The reality of Fiddler on the Roof

Well, the run of Fiddler on the Roof is done. It ended up being a pretty good show. I made a few mistakes here and there. Mac was quite good, and lots of other people were good as well. I made some new friends and got to hang out with some old friends. Scott Black and I were both in Oliver, 1776, Fiddler, and now Christmas Carol. Danny Ray was associated with the last 3 shows. Mac is associated with 3 of the 5 shows I have done in the last year. 5 or more of the Fiddler cast will join the already in progress Christmas Carol rehearsal process.

No bottles were harmed during the wedding bottle dance in the last three performances. One thing that I observed on Thursday that Beth McVey, our director also mentioned after the show. On Thursday during a morning student performance, a couple of bottles went falling to the floor. They didn't break, but they fell nonetheless. And because they fell, the ones that stayed up there were proved to be more authentic. Authentic actions sometimes involve risk. Everyone wanted all of the bottle dancers to keep their bottles "on-hat". But because a couple of them fell, everyone in the audience knew that there was no velcro, glue, or trickery. There was risk.

We could have used bottle hats with glue or velcro, but the guys that did our dance were not acting. They WERE bottle dancers. There are, within the play, moments of pure unadulterated reality. My reality in the play was less exciting. I was sitting on a bench, and on a stool at a table with my dear friends, and that part was reality. Of course, we weren't drinking alcohol. We were only pretending to be drunk, but when Tevye and Lazar hug at the end of the play, there is some reality there too. And Reb Mordcha was really singing. Motel really did a somersault. (Somerset to you Beatles fans.) The fiddler really was on a roof. Was the fiddler in Tevye's imagination? Is that who he talks to when he breaks the fourth wall?

Sometimes reality invades our play. There is no avoiding it. Right now, I feel like plays are invading my reality, and that's ok too.