Fiddler On The Roof

A great musical, oddly (like Lear) restrained.  Alfred Molina stars as the long-suffering Tevye; Molina has been in starring and secondary roles in movies for the past twenty years, including a bad sit-com; it's great to see him in such a big role. So why does he play it so subdued?

An interview with Molina mentioned that he had to fight the urge to play the part with too much reverence, reverence for both his famous predecessors (Zero Mostel and Topol) as well as for the struggles and beliefs of his character. So....now, on the other hand, he plays the part with modern casualness. His Tevye is friendly and approachable, but not a real inhabitant of the apocryphal village of Anatevka. Granted, it's a fine line between introspection and indulgence, yet to carry the show, Tevye needs to have more depth.

Meanwhile, the show itself comes off fine, even though restrained. The great score and lyrics are performed with marvelous Broadway skill, the on-stage orchetra clear and brilliant. Much of the original Jerome Robbins choreography is intact (though the Minskoff stage seems a tad smaller than you'd like).

Having not seen the show in years, you'll be stunned at the classic first act -- it seems as if every 'Fiddler' song is there. For a while, I thought the thing would run straight through -- and why not! The second act is there mostly to finish off the earlier storylines; none of the exuberance of the opening. Subdued, but a success nevertheless.