The milkman cometh: Topol embarks on his 42nd year with 'Fiddler'

June 12, 9:27 PMChicago Theatre Review ExaminerCatey Sullivan

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Photos courtesy of Broadway In Chicago. Top: Topol. Middle: Matthew Rossoff (from left), Matthew Kilgore, Robbie Roby and Rick Passagno. : Lower middle:Topol, Julie Brooks (levitating) and the company.  Bottom: Jessica Scholl (left) Rene Strober (bride) and Katie Babb.

If we were a more shallow and less politically correct type of person, we’d note that Topol is the Semitic version of Ted Neeley. Or that Neeley is to Jesus what Topol is to iconic Jewish milkmen. Consider: As Neeley tours the country in his fourth decade as the title character in Jesus Christ Superstar, Topol is doing likewise in his fourth decade as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. And the two could probably cook up a killer cabaret act, audiences this month will have to make do with Topol in Fiddler,  yidle-diddle-didle-didling through dreams of being a rich man and watching the sun rise and sun set in underfeed, overworked Anatevka.

After more than 42 years playing the part, there’s a lot of tradition at stake. Topol debuted in the role of Tevye on London’s West End in 1967 and won an Oscar nomination for portraying Tevye in the 1971 film version of the musical. Which is to say, he could probably do Fiddler in his sleep. At times in this generally adequate bus-and-truck tour, he seems to be doing just that. But at other times, he is genuinely moving in the Jerry Bock (music) and Sheldon Harnick (lyrics) classic. When Tevye orders a Christian constable “friend” off his land, his dignity a force of nature, mountainous, unshakable and fierce. He’s a giant in that scene, an emblem of ferocious empowerment.  Would that Topol were as invested in Fiddler for the whole of its (nearly) three-hour running time.Too often, he falls back into mannerisms surely honed and exaggerated over generations of playing Tevye. When Tevye talks to God, for example, Topol invariably slips into a pleading, sing-song falsetto. It’s mildly amusing the first time. The second time the squeaky pitch comes out, it’s mildly grating. By the 10th time Topol begins wheedling in the distinctive upper-register whines, the result is an awareness that he isn’t acting - he’s performing. The difference? Actors genuinely reaching for the heart of a role. Performers do tricks. 

With staging that harkens back to Jerome Robbins’ original choreography and direction, this Fiddler doesn’t break any new ground. That’s a good thing as far as we’re concerned –  Fiddler should be spared the dubious revisionism that often marks and mars other revivals. (WE were somewhat uneasy to see Charlie Newell, Court Theatre Artistic Director and Chicago’s Man For Revisionist Classics, was in the Fiddler audience opening night. Here’s truly hoping Court doesn’t bring us Fiddler on the Moon or some such in coming seasons.)

Fiddler is set in 1904 rural Russia, a speck of a village where last names aren’t necessary. There’s Motel the tailor (Erik Liberman, an intriguing young tenor), Yenta the matchmaker (Mary Stout, succumbing to the urge to kvetch and chew scenery whenever possible), Perchik, the student (Colby Foytik). Yet even a million miles from Moscow, Anatevka is not immune from the Tsar’s harsh pogroms and edicts. The brutality of oppression is far too briefly dealt with in a key wedding scene, but in the shiny boots and angular tunics of the Constable and his thuggish men, the plight of Anatevka’s Jews is made heartbreakingly clear. "They mean no harm,” says the Cossack Fyedka after a corps of Christian thugs attempt to intimidate and humiliate Tevya’s daughter Chava (Alison Walla, nicely capturing the young woman’s innocence and strength). “Don’t they?” Chava responds, and in that cry, you can almost hear the fear, rage and frustration of every young woman who has ever had to contend with such ugliness.  

Bock’s score remains as beautiful as ever, twined through with the literal representation of the metaphorical Fiddler (a mysterious, sinewy, Arthur A. Atkinson) as he “tries to scratch out a simple tune without breaking his neck.” The sound design had some hiccups opening night, and Golde (Susan Cella) didn’t do the music any favors with her two-dynamic (loud and louder) delivery of the delicately evocative “Sabbath Prayer” or, for that matter, the meditative “Do You Love Me?”

Topol insists he’s saying farewell to Fiddler after this tour ends. Theo Bikel, your move.
 

Fiddler on the Roof continues through June 28 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph, Chicago. Tickets are $25 - $80. For tickets, click here (http://www.fiddlerontour.com), here (www.broadwayinchicago.com) or call 312/902-1400.