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NATIONAL OPERATIC AND DRAMATIC ASSOCIATION
LONDON REGION
 Society ; Henley Amateur Operatic & Dramatic Society
Production ; FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
Date ; 24th April 2009
Venue ; The Kenton Theatre, Henley-on-Thames
Report by ; Barrie Theobald, Asst.
NODA Representative - Area 13
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, Lyrics by
Sheldon Harnick and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in
1905....It is based on Tevya and his Daughters (or Tevya the Milkman)
and other tales by Sholem Aleichem.
 Thank you for inviting Henry and me to your production of this very
well-known show. I always enjoy visiting 'The Kenton' and have many
happy memories of appearing on stage there myself, so I am very mindful
of the problems that face fitting large casts on the relatively small
stage with its limited access stage left. These problems had obviously
been taken into account by your production team and it was pleasing to
not notice any lining up of cast waiting to exit either side.
RAYMOND BURTON (Tevya) Over the years Ray has almost made this part
his own locally and I have watched him perform it on many occasions
(and having also appeared in the show with him I know how he strives to
bring as professional a performance as he can to the role). He started
this performance with a distinct disadvantage when delivering the
opening lines 'A fiddler on the roof - sounds crazy no'! when there was
no fiddler on the roof for him to refer to! I understand the reason
Elizabeth Easton, who played the violin beautifully, could not climb up
to the roof, but felt that in the circumstances she could have played
in the pit and an actor mime the part as is so often done. Ray was
later also disadvantaged when telling us about his injured horse whilst
pulling on a cart that had a singlecentral handle instead of shafts and
whilst talking to God there was a tendancy for him to hold his hands
across his face, masking his features. Stronger direction may have been
the answer. His musical numbers were well delivered.
JULIE HUNTINGTON (Golde) Coped adequately with the role and the
musical numbers. Whilst Tevye is seen as (and believes he is) the
mainstay of the family, to my mind Golde 'is the power behind the
throne' and I wasn't always convinced that this was so in your
portrayal! Could this also be down to the way the Director saw the show
developing?
The performance of the duet Do You Love Me between Tevye and Golde was well presented.
KATE MASSEY (Tzeitel) This was a delightful characterisation and your
scenes with both Tevye and Motel were most enjoyable. Do be careful
though, when carrying prop babies - once or twice that's just what it
became!!
HELEN EASTWOOD (Hodel) This was another excellent characterisation,
marred at times by the lack of adequate amplification. The 'sparky'
rapport with Perchick as you grew closer to each other was well
depicted. For me, the scene at the railway station lost some of its
poignancy through playing it against a snowy backcloth that made
mockery of the reference to Siberia and its frozen wasteland. We also
heard the train approach and depart with you still seated there! On the
night I came the tabs failed to close properly after this scene - full
marks for remaining in view until the stagehand sorted out the problem.
CLAIRE WALLIS (Chava) The heartache experienced by having to choose
between marrying within the Jewish faith or risking all by going
through a Christian ceremony with Fyedka was well conveyed, both before
your wedding and later when you came to say your goodbyes after the
pogrom drove your family away.
I particularly enjoyed the performance of Matchmaker, involving all three of you - it was beautifully sung and choreographed.
The roles of Shprintze and Bielke were shared by ELEANOR ADAMS /
JOCELYN DARUVALLA-DAVIES and FLORENCE WIGGINS / JORDANNA
DARUVALIA-DAVIES. I could see nothing in the programme or the theatre
to indicate which pair appeared in the performance I was reviewing.
HOWARD TIMBERLAKE (Motel) gave us a very good portrayal of the shy
tailor with ambitions. The singing of your main solo number Wonder of
Wonders was accompanied by some very good choreography. I believe we
saw a treadle sewing machine in your shop but only a hand machine on
your trolley when you were leaving Anatevka.
GARETH SAUNDERS (Perchik) presented us with an interesting
characterisation. Your stage presence overcame the musical
shortcomings in your delivery of Now I Have Everything (that dreadfully
difficult number set for Perchik right at the beginning of Act2). At
least once, I felt I saw you appear without your prayer shawl.
MARK BUNKALL (Fyedka) I thoroughly enjoyed this portrayal and the way
it was developed (but hope the hat mentioned in the programme notes was
a better fit than the costume hat worn on stage!!) Unless Fyedka sings
the high tenor solo in the Inn scene, he does not get an opportunity to
let the audience hear his singing voice. There was good rapport
between this role and Chava.
WENDY HUNTLEY (Yente) for me, both her costume and make-up detracted
from the characterisation Wendy was striving to achieve - One was too
'fussy' and the other too heavy. However, she clearly maintained her
accent throughout the show.
TIM SLOANE (Lazer Wolf) there are relatively few opportunities to
develop a character but Tim made the most of these (although musically
Lochiam was far from accurate). However, the relationship between your
character and Tevye showed sufficient contrast between the inn scene
and the wedding scene clearly revealed the change that would have
occurred.
MARTIN JARVIS (Rabbi)
PETER WOOLLCOT (Constable) I have linked these two roles because I
felt they each suffered in their individual ways from demonstrating a
lack of authority such persons would hold. Whilst that didn't
necessarily detract from the story line, it would certainly have
enhanced it. Possibly for practical reasons the Rabbi found himself on
a side table at the Wedding when I felt he should have had a place on
the top table. By making the Constable's earlier rapport with Tevye
failrly lighthearted, it becomes harder to accept the character's
change when organizing the pogrom.
CAROLINE TURRINI (Fruma-Sarah) your character only appears in the
Dream Scene and you were often left in the dark towards the back of the
stage. However, you certainly ensured your contribution to the scene
was heard.
CHORUS There are two distinct 'Chorus' parts in this show - The
villagers and the Russians. The villagers (both ladies and gentlemen)
tended to be a little less precise in their movements than the Russians
and on the night I came The Rumour became a little discordant (It is a
very difficult piece, isn't it!) However, the staging of the Sabbath
Prayer on the dark stage was excellent. The young male Russian dancers
excelled in the Inn scene and (with a change of costume) in the Bottle
Dance. No bottles were dropped - congratulations.
PRODUCTION With a cast of over 40, the stage was frequently very full
and all credit to both Director and Choreographer for managing to avoid
bunching too often on exits. I have already mentioned one or two items
that made mockery of the dialogue/lyrics - eg the placing of the
Fiddler, the station backcloth and the head coverage. Before Perchik
broke the local law on dancing with women, we had actually seen men and
women doing so earlier in the wedding scene. Stage Manager CLIFF
COLBORNE and his team worked very hard repositioning the basic house
set which, I understand, was larger than envisaged when the set was
ordered and, apart from the totally wrong milk cart to which reference
has already been made, other props were appropriate. A variety of
costumes were on display and most of them were smartly turned out - at
times looking quite pristine for a small, Russian village. Some of the
uniforms, however, could have benefitted from being ironed. Sound and
lighting were mainly adequate, although I felt that Fruma-Sarah could
have been more clearly lit in her scene. I was also a little unsure of
the way Little Bird was staged - Tevye's 'thoughts' were rather vividly
portrayed and I felt that either specialist lighting or, perhaps, the
use of gauze cloth, would have better conveyed the sentiment behind the
number. I guess some of the ladies insisted on applying their own
make-up, though, as they appeared quite glamorous for Russian
peasants!!! I found you programme very interesting and easy to read.
Thank you for the reference to NODA - I hope it was submitted for the
programme competition. Front of House staff were smartly turned out
and competently welcomed their audience.
DAVID PARSONSON (Choreographer) Bearing in mind the limitations of
the stage, all the choreography had been well thought-out, showing
competence in this role. David was responsible, too, for recruiting
the young male dancers whose contribution to the show was outstanding,
especially in the Inn scene and at the wedding in the bottle dance.
MARK PIZER (Musical Director) occasionally allowed his orchestra to
overpower the singing despite the radio mics. The Rumour number was a
little ragged and uncertain in pitch but in the main the singing was
competently delivered. Bearing in mind the relatively small number of
gentlemen in the cast, To Life (which incidentally, did not get a
mention in the list of musical items!!) this rousing number was
enjoyably portrayed.
DIANE HAYLOR (Director) I have mentioned some of the points I felt
were slightly inconsistent as well as those that could possibly have
been considered from a different angle. However, this did not mean I
did not enjoy your production, that resulted in an entertaining evening
and introduced one or two different touches.
It was good to meet some of your Officers and Members before and after
the show and we thank you for your generous entertainment during the
interval. Our very best wishes with the challenges that 'Return to the
Forbidden Planet' will present and which we look forward to with
interest.
Barrie
Barrie Theobald
Asst. NODA Representative - Area 13.
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