Winston-Salem Journal Article"Twin City Stage presents "Fiddler on the Roof"

Katie Skawski, Tim Austin, Mary Lea Williams and Gracie Falk   Credit:  Photo Daniel Alvarez

By: LYNN FELDER | Special Correspondent Published: October 28, 2012
On a warm October night, in the parking lot just outside the rehearsal hall of the Arts Council Theatre, people in groups of two, three and more interacted intensely. One group worked out complex musical harmonies. Another group danced a simple routine. Yet another shouted their lines to each other.

Small groups like these are the threads that ultimately will come together to form a big, sprawling tapestry of a musical, "Fiddler on the Roof." It's a story that is as intimate as family and as epic as the Jewish diaspora. Twin City Stage will present it starting Friday night.

"That's exactly what you have to do," director Bobby Bodford said of the need to break the show into bite-sized pieces. "First of all, it helps when you have a really good musical director (Margaret B. Gallagher) and choreographer (Benji Starcher). I have to put it all together, but I don't have to teach music and dancing. It's really about collaboration, and when you have three professionals, right off the bat things go well."

Gallagher hires the musicians, conducts the orchestra and teaches the music to the cast, so she's working closely with professionals and amateurs.

"It's really rewarding working with community theater," she said. "There are people who haven't been in a show since high school and some who have never been in a show. It's great to see friendships form, and it's great to see people get bitten with the theater bug."

The music is by Jerry Bock, who won Tony awards for "Fiddler." "It's beautiful, beautiful music," Gallagher said. "It's not as complicated vocally as, say, Sondheim, but the music really helps the story unfold. In the opening piece, 'Tradition,' you get introduced to the families the children, the parents, the grandparents."

And "Fiddler's" music has stood the test of time. It opened on Broadway in 1964. "I know people who still use 'Sunrise, Sunset' in their weddings," Gallagher said.

Inside the recently renovated rehearsal hall, a big piece of the tapestry was enacted in "Tevye's Dream" scene, which includes special effects and nearly the entire 60-person cast. Another big piece of the tapestry is the performance of "Sunrise, Sunset," a longtime audience favorite. The large chorus created a full, rich sound in the rehearsal of this scene.

"That's now, in a raw rehearsal hall with no dramatic lighting," Bodford said. "Imagine how effective it will be when it's finished. And when it gets on the stage, it's never exactly what you envision in the rehearsal hall."

Gallagher concurred. "I'm very happy with the chorus. The more experienced people help the less experienced," she said. "And we just do it till they get it. The music is simple enough that we can spend time on nuance."

"Fiddler" is set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. Tevye, a poor dairyman played by Tim Austin, tries to teach his five daughters the value of traditions in a changing world. Charlene Martin plays Tevye's wife, Golde. Mary Lea Williams (Tzeitel), Katie Skawski (Hodel), Gracie Falk (Chava), Logan Welborn (Shprintze) and Isabella Ellis (Bielke) play their daughters.

The original Broadway production opened in 1964 and was the first musical-theater show in history to surpass 3,000 performances. "Fiddler" remains Broadway's 15th longest-running musical. It was nominated for 10 Tony Awards and won nine, including best musical, score, book, direction and choreography. It has been revived four times on Broadway and was made into a film in 1971.

"It's such a well-structured musical," Bodford said. "I totally understand why it's timeless. Some musicals are hard to sit through, but I don't think 'Fiddler' will ever be like that. It's about change and tradition. Tevye's children are going to go away, and he'll probably never see some of them again.

"It's very easy to grasp this and get into these characters or find one you can identify with. They have three days to get everything sold or given away. I don't know if there's a sadder scene than seeing those villagers say goodbye to each other. Their faith and hope keeps them alive.

"Then, at the end of the scene, Golde says, 'Anh, it's just a place.'"

In addition to occasionally directing shows at Twin City Stage, Bodford is the artistic director at The Children's Theatre of Winston-Salem and directs for other youth groups. He places a high value on the relationships that theater fosters.

"You saw the elements of it," Bodford said. "These young people are forming friendships that will last forever."

Those relationships also extend to the larger theater community.

"What the job has done is give me contacts in a 30-mile radius," Bodford said. "It's a small world, and it's great to be connected and know all the talent in the area.

"Our sound designer is from UNC School of the Arts. They get to come in and do their thing without a professor grading them."

As far as getting a good performance out of his cast of 60, plus musicians, Bodford isn't worried. "The job has a certain amount of stress built into it, but I've been doing it for a long time, and I know what's needed," he said. "It needs to be a good experience for the audience and for the participants, too." 

And that's the definition of community theater, isn't it?