Chris Eldon Lee reviews “Fiddler on the Roof” which is at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre until Saturday 19th October 2013
It transpires that Paul Michael Glaser has been in ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ before. In the 1971 film he was cast as the revolutionary student and suitor Perchik, witnessing first hand how Topol handled the lead role of Tevye.
He then went on to spend several years driving cop cars round Californian streets for TV’s Starsky and Hutch – memorable crashing into piles of carefully positioned cardboard boxes at every opportunity.
In one sense, Mr Glaser has come a long way since then. In another, he’s come full circle. Because he can now been seen stepping very comfortably into Topol’s boots in the stage musical version of the old story at Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre.
One of the great things about The Grand is that you can catch up on all those famous old shows you’ve never got around to seeing – and suddenly realise why everybody loves them so.
‘Fiddler on the Roof’ is a thoroughly charming and wholesome musical sprinkled with simple, homely, Jewish humour, an abundance of Klezmer music and a handful of show-stopping songs.
Banishing Topol with one very clever line of homage at the top of the show (and now sporting a full beard0 Michael Paul Glaser eases into the part of the Russian village dairyman as if it were written for him. He does a good line in put-upon, world-weary looks as he tries to bargain with God and the gods. Tevye is torn between family and faith; his beloved tradition overridden by the modernity of the age (1905). He is simultaneously outraged and understanding about all this, admitting “our old ways were once new”. Glaser today is old enough to grasp this dilemma and present it in a ‘knowing’ understated way to an audience who have mostly been through the same scenario, if a century later.
He also turns out to be quite a comedian and almost as good a singer as his police partner David Soul. He slips lackadaisically into ‘If I Were A Rich Man’ and wrings the heart in “Sunrise, Sunset” as Tevye’s daughters approach marrying age.
The musical accompaniment is terrific through out. The show really does start with a cat-like fiddler high up on the roof (Jennifer Douglas) and all the music is played live by the cast as they move energetically around the stage. The band of strolling players includes the local Rabbi on bassoon, the daughters on flute, cello, double bass, saxophone and glockenspiel, the tailor the piccolo and several hauntingly emotional clarinets. The players produce a full, rich sound whilst they dance, fight, have conversations with each other and even, in a moment of cultural confusion, do The Shadows’ walk.
What the villagers don’t quite realise is that the Russian revolutions and Jewish clearances are heading their way. As perpetual nomads, they pack with resignation and amble respectfully off into the wings. Seeing the show for the first time, I was dependent on those who’d seen it before to realise it had finished and to start the tumultuous applause it deserved.
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