“Fiddler on the Roof Finds a Home”
As observed by Kevin Lane Dearinger for The Lexington Theatre Company
Home.
Proverbially, it’s where the heart is.
And a happy heart it can be!
It has been nine years since The Lexington Theatre Company began crafting its beautifully staged productions for the Lexington Opera House. Each season has meant high standards, aspiration, outreach, growth, and achievement.
In previous years, it has also meant borrowing a rehearsal space. This year, however, the company has its own home, an actor’s dream of professional studios, a black-box theatre, mirrors, feet-friendly floors, refreshing ventilation, and high ceilings. A generous space to spread out, explore, and create.
A home for artists.
The Lexington Theatre Company’s New Home
The first show of the summer season is also about home.
Fiddler on the Roof!
Fiddler has been part of our musical and theatrical culture for sixty years, and in those decades the play has lost nothing of its power to engage and move. Its story has only become more profound. Perhaps, more necessary. In a world still breaking hearts with displaced peoples and persecuted minorities, it remains both timely and tragically timeless. It has burrowed into our hearts and our communal conscience. It has always been so much more than a popular Broadway musical.
The Lex’s excellence always begins with casting. They audition locally and across the country and bring in the best of Broadway professionals, skilled collegiate talent, and dedicated local performers.
For Fiddler, the acting company numbers fifty-one.
Just having them all in one room is exciting.
The first morning of rehearsal is dedicated to investigating the beloved Harnick and Bock score. Music director Dr. Brock Terry, steady and invaluable, teaches with professional finesse; not a moment of time is wasted. From the first day, the aim is to honor each note and lyric, as well as each complex emotion demanded by the narrative. Maestro Terry’s specific directions are a masterclass in choral phrasing. The finer points of diction will pay off with clarity in performance.
Dr. Brock Terry and Company Members of Fiddler on the Roof
The delicious challenge of live theatre is, of course, that each performance is a one-time-only chance to tell a story and tell it clearly. And everyone in the room knows that this story matters.
Some of the cast have played in Fiddler before this summer. If you are a musical theatre actor, it’s the kind of show that can often call you back home to Anatevka. These veterans already hold the music deep in their bones, but they listen for ways to improve and to make this production uniquely fine. It’s a matter of pride and artistry. If you look closely, they can be seen quietly taking time to encourage their new colleagues. They know from experience that giving your heart to Fiddler is to commit to an emotional experience like no other.
The Fiddler that we cherish would never have emerged without the genius of director-choreographer Jerome Robbins. His passionate expertise informed every detail of the original 1964 Broadway production, and for many years each remounting of the show, professional and amateur, was required by contract to duplicate his work. In recent decades, however, the Robbins’ estate has allowed the show to breathe new air. The show is strong, and when approached with integrity and emotional intelligence, it is a sturdy work of art.
Director Lyndy Franklin Smith and Choreographer Colby Q. Lindeman
At The Lex, director Lyndy Franklin Smith and choreographer Colby Q. Lindeman begin work with their talented cast by acknowledging the Robbins’ template, but they have detailed plans of their own. They know that they must honor the customs of the Eastern European shtetl and revisit the unfathomable cruelty of the antisemitic pogroms of the early twentieth century. They are determined to stay true to the characters created by Sholem Aleichem. But this will be a Fiddler created for these actors and this company.
On the first day of rehearsal, one of Lexington’s most respected religious leaders, Rabbi David Wirtschafter of Temple Adath Israel, speaks to the company of the doctrines and varieties of Judaism. He speaks of yarmulkes and prayer shawls. He speaks of faith, identity, and pride. On the second day, Dr. Karen Petrone, a professor of Russian history, eloquently shares her knowledge of Jewish history in Eastern Europe, charting the waves of persecution and oppression, the lies and conspiracies that were used as excuses to drive a people from their homes.
Dr. Karen Petrone and the company of Fiddler on the Roof
The details matter. The reality matters. The humanity matters.
After Dr. Petrone’s presentation, the company is quiet and introspective. They ponder the concepts of inclusion and exclusion, acceptance and prejudice, community and isolation. They consider the almost unimaginable thought of being forced to leave home. Of having no home.
Rehearsal resumes. David Lin is playing the fiddler of the title; he plays the opening notes of the show on his violin. Live. Haunting. Ari Axelrod, a generous and deeply human Tevye, steps out to lead the company in Fiddler’s iconic opening. Ari leads with his soul.
And the company sings, joyfully: “Tradition. Tradition.”
We see individuals. We see families. We see community. We see history. We see pride.
“Tradition. Tradition.”
Suddenly, the new rehearsal space is truly a home.
The Lexington Theatre Company's production of Fiddler on the Roof will be presented for six performances at the Lexington Opera House, July 11-14.
Kevin Lane Dearinger is a retired actor, singer, and teacher. His published works include four theatre histories, four poetry chapbooks, four plays, and two memoirs, Bad Sex in Kentucky and On Stage with Bette Davis: Inside the Fabulous Flop of Miss Moffat. He is grateful for the privilege of watching The Lex create its beautifully crafted productions. If he seems relentlessly positive, it is because he remembers and respects the small flaws of a live performance enough to celebrate its many manifest glories.
