The Mountaineers Players' production of Fiddler on the Roof opened to rave reviews on Memorial Day weekend. Here are some of Michael Moore's comments from his Kitsap Sun review after watching the show this weekend:

"I enjoyed the innovative ways director Craig Schieber's production dealt with the limitations presented by doing the show outdoors, in broad daylight, without any special-effects bells and whistles. I also liked a number of the performances, many of which were by first-time Mountaineers filling the iconic roles of Tevye the milkman, his family and his neighbors in workaday little Anatevka, a borrowed-time little burg about to be ground under by the expulsion of Russia's Jews in the early years of the 20th Century. And much of the singing — both by soloists in the beloved songs and by the nearly choirlike ensemble pieces — was everything I could've asked for."

". . . the Mountaineers' "Fiddler" made good on the promise of those key numbers . . .  They were helped immeasurably by the costumes supplied by Barbara Klingberg, which were the special effects in the "Tevye's Dream" sequence, which featured blue-clad "ghosts" coming out of the woodwork and the richly upholstered Fruma Sarah (Marlene Anderson) "soaring" above the host, simply by standing on a chair on the KFT stage's shelf, behind all the deceased."

"The famed "bottle dance" was altered, and at least one of the more difficult stunts omitted, but the piece was still considerably powerful, thanks to what the dancers were able to do, and to the backing they received from music director Amy Beth Nolte's little band of musicians, headed up by keyboardist Debbie Valenta."

"Schieber found some unexpected dramatic kick in places I didn't expect. The wedding of Tzeitel (the wonderful Sarah Walsh) and Motel (the equally charming Buddy Todd), and the subsequent trashing of the festivities by the Constable (Jerry Dreessen) and his Czarist henchmen, has seemed trite and melodramatic in other productions I've seen, but were emotional and effective in their forest incarnation. Schieber and Caridi also upped the ante in the "Chava" sequence ("Little Bird") by having Tevye's daughters (Walsh, Lani Smith as Hodel and Amberlee Williams as Chava) alongside their younger selves, portrayed in a lovely dance sequence by Layla and Maya Markovich and Jasmine Harrick)."

"Stephen Wall, as Tevye, handled most of the acting, and all of the singing, with aplomb, and was especially effective in his more emotionally demanding moments, but also cranked up the comedy at times, especially in his exchanges with the jilted Lazar Wolf (a fine Tod Harrick)."

"His was probably one of the two best voices in the show, along with Jenny Dreessen as Tevye's wife, Golde. Their duet, "Do You Love Me?", was perfectly wrought, with just the right balance of heartiness and humor. All three daughters sang beautifully, as well, as did Todd (in "Miracle of Miracles"). And the whole company made the show's two most reflective numbers, "Sabbath Prayer" and "Anatevka," particular favorites of mine."

Congratulations to the production staff, musicians, sound, cast and crew for a terrific opening weekend.

Get your tickets now and make your plans to attend this powerful show. Performances are every Saturday and Sunday through Father's Day on June 17th.

How do you find an affordable floor to finish the unique yurt when you are on a budget? We solved that problem by finding some beautiful oak flooring on craigslist that was being removed from a house set for demolition. With a lot of volunteer labor, time, and sweat, plus one talented craftsman – we went from the picture on the left to the picture on the right. To see more pictures of this journey, please go to our photo gallery, click on "Yurt at Kitsap" and go to photos #55-#64.

Thanks to Craig McCoy for providing the truck and volunteer time to help load the flooring, transport it to Kitsap, and start grinding off the nails. Josh Brown, Brian Lindvall, Trey Morgan, Gail Foster, Nancy Estill and Gala Lindvall all helped with the grinding, wiping and stacking of the wood. It took three days of work to go from the flooring at the original house to the flooring stacked in the shed ready for installation.

Special thanks to Chris Greyell from Milllwork Installations for providing the expertise and spending an entire weekend from dawn to dusk laying the floor. He was helped by Trey Morgan, son of Angela Morgan, a cast member of our spring show, Fiddler on the Roof. 

One of the joys of working on shows at the Kitsap Forest Theater is meeting new people – and finding actors and their family members who immediately start jumping in to help with roofing projects, felling trees, cleaning up, cooking and keeping this place humming. We thank everyone who helped with the yurt, and who help all around the property. You are all continuing a Mountaineers tradtion that started in 1923, and hopefully will continue for many more generations.

This painting, the inspiration for the title of the musical, Fiddler on the Roof, is also the inspiration for the "Dream Scene" in our production. Get your tickets now and enjoy an afternoon of magical theater in the woods.

The following is excerpted from a "Truth in Art" column by W. Scott Lamb entitled The Green Violinist by Marc Chagall:

“A fiddler on the roof. It sounds crazy, no?” asks the poor Jewish milkman. “In our little village of Anatevka you might say every one of us is a fiddler on a roof. Trying to scratch out a pleasant simple tune without breaking his neck. It isn’t easy. You may ask why do we stay up here if it is so dangerous? We stay because Anatevka is our home. And how do we keep our balance. That I can tell you in one word. Tradition!” (from the opening of Fiddler on the Roof)

Fiddler on the Roof is loosely based on a novel called "Tevye, the Milkman," written by Yiddish author Sholem Aleichem and published in 1894. At the time of its publication and in roughly the same area of the world, another Jewish Russian was experiencing life in similar fashion to the fictional characters of Anatevka. The boy’s name was Moishe Shagal, but the world knows him best as Marc Chagall, one of the best-known painters of the 20^th century.

Even though Chagall moved away from his hometown of Vitebsk, the town remained a part of his memory and is reflected in The Green Violinist – a merry celebration of the tension between change and continuity of our lives. Chagall painted this in 1923-1924, thirty years after Aleichem’s novel and forty years before the Broadway production of Fiddler (which took Chagall’s painting as inspiration for the title of the musical).

The painting itself is enjoyable. Set against a bland backdrop of grey, brown, and black, a geometrically-inspired man in vibrant secondary colors (purple, orange, and green) plays a violin while standing on top of two houses. And check out that purple coat with triangle patterns! The painting is intended to make us reflect on the transitory and changing nature of the world in which we live. How should we respond to change and how should we relate to the past?

Imagine the historical changes that took place in Chagall’s hometown of Vitebsk. When Chagall was born, the town was under Tsarist rule. The Communist revolution brought political change and much turmoil. The Nazis took over the town for over three years, during which time 150,000 Jews died. Then, the Soviet Union took over the area and ruled until 1991.  

How does one move forward into the future while not losing the essential character of who they are? In Jewish villages, the fiddler would come out and play at births, weddings, deaths – all transforming events that cause us to reflect on the past, present, and future.

Regarding tradition, Fiddler’s Tevye says, “You may ask, ‘How did this tradition get started?’ I’ll tell you!  I don’t know. But it’s a tradition... and because of our traditions... Every one of us knows who he is and what God expects him to do.”

There is real tension between the forces that pull us forward and those that keep us in the past. Chagall’s fiddler is a modern Moses, commanding the people to remember the past even as they experience the change of the present and the promise of the future. The fiddler stands for joyful tradition, even while playing out to people leaving the village (horse and cart at top left) and finding freedom elsewhere (man floating off the page at top). The drumbeat of change will not stay outside of this man’s town, and yet the dog reminds us of fidelity to some part of the past. The ladder is at once both bound and free, one end on the ground and the other in the air. The tree itself is barren, but the bird in the branch reminds us of Chagall’s use of birds as a symbol of freedom.

And the fiddler himself is standing on and above the bedrock institutions of his village – home and synagogue. He is larger-than-life and yet his feet are still connected to things of the earth. This fiddler, central to “the tradition” of the village is also alive and well even in the midst of the fast-paced changes all around him. And the purple speaks of stable passion, emotional exuberance under control of the mind. Excited about the future even while retaining memory of the past.

Perhaps Chagall is saying that it is up to individuals to live larger than life by finding color and joy in remembrance of the past, even as the call of the future beckons.

What do you see in this painting? Leave a comment and tell us.