‘Fiddler on the Roof’ resonates on the Rivoli Theater stage

By TOM KANE

SOUTH FALLSBURG, NY — If you think the production of “Fiddler on the Roof” currently playing at the Rivoli Theatre in South Fallsburg is a nice, cozy, warm-feeling musical, you’re going to be in for a surprise when you see it.

Nice, cozy and warm-feeling it isn’t. It’s a happy, melodious spectacle with some of the best musical numbers ever performed on the legitimate stage, but it’s also a dramatic, heart-rending story of how a 1905 Yiddish community is torn apart, not only by Russian pogroms but by conflicts within its own religious tradition.

You’ll hear a lot about “Tradition.” It’s one of the most exciting and musically engaging numbers in the musical and is given prominence at the very outset of the production.

It’s sung by the main character, Tevye, a dairyman marvelously portrayed by the gifted performer and singer Richard Chiger, who is returning to the Sullivan County Dramatic Workshop after an absence of 26 years.

I couldn’t take my eyes off Chiger as he moved about the rather small stage, easily dominating every scene in which he appeared, his resonant voice commanding every scene. And he was almost constantly on stage, appearing at the center of each number. It wasn’t just his voice that captivated me. It was his whole demeanor as he went through the wide range of emotions that the role demands. He was light-hearted, he was gay, he was profuse with praise, he was stark, he was dark, he was even cruel. He pranced, he danced, he turned dark and menacing when he had to.

The plot of the musical and the demands of the role of Tevye call for him to be the conscience of the Jewish community and the leader of his family. He takes on the role with utter dedication as he fights with his three daughters who want to marry “their own way” and not the way of “tradition” or arranged marriages. In two of the cases he relents. “Times are changing,” he explains to his wife Golde, played with dignity and aplomb by Heather Strauss. But when his youngest daughter wants to marry a “Russian”—one of the enemy—he disowns her and considers her no longer his daughter. (Not to worry. In the end he relents slightly.)

Adding to the angst, the edict of the Russian Tsar forces the community to abandon their homes and go into exile.

This is heavy stuff, and happily doesn’t occur until the final sorrowful scene.

In between, you will be entertained royally by the brilliant company provided by the Dramatic Workshop with such all-time favorites as “Matchmaker,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “To Life” and the incomparable “If I Were a Richman,” in which Chiger prances, struts and cavorts with incomparable relish.

Director Lori Schneider-Wendt does a remarkable job of moving this phalanx of dancers/singers across, around and through the stage, each of them also serving as stage hands in moving scenery in between scenes. They are a motley crew made up of kids, adults and old people, as you would expect to see in any village in Russia. There were rabbis, booksellers, beggars, tailors, innkeepers, wives, mothers, fathers and a dairyman.

I was especially impressed that the company has a live seven-piece orchestra in the pit, directed by Amanda Mita and under the watchful tutelage of the extraordinary pianist Ken Uy, who seems to be ever present these days in things musical across the county.

“Fiddler” will play on July 17, 19 and 20, so you still have time to see it. The Rivoli Theatre is located at 437 Route 42 in South Fallsburg. Performances are at 8:00 p.m. on July 17 and 19 and at 2:00 p.m. on July 20. For information and tickets call 845/436-5336 or 434-7232.