‘Fiddler’ is superbly done at New Castle Playhouse

By Milan Paurich

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — The splendid production of “Fiddler on the Roof” that opened at the New Castle Playhouse on Friday night offers incontrovertible proof that nobody does vintage Broadway musicals in the tri-state area as well as NCP mainstay Michael Cavalier. In recent years, Cavalier has directed well-nigh definitive stagings of “Man of La Mancha,” “The Wizard of Oz” and “South Pacific.” Cavalier’s “Fiddler” belongs in that same exalted company.

Naysayers have accused Cavalier of playing it safe by sticking to the tried-and-true rather than veering out of his perceived comfort zone. Yet that (unfair) criticism discounts Cavalier’s formidable skill at capturing the essence — what makes a classic “classic” — of some of the American theater’s most beloved and enduring musicals. And “Fiddler” evinces all of the strengths — a bustling, vocally adroit cast; impeccable production values (costuming and set design); seamless transitions between scenes; crackerjack pacing — of a first-rate Cavalier enterprise.

For starters, the veteran director’s genius for staging diorama-like human tableaux continues to amaze. Watch closely during any of the extended group scenes, and you’ll notice that the tiniest details are always spot-on. The foreground (and background) actors never seem stilted or “actorish,” and Cavalier’s keen sense of visual composition is almost painterly. He also knows how to get the best out of his performers, and there isn’t a weak link in the entire “Fiddler” ensemble.

Neal Edman’s bravura portrayal of Tevye manages the enviable task of making the “Tradition”-bound milkman a good and proper clown without seeming remotely buffoonish. Because Edman is smaller in stature (and girth) than most of the Tevyes who’ve preceded him (including Zero Mostel, who created the role in the original 1964 Broadway production), he seems more of an Everyman than a “Super Jew.” Edman’s mensch-next-door approach is easy to relate to and instantly recognizable, even if you’ve never seen a production of “Fiddler” before. Cavalier and Edman wisely underplay the broader, Borscht Belt-ian aspects of Joseph Stein’s book (based on stories by the celebrated Yiddish writer Sholom Aleichem) without stinting on the earthy humor or copious wit.

Tammy Erkman gives as good as she gets as Tevye’s iron-willed wife, Golde (Erkman and Edman’s “Do You Love Me?” duet at the beginning of Act Two is one of the evening’s loveliest moments), and Mary Ann Mangini (Tzeitel), Emily Schraeder (Hodel), SaraKate Coyne (Chava), Miranda Schry (Shprintze) and Emma Weatherby (Bielke) are everything you could possibly hope for as Tevye and Golde’s daughters.

Lynn Nelson Rafferty and Thomas Lee Ewen earn the show’s biggest laughs as, respectively, Yente the Matchmaker and Anatevka’s kindly — if slightly addled — rabbi. Other standouts include Eric McAnallen’s bark-is-louder-than-his-bite butcher Lazar Wolf, Coy Price’s sleeping giant Motel the Tailor, Ben Solomon’s firebrand student revolutionary Perchik and, of course, Alex Covelli’s ineffably eloquent Fiddler. Led by conductor Maura Fornataro, the estimable 14-member orchestra make the Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick standards (“If I Were a Rich Man,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “Miracle of Miracles,” “Tradition,” et al) sound richer and more melodic than ever.

The show’s few, admittedly minor, flaws are built-in to every production of “Fiddler” I’ve seen. There’s still a slight imbalance between Acts One and Two since most of the strongest numbers are relegated to the first half.

Also, the wedding scene at the end of Act One seems to go on as long as most real-life wedding receptions. But that’s “Fiddler.”

Cavalier, Phillip Clark Jr. and Frank Moses did the outstanding scenic design, and Patty Sansone and Amy Warner’s superb costumes are Broadway touring show caliber. Happiest of all, the usual NCP miking problems, which can sometimes create a dissonant, wind-tunnel effect, were conspicuously absent at the performance I attended. In other words, there’s nothing to dampen the experience, or enjoyment, of this midsummer night’s dream of a musical.

“Fiddler on the Roof” runs through Aug. 2 at the New Castle Playhouse. For tickets and showtimes, call (724) 654-3437.