THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
ckery of Rabbi, Needs More Revisions
Superb 'Fiddler' Retains
>"Fiddler on the Roof"
was not ignored in the
dozen years between Zero
Mostel's debut in the
musical and his 'return to
the theater where the
sensational production
originated — Detroit's
Fisher Theater. The pro-
duction was seen on the
screen, scenes were on
TV, the Detroit Jewish
Community Center drew
large crowds when it was
repeated in the Meyers
Jewish Center DeRoy
Theater. Yet Mostel's
personal appearance
gave the play added em-
phasis. The current stag-
ing is like a revival in
which actors and audi-
ence fascinate each other.
tions arise anew. Would
Sholem Aleichem, on
whose story the musical
is based, and whose Tevye
der Milhiger — Tevye the
Dairyman — is the hero,
would he have approved
of the new thesis, the
comic, the character in-
terpretations?
Is the role of the rabbi
repulsive and would
Sholem Aleichem have
resented the portrayal in
the original as well as re-
vised texts of a play that
has gained record acclaim
and is' destined to con-
tinue to attract en-
thusiastic audiences for
another generation?
The fact is that the rab-
bi's role remains an insult-
ing inclusion in a play th-at
Some of the old ques-
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sently viewed as some-
what vulgarizing. This is
debatable. But the moc-
kery involving the rabbi
and the elimination of the
vital factuality about
Czarist terrorist are not.
Sholem
Aleichem
surely would have re-
sented so the mockeries,
but he would have loved
the acclaim given to one
can do very well without
the clown as portrayed in
"Fiddler on the Roof. -
From the outset it was
urged by theater lovers, by
all Jews without exception,
that the character be
ousted from the cast. It has
continued. This remains to
the discredit of the pro-
ducers. The demand for
the erasing of that insult
should continue.
In the search for faults,
let there be recorded one
other in the continuing
production which has
been revised since the
first presentation in De-
troit 12 years ago but not
sufficiently to show
marked imprOvements.
There is a pogrom in the
text. In the original pre-
sentation and in the
years that ensued the
pogrom scene exposed the
Czarist terror. It was a
vital introduction to the
conclusion of the text
which deals with the
exodus from Anatevka by
the' residents who were
confronted with an ex-
pulsion edict.
In the production as
seen presently in the
Fisher Theater a consta-
ble who was befriended
by Tevya comes with a
warning that "a little
demonstration" was
pending. The came the
program and as witnes-
sed on the stage it was not
even a "little demonstra-
tion." The result is that
the uninformed could not
even know what caused
the exodus stemming
from an expulsion that
was linked with a pogrom.
There is always good
cause for eliminating the
monstrous, the villainous,
the violent. But in the in-
stance of the "Fiddler - the
OFF ANY DINNER
ZERO MOSTEL
pogrom, is a vital factor
and by eliminating the fac-
tual about Czarist pog-
romizing the producers
have rendered as great a
disservice as they do with
the inclusion of the rabbi,
the obnoxious who is de-
scribed by Yiddish speak-
ing viewers as a "bulvan,"
an idiot.
Mostel's acting con-
trasted with his original
interpretation is pre-
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audience displays it here
with the ovations the cast
receives after every per-
formance. Few musicals
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tic acclaim.
In song and dance the
"Fiddler - remains a
superb production not to
be missed. The errors still
are correctible.
—P.S.
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