Based on the city's north side and staged at Skokie's North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, Music Theater Works regularly produces a slate of relatively traditional American musicals. Last year, that included Carousel and Little Shop of Horrors; this season features Guys and Dolls, Annie and, on now through August 17, Fiddler on the Roof. Their choices, if not groundbreaking, are welcome opportunities to see some of the best of this uniquely American art form produced with professionalism.
For this production, the company must be banking on larger crowd interest, as they've shifted from their typical home in the venue's smaller, three-quarter-thrust space with just over 300 seats to the larger auditorium that seats more than 800. On the night I attended, opening night for the production, the space was full if not fully sold-out; I noticed a smattering of open seats here and there, but the audience, which I gathered was in at least some part comprised family and friends of the cast, was enthusiastic and engaged.
Fiddler on the Roof premiered on Broadway in 1964 and was so popular at the time that it was the first show to surpass 3,000 performances in its original run. From a book by Joseph Stein with music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, the two-act show follows a poor Jewish milkman in early 20th century Russia and his family—his wife and five daughters—as they confront a changing society, an oppressive regime and more challenges. Tevye, the patriarch of the family, is a teddy bear of a papa who defines his life and that of his family through the traditions that dictate every part of their lives. It's wife Golde who's really in charge at home, though, and their shared current priority is marrying off their older daughters Tzeitel, Hodel and Chava, despite not having a dowry or much to speak of to offer potential suitors.
Through it all, there's the ominous presence of the Russian army throughout their small village of Anatevka, where tensions between the government and the Jewish settlers are on the rise and pogroms and evictions are becoming more and more common.
The show is populated by now-classic numbers like the opener, "Tradition," about the role each family member plays and how it contributes to their peaceful way of life; "If I Were a Rich Man," where Tevye dreams of the luxuries having a fortune would bring him; and "Sunrise, Sunset," sung by Tevye and Golde as their oldest daughter, Tzeitel, gets married. It's a seminal production in American musical theater, and rightly so.
L. Walter Stearns directs this latest staging, with choreography by Marla Lampert; a full orchestra in the pit conducted by Valerie Gebert offers a robust realization of the music, directed by Eugene Dizon. The creative team has taken a safe approach to the staging, with everything from costumes (by Clare McKelleston) to choreography recreating the versions of Fiddler we're all used to. And all of that is perfectly fine! Sometimes all an audience wants is the familiar, the known, a classic musical staged well that offers a chance to enjoy a favorite live on stage again.
It's what Music Theater Works does well, and they've done it well again here, particularly with the casting. Sam Nachison is remarkable as Tevye, perfect in stature and voice, with great instincts for both the comedic and tragic in this story. Otherwise, it's a large ensemble, and it's encouraging to see so many talented actors taking time out of their busy lives to participate in this local theater production. All of this works well together, and I found myself getting emotional more than once through the familiar numbers, from the raucous "To Life" to the plaintive and powerful "Far From the Home I Love."
Where I do wish the show's producers had used a bit more ingenuity is in the video screen persistently in use at the back of the stage; the rest of the stage is a static tiered set that goes from Tevye and Golde's house to the local watering hole to a wedding venue and more as cast members bring selected bits of props and furnishings on and off stage. Behind it all is one large screen that, for 99% of the show is a projection of a sky at various moments throughout a day, evening or night. It's beautiful and gives the stage a sense of motion and life, but it's woefully underutilized. Only once is it used for an effect, and that's for some digital flames during the end of Act I's "demonstration" by the Russian authorities. There's so much more they could have done with it, from a community prayer montage in the "Sabbath Prayer" number to a train arriving at the end of "Far From the Home..." and more. It's a missed opportunity and the longer the show went on without putting it to use, the more it annoyed me that it was there at all.
Chicago has no shortage of live theater opportunities; indeed, it feels like the local theater community has finally bounced back here post-pandemic. For those looking for the experimental, off-beat or unexpected, there are countless options from Hyde Park to Evanston. But when it's the old standards you're looking for, the classics produced on a professional scale where you can sink back in your seat and enjoy what you already know well, a show like Fiddler on the Roof from the reliable Music Theater Works fits the bill.
Fiddler on the Roof runs through August 17 at the North Shore Center for Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd.,Skokie. Showtimes, tickets and more information are available here.
For more information on this and other productions, see theatreinchicago.com.
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