pogrums and the disappearing of people by the Tzar, simply for their religious views. There is the destruction of poor people’s property by the government. There is suspicion of people, simply because of their religion. Change “religion” to “brown skin”, and you have the current administration. This behavior was wrong in the days of the Tzar; it is wrong now. This play reminds us of that. We should let people live their lives in dignity.
But more importantly: The heart of this play is the immigrant experience. They endure heartbreak and exile, and their hope is immigration to Amerike (America). Would these folks be let in today? No papers. No jobs. No applications for asylum. If they came under this administration, they would be rejected, or hunted down by ICE. Yet it is the Jewish immigrants, and the Irish, and the Italians, and the Germans (like Trump’s grandfather, in matter of fact) that built the previous generation of America. It is the immigrants from Africa, admittedly forced, that built this country. All of these folks came in with an immigration process that was little more than a health check. They made America great.
But the current administration is scared of people that look different than them. Brown skin, a different language. Spanish to them is what Yiddish was when Tevye’s people came over. But this administration wants to stop the entry of people with brown skin, in particular. They fail to recognize that it is the industrious, hard working, smart immigrants that will make the next generation of America’s success. Though at the bottom when they enter, taking menial jobs (sweatshops and fields), they will soon move up and become community leaders. And the folks in the current administration are scared of that. They don’t want to lose their power, their influence, and most importantly, their wealth. This is the same attitude the white leaders had against the Chinese, Italians, Irish, and yes, the Russian Jews, in the early 1990s.
Immigration doesn’t hurt America. Immigration makes America strong. Good folk like Tevye and his family demonstrate that. But the current administration wouldn’t let them in.
Trump needs to see Fiddler. He probably wouldn’t; if he did, he likely wouldn’t have empathy for the shetl. He’d have admiration for the Tzar. And that says everything.
Did I have quibbles with the show? Yes. First and foremost, give us a real program. Digital programs are cost-saving measures that benefit no one. You can’t file them away and go back and remember. You can’t have them easily open to read during the show (especially when there is no signal in the hall). They disappear off of websites, and provide no historical record. Please, please, please, go back to a printed program. Even if it is just two or four pages. Give us something.
The other problem with the show was the audience. Sunday matinee of an old Jewish chestnut means loads of clueless seniors. This means that the elevators were full of slow moving people. People were confused on where to find things. People were arriving late — we had people being seated late almost 30 minutes in. We had people constantly playing with their phones, and turning on the phone lights when they dropped the phones. I know there’s little I can do about this, but I’m a senior now myself, and I can kvetch with the best of them. But seriously: The Soraya could have recognized this and done some earlier announcements to get people moving to their seats earlier; they could also have had the traditional announcement at the start of the show to turn off cell phones and light and sound emitting devices. It would have helped.
My wife noticed that the supertitle translations weren’t exact translations of the Yiddish. Make of that what you will.
Was the Yiddish a problem? No. You could use your knowledge of the show and songs, and let the language wash over you, or you could follow the supertitles. It wasn’t a problem. Those who think Americans can’t handle foreign languages are wrong.
This was a single weekend run of this show. Alas, by the time you read this, you’ve missed it.
Credits
Fiddler on the Roof (in Yiddish). Based on the Sholem Aleichem stories by special permission of Arnold Perl. Book by Joseph Stein. Music by Jerry Bock. Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Orchestrations by Larry Blank. Originally Produced on the New York Stage by Harold Prince. Original New York Stage Production Directed and Choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Yiddish Translation by Shraga Friedman. Directed by Joel Grey.
Cast: Steven Skybell Tevye; Jennifer Babiak Golde; Rachel Zatcoff Tsaytl; Yael Eden Chanukov Hodl; Rosie Jo Neddy Khave; Kirk Geritano Motl; Drew Seigla Pertshik; Griffith Frank Fyedka / Ensemble; Samuel Druhora Leyzer Volf; Lisa Fishman Yente / Bobe Tsaytl; Bobby Underwood Constable / Ensemble; Carly Post Shprintse / Ensemble; Glenn Rosenblum Rabbi / Ensemble; Jodi Snyder Frume-Sore / Beylke; James Monroe Števko Mendl / Ensemble; Mikhl Yashinsky Nokhem / Mordkhe / Ensemble; John Reed Avrom / Ensemble; Lauren Jeanne Thomas The Fiddler; Michelle Azar Ensemble; Jessica Fishenfeld Ensemble; Michael P. McDonald Ensemble; Rachel Oremland Ensemble; Rachel Policar Ensemble; Bryan Vickery Ensemble; Brooke Wetterhahn Ensemble.
Music Department: Zalmen Mlotek Conductor; Sara Parkins Violin; Caleb Vaughn-Jones Cello; Sara Andon Flute; Dmiti Zisl Slepovitch Reeds; Dan Fornero Trumpet; Alan Kaplan Trombone; Brian Silverman Guitar / Mandolin; John Sawoski Keyboard; Gee Rabe Accordion; Peter Saleh Percussion; Tim Christensen Bass / Contractor.
Production and Creative: Joel Grey Director; Beowulf Boritt Projection Design; Matthew “Motl” Didner Associate Director; Zalmen Mlotek Music Director / Conductor; Beth Scorzato Stage Manager; Dan Weingarten Lighting Design; Jamibeth Margolis, CSA Original New York Casting; Michael Donovan Los Angeles Casting; Jonathan Quesenberry Rehearsal Pianist; Beowulf Boritt Original Scenic Design Images.
Administrivia
I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.
Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).
- September: ♦ Eureka Day at Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ One Man, Two Guvnors at A Noise Within. Possibles: Just Another Day at the Odyssey (simply so I can go up to Dan Lauria afterwards and ask if he’ll ever bring back Meeting of Minds, which stopped when he went off to do Lombardi many years ago); Real Women Have Curves at Kentwood Players.
- October: ♣ Fly Me to the Moon at The Soraya; ♦ Hairspray at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ ha ha ha ha ha ha at Pasadena Playhouse
- November: ♦ Jaja’s African Hair Braiding at CTG/Taper; ♦ Paranormal Activity at CTG/Ahmanson; ♦ Suffs at BIH/Pantages;
- December: ◊ ACSAC Conference; ♣ Nochebuena: A Christmas Spectacular at The Soraya; ♦ Stereophonic at BIH/Pantages;
Have you ever gone to a play or musical thinking that you’ve seen the show before and you know the show. I’m not talking about seeing a movie version of the show and then seeing the stage version. I mean having seen the show on stage before.
Cabaret wasn’t the only show we saw this weekend. Saturday saw us at the Mark Taper Forum for the first show in the 
Last night, we went to go see