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JULY 2004

Family Fun: “Fiddler on the Roof” & Tots’ “Cookin’” Show
By Jan Aaron

Taking in a Broadway show can be a summer family tradition. Turning a tradition upside down, David Leveaux’s Fiddler on the Roof creates a softer, milder Tevye to replace the usual rambunctious characterization, and a new experience. Still it is delightful family entertainment.

Alfred Molina’s Tevye is a modest guy, trying to fend off the Czar and care for his family in a changing world. His low-keyed performance has caused controversy. The role was originally created for Zero Mostel, an exuberant actor, handpicked by Jerome Robbins, the original director and choreographer. Robbins’ fabulous choreography has been retained. It’s almost worth the price of admission to see the show’s spectacular bottle dance.

Here intact is Sholom Aleichem’s timeless story of the struggle to maintain tradition amid swirling change. Tom Pye’s severe set design emphasizes the spare existence of the shtetl dwellers, with scrims that reveal bare trees and fallen leaves. Especially awesome is the dream sequence, resembling a Chagall painting.

This production eases up on the stereotyped inflections, but the jokes still come through. For instance, in the mix-up during the confused negotiations for his daughter Tzeitel’s hand, Tevye thinks they are talking about cow: “Today, you want one! Tomorrow you may want two!” It gets a big laugh.

With the exception of Randy Graff, who is a tad bland as Hodel, Tevye’s wife, the rest of the cast is just fine. It’s John Cariani’s timid tailor who garners all the laughs and gets much deserved applause. All the daughters are good, but especially fine are Chava (Tricia Paoluccio) and Fyedka (David Ayers), as young people in love across religious abyss. Also tops is Robert Petkoff’s feisty revolutionary. The ending depicting the departure from the shtetl is extremely moving.

Molina is fine, singing the familiar “If I Were a Rich Man,” more wistfully than other stars before him. His performance could be a little tougher, so it would contrast his forcefulness in standing up to the Czar’s world, with his softness in caving in to his daughters’ wishes. Still it works, as does this classic musical. (Minskoff Theater, 212-307-4100)

For those too young for Broadway, there’s Cookin’, featuring four enormously talented nonverbal chefs, racing the clock to prepare a Korean wedding banquet. Kids at my show laughed as the actors used all kinds of kitchen implements as musical instruments and engaged in outrageous clowning. (Minetta Lane Theater, 212-307-4100)#

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