"Fiddler on the Roof" remains a classic with charmer Harvey Fierstein at Golden Gate Theater

Fiddler on the Roof/Golden Gate Theater/Cindy Warner and Jan Wahl/Photo: Heather Ehmke

Fiddler on the Roof opened Wednesday with a standing ovation for Harvey Fierstein who plays the humble patriarch with five daughters on the brink of womanhood and marriage just as his village is rousted and dismantled by an oppressive government with its’ ethnic cleansing. Fiddler remains an American classic because America while controversial remains the country the oppressed and poor flee too in search of freedom. As even Gordon Blair has said, the test of a country is whether people are trying to get in or get out. The tall and pale skinhead constable with a conscience but not a spine is played by Stephen Lee Anderson. About the loveable Harvey, he reminds me of a button on the bulletin board at the home of a pair of friends:

Oy Vay I'm Gay!

Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler remains relevant because there are always the powers that be trying to displace and oppress the have nots. The ingenuous and ingratiating, personable Harvey Fierstein and indeed the entire cast performed with their folksy warmth and dignity.

For details and a slideshow click here: Fiddler on the Roof opens with songs Matchmaker; Rich Man; Sunrise, Sunset or here: $30 rush tickets available.

However my colleague Heather commented some seemed a bit too American even before these Russian Jewish villagers got to America. To this end Susan Celia as Tevy’s wife Golde, the matriarch, remarks after sweeping her floor for the last time, not wanting to leave a dirty house, “we’re not in America yet” to the delight of the audience. The authentic, folksy warmth and long-standing old fashioned marriage of the characters proved to be a highlight. Similarly my godmother Ruth is 86 on Valentine's Day and was married fifty years to my godfather Roy. They would go across the river, the Niagara Falls River, into New York for the special treat of seeing something like Fiddler on the Roof. Uncle Roy loved it, she said.

So Tevye, with the daughters leaving the nest for new husbands all, sings to his bride,

Do you love me?

Harvey Fierstein as Tevye/Susan Cella as Golde/Fiddler on the Roof/Photo: Carol Rosegg

I have to say I had been having the worst day but half an hour into Fiddler on the Roof I was getting back into a happy state of mind, a respite, a sanctuary. I really could have used a special somebody telling me he loved me or cared in hard times not just as his entertainment . . . but at Fiddler on the Roof it was a happy house. Moreover to get the evening off to a good start, Heather bought me an eight dollar cup of chardonnay and took my picture with Jan Wahl (top of this article). I needed the boost so thanks for that again, Heather.

Unfortunately so many Americans have lost their home if they even had one to begin with. Corruption and scandal remains entrenched even as the federal government oppresses its’ own citizens. For example in the face of the economic recession and subprime mortgage scandal, our next generation has been crippled with student loan debt. While education should be open to all as a matter of civil and human rights, student borrowers rarely have the consumer protections all others do. Specifically if they default, they get charged double and triple what they borrowed making the loans mathematically impossible to pay, ruining their promising lives. What if I were a rich man?

Meanwhile. The characters of Fiddler talk of finding a suitable husband with no dowry, just a pretty face and hardworking but poor parents. One girl begs not to be married off to an old man of some means rather than her beloved but poor tailor. Tevye looses some sleep over this and the company performs the most astounding dream sequence complete with dancers and a green faced pointy nosed witch, Fruma-Sarah performed by Sean Patrick Doyle. Motel tailor though rises to the occasion probably to the surprise of even himself and becomes a man to the joy of all. Motel the tailor played joyously by Erik Liberman.

Besides Tony award winning songs you get the Russian dancing by the bottle dancers. It almost makes the audience spring to its’ feet and join in the wedding festivities. Who has ever tried this after a few drinks? Thank you and cheers to Richard Gatta, Scott Leiendecker, Rick Pessagno, Matthew Rossoff.

Bottle dancers/Fiddler on the Roof/Matthew Rossoff, Matthew Kilgore, Robbie Roby, Rick Pessagno & the Company/ Photo: Joan Marcus

So goes this wonderful American musical from the seventies. Why do we care? We care about what happens to these villagers, the play is so well written. Rich or poor, single or married, with children or without, we still have to live our lives and move on just as Tevye does. The play opens with a fiddler on the roof. Indeed, we just keep dancing. The village dances and teases and joins together at a wedding to the tune of Sunrise, Sunset. The woman behind me in the packed house at the Golden Gate Theater was singing along to one of the classics, was it Matchmaker, Matchmaker? If I Were a Rich Man? Tradition?

By the time intermission came, I felt good enough to approach the orchestra pit and check out the real fiddler. While the slight young fiddler on the roof is Arthur A. Atkinson, the music comes from the violin in the pit played by veteran musician Charlotte Merkelson. (It's the only picture we shot of her as the play resumed.)

Violinist/Fiddler on the Roof/Charlotte Merkelson/Photo: Heather Ehmke She has been in San Francisco before and performed with Cats and Phantom of the Opera. She’s a mature performer from the opera in Detroit put back on the road after three car companies in Detroit pulled funding. Further, a man in my laundry room in the Fillmore late one night said he was from Detroit also: The citizens of Detroit only know how to build cars.

It’s a shame I said, that the downfall of the traditional American auto industry would result in the disbanding of communities and probably families. Meanwhile Charlotte takes her violin on the road. Probably much lighter a load to carry than a concert piano.

For more info: To experience what goes on backstage at SHN shows, go to http://shnsf.com/podcast/index.asp and listen to Backstage, the SHN podcast series, to hear interviews with members of the creative teams or actors for all SHN productions.

Regular tickets for FIDDLER ON THE ROOF range in price from $30 to $99 and may be purchased online at shnsf.com, through Ticketmaster by calling (415) 512-7770, at all Ticketmaster Ticket Centers and at the Golden Gate Theatre Box Office (Mon Noon - 6pm, Tue - Sat Noon - 8:30pm and Sun Noon - 4pm) and the Orpheum Theatre Box Office (1192 Market at 8th St., Mon-Sat 10am - 6pm). Groups of 15 or more may order by calling Group Sales at (415) 551-2020. To learn more about FIDDLER ON THE ROOF and other SHN shows, please visit www.shnsf.com

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
TUE - SAT @ 8PM; WED, SAT & SUN @ 2PM

Wicked just celebrated it's one-year anniversary with Patty Duke, click here: Wicked celebration

For more stories by this writer check out the San Francisco opera blog at http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2366-SF-Opera-Examiner

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