Review: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at Wichita Community Theatre

What a pleasure to see Fiddler On The Roof performed with a live orchestra. It’s one of my favorites, and it’s being performed by the Wichita Community Theatre. You have one more weekend left to see it, as it runs until February 2nd. Forty people volunteered to bring the show to the stage. This Large Cast made me cry as I recalled the many memories I had performing in this much loved musical.

Fiddler is a classic from the golden age of musicals, with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Russia in 1905.  It is based on Tevye the Dairyman and other short stories by Sholem Aleichem. Tevye, a milkman in the Russian village of Anatevka, strives to maintain his Jewish traditions while coping with the pressures from his three strong willed daughters, who are determined to live their lives in an ever changing, modern world. At that particular time, Jews were living under the shadow of Pogroms. Pogrom is a Russian word meaning “to wreak havoc, to demolish violently.” These attacks were led by local non-Jewish populations on Jews in the Russian Empire and in other countries, which forced Jews to leave Russia and find new homes. Many immigrated to the United States. This production is especially relevant as it is being performed during the weeks of Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27. We should never forget this crime against humanity. This is also the perfect show to see given the current political state of the country - ICE raids against immigrants; people being forced to flee their homes because of who they are.

Fiddler opened on Broadway in 1964, and was the longest-running Broadway musical for almost 10 years until Grease surpassed it. Fiddler won nine Tony Awards, including best musical, score, book, direction and choreography, and was adapted to film in 1971. It is one of the most popular and produced musicals in community and high school theatre settings.

Misty Maynard, the Artistic Director of Kechi Playhouse, directed this thoughtful production. She made great use of large, stark space, and gave us lots of pretty pictures. Musical Director Elisa Balleau conducted a small community orchestra that had a very homespun, Klezmer feel. The vocal performances were uneven, but for some of the actors, it was their first time performing in public. Jerry Wehry, Drama Teacher at Northeast High School, provided simple choreography which was easily executed by the cast, and gave the flavor of the major dances so identified with this musical, especially the highly anticipated Bottle Dance. Costume Design by Christy Railsback, of Newman University, is perfectly subtle, capturing the warm, homespun and humble clothing of the century, and hewing close to  the traditional garments worn by the denizens of a Shtetl. Mark Shobe, who has a BA in Music Performance from McPherson College, designed the minimal, wood-spun set, which featured a beautiful backdrop of birches painted by local artist Hanson Long. Lighting Designer Joseph Heil, an employee at Spirit AeroSystems, lit the show well, especially helping to create special moments not only during Tevye’s soliloquies, but in other subtle, personal moments for characters in their deepest throes of emotion.

This is Mike McDowell’s debut with WCT. McDowell gave us a strong Tevye, combining a wistful and dreamlike spirit with the honesty and bite of working class tongue in cheek sarcasm. McDowell developed a strong rapport with the audience, and by Motel and Tzietel’s wedding, he had us laughing with him as Tevye breaks with tradition and dances with Golde, his wife. Kierra Abrienne, WCT Veteran and local actress/playwright/director, imbues Golde with a matter of fact strength, keeping her family moving with grit, and makes a perfect foil to Tevye’s machinations. One of their sweeter moments, after all the talk of his daughters falling in love, Tevye coyly asks of Golde Do You Love Me? is an intimate moment that shows the dedication the couple has to each other, even though their marriage was arranged.

Shannon Ciccarello, a Statistician with the FDA, makes her acting debut in the role of Hodel, Tevye’s middle daughter. It is hard to believe she has never performed in public before. Cicarello’s performance was fun and natural, and sang Far From the Home I Love with gut wrenching honesty.

Another WCT veteran, Braden LaBrue-Layman, plays Motel, the Tailor, love interest to Tevye’s eldest daughter Tzeitel, played by Claire Goner, another actress making her acting debut in this production. Braden delivers a very peppy, upbeat Motel, singing Miracle of Miracles with great gusto, in celebration of getting Tevye’s permission to marry Tzeitel. Of course, Tevye has to figure out how to break the marriage deal already made between Lazar Wolf, played by Ben McDaniel, and Tzeitel. Tevye’s Dream helps convince Golde to break the deal by telling her what the spirits of the dead will deal if the Lazar Wolf/Tzeitel deal goes through. We’re visited by Grandma Tzeitel, a sweet corpse played by Sherry Yeoman, and finally the vindictive Fruma-Sarah, played with wild abandon by another WCT veteran, Claire Wehry.

The youngest of Tevye’s daughters, Chava, is a bookworm and falls hard for Russian Fydka. Chava is played by WSU Freshman Ava Wiechman, gave a sweet but practical, no-nonsense performance of a young woman who knows what she wants. In the last heartbreaking vignette, Chavaleh, the sisters dance as Tevye realizes he must think of his daughter as “dead to him” in order to live up to the tenets of his faith. It is a very poignant, powerful statement of theology versus human emotion. The even tempered Fyedka is played by WSU Freshman Owen Klos. Together they form a unified couple who seem to stand strong about the hard times they are soon to face.

Another theme of Fiddler seems to be Gender and change; how women’s and men’s roles changed at the turn of the 20th Century, and how successfully those changes were navigated. The world of religion gave way to the world of science and philosophy, and how a society dealt with these changes.

A few things I noticed - the scene changes took a little bit longer than necessary and added some unwelcome length to the show. Hopefully this has cleared up in the second week of the run. Lighting wise, a single projection was utilized to great effect, and I wish there were more.

If you love Fiddler On The Roof, or have never seen it live, make your reservations ASAP, as I hear they are close to being sold out.

Performances run Thursday through Saturday with a Sunday matinee February 2, 2025 starting at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for military/senior/students. There is a Special ticket price of $14 for everyone for the Thursday opening night’s performance.

Call for reservations 316-686-1282. Wichita Community Theatre is located at 258 N. Fountain. Box office opens 1/2 hour prior to curtain.

Up next at Wichita Community Theatre? Book of Days by Lanford Wilson, which runs March 13-23, 2025.

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