RESTAURANT
MID-EASTERN, CHALDEAN
& AMERICAN

• Lambchops • Lamb Shish Kabob
• White Fish Curry • Tabouleh • Hommus
• Vegetarian Entrees • Fresh Catch
• Chicken Shawarma • Etc.
• Fresh Juice Bar • Cocktails and Wine

For director Sammy Dallas Bayes, mounting
a production of "Fiddler on the Roof" has the ring of "Tradition."

6123 HAGGERTY RD. (JUST N. OF MAPLE)
BLOOMFIELD AVENUE SHOPS
WEST BLOOMFIELD

(248) 668-1800

27060 EVERGREEN (AT 11 MILE & EVERGREEN)
LATHRUP LANDING
LATHRUP VILLAGE

(248) 559-9099

COUPON GOOD AT BOTH LOCATIONS

150% OFF1

Lunch or Dinner

With purchase of a second lunch or
dinner entree of equal or greater value

I • Dine In Only

• 1 Coupon Per Couple I
• Not Valid With other Offers
• Expires 12/31/2000

Lri ra INN

NM NMI NMI IIII

Catering For All Occasions

Bangkok
Sala
Cafe

THAI

•

CUISINE

Buy One Lunch or Dinner
& Get a Second for

50% OFF

One per customer • Expires 10/31/00

a

27903 Orchard Lake Rd. (NW corner of 12 Mile)
Farmington Hills

(248) 553-4220

Open 7 days a week

Mon-Sat 11 am - 10 pm
Sunday 4 pm - 9:30 pm

10/20
2000

90

A Good Match

ed those expectations. And Bayes' own background further
demonstrates the truth of Fiddler's ability to cross cultures.
Special to the Jewish News
"I knew nothing about-the Jewish faith: I'm from
Colorado,"
he muses. "So when I came to New York I had
few years after Fiddler on the Roofopened on
no
understanding
about the Jewish culture. When you live
Broadway in the mid-'60s, the production was
in
a
little
railroad
town, an industrial town in Colorado,
set to venture overseas. Sammy Dallas Bayes, a
you
don't
pay
a
lot
of attention to that."
member of the original cast, was selected by cho-
was an education for Bayes,
Fiddler
But
working
on
reographer Jerome Robbins to stage the musical in Japan.
who
now
has
an
even
more
mature appreciation for the
What seemed at first to be an unlikely intersection of cul-
musical
than
when
he
first
encountered
it as a member of
tures turned out to be a special convergence. Bayes found
the company.
that Fiddler — which depicts the struggles of oppressed Jews
"Back then I wasn't a father, and I didn't have children,"
in a small Russian village — was culturally relevant in Japan.
he
says, "and I didn't quite understand a lot of it: being
The themes of preserving and breaking tradition
able
to let go of your children and accept changes while
appealed tremendously to audiences. "[The Japanese] iden-
maintaining
your family traditions."
tified wholeheartedly because they have matchmakers,"
Fiddler makes a larger cultural statement.
What's
more,
says Bayes. "It was a huge hit over there, probably the
"[The play] emphasizes not only family unity," says Bayes,
biggest ongoing hit that Japan has had."
"but the faith of the Jewish people, their unity."
The show's universality is precisely what is so fascinating
Why does Bayes continue to return to this particular
which
comes
to
Detroit's
Fisher
Fiddler
on
the
Roof
about
musical?
He considers Fiddler on the Roof to be a nearly
Theatre in a production starring Theodore Bikel Oct. 24-
foolproof
example of theatrical writing.
Nov. 12.
"High
schools
and grade schools rent Fiddler on the Roof
But when composer Jerry Bock and lyricist Sheldon
And
whoever
plays
Tevye — the parents [in the audience]
Harnick first set the tales of Sholem Aleichem to music,
walk
out
of
there
saying,
'That boy is going to be a huge
the daily lives of Eastern European Jews didn't particularly
It
has
nothing
to
do with the boy," he jokes. "It
success!'
seem conducive to the American musical, a form often
has to do with the book and the way it was written."
mistakenly perceived to be lighthearted. For the first num-
I've staged so many other Broadway musicals. This one I
ber, in fact, the songwriters originally penned "Sabbath
can
go back to again and again because of the material," he
Tonight," modeled after the "Comedy Tonight" opener
insists,
praising especially the excellence of the script writ-
from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. It
ten by librettist Joseph Stein. "It is one of the
was eventually replaced, of course, with the bold
best
written books in musical history.
Theodo re Bikel stars as
and defining anthem "Tradition."
"The
laughs come from the dialogue and
role
hes
played
Tevye, a
While Fiddler originally was not expected to
from
the
truth of the scene. You don't have
ore
than
1,600
rn
be accessible to mainstream Broadway theatergo-
to
play
up
the joke. That's what I really like
tim es in his career.
ers, the strength of the show is that it transcend-
about it. It's human humor. Even if [the
audience isn't] Jewish, they laugh because
somewhere deep inside they relate to it."
But when Fiddler on the Roofopened in
1964, it was new and unfamiliar terrain, says
Bayes. "[It] was probably the end of the era
of shows trying out on the road. This was a
brand-new show and we had dozens of ver-
sion of each scene, each dance.
"Ir was changing all the time. Jerome
Robbins was a genius, he had all these ver-
sions in his head" recalls Bayes. "It was like
[Robbins was] looking at a painting. He'd
take that out,
put it on a wall and say,
works.'"
if
that
now put this in. See
Fiddler on the Roof won nine Tony Awards
in 1965 and ran over 3,200 performances on
Broadway. But what many people don't know
is that Fiddler opened in Detroit to luke-
warm reviews.
But, remembers Bayes, "the show changed so
much from Detroit. By the time it opened on
Broadway, it was a completely different show."

AUDREY BECKER

A