Entertainment

From Fountain Pen To Fiddler'

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

`FIDDLER' page 72

Young Scott Davidson plays the old butcher.

Scott Davidson's stage career
took off after his bar mitzvah.

F EB RUARY

SUZANNE CHESSLER

cott Davidson knew at
his bar mitzvah that a
stage career could make
him happy. Soon after
his special day, Mr.
Davidson, who is appear-
ing in Fiddler on the
Roof at the George Burns
Theatre Feb. 16-21,
began seeking roles in
school productions.
"I consider my bar
mitzvah my first title
role," said Mr. Davidson,
26, who portrays Lazar
Wolf, the middle-aged
butcher-widower seeking
a wife. "There was some-
thing about the attention
being paid to me as I was
doing my Haftorah read-
ing and chanting. I was
nervous, but I was really
thrilled by it all.
"After that, I did my
first large production,
which was South Pacific
at the middle school. I
did a lot in high school
and community theater,
but I didn't really start
thinking professionally
until I got to the univer-
sity."
Mr. Davidson, who
grew up in Massa-
chusetts and attended
the University of Massa-
chusetts at Amherst, was
encouraged by a faculty
member."I was doing
musicals at the universi-
ty sort of extracurricu-
larly," he explained. "I
thought I was good, but I
didn't have any true,
professional ambition.
"An acting professor
approached me one time
and asked me why I
hadn't auditioned for any
of the university produc-
tions. I did, and I took
his class. He kind of

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