"Fiddler On the Roof' at the Walnut

The Walnut Street Theater's production of Fiddler on the Roof is better than any I've seen, aside from the original Broadway staging that ran from 1964 to 1972.

Bruce Lumpkin's direction was solid, Michelle Gaudette's choreography stuck close to the Jerome Robbins original, and the large cast didn't have a weak spot. This is rare. Other productions frequently have had a daughter who doesn't look right, or a boyfriend with an unsteady voice, or a character who goes over the top. This production was an exception.

Lumpkin didn't introduce any extraneous element. His one innovation was enlarging the role of the fiddler, personified by Alexander Sovronsky. He actually played, rather than miming the action, and he rarely disappeared as he represented the culture of the community. (He doesn't follow when the villagers leave at the end.)

While on stage, Sovronsky played along with the orchestra, and he added a solo of "Rozhinkes mit mandlen" ("Raisins and Almonds") at the start of Act 2 before segueing to the Jerry Bock music that was originally written for that scene.

The orchestra, led by Douglass Lutz, sounded better than it has in years, and the pit clarinetist, Frank Mazzeo, added authentic-sounding klezmer riffs to his part. So the venerable musical by Bock, lyricist Sheldon Harnick and librettist Joseph Stein, came across as the powerful drama that it is.

Nuance trumps vocal quality

Mark Jacoby is one of my favorite performers; I've enjoyed him in straight dramas and musical roles (as Gaylord Ravenal in Show Boat and as Father in Ragtime) alike. He proved an authoritative Tevye, with a first-rate voice. His singing of "Chaveleh," in particular"“ Tevye's reminiscence of his daughter who married a Russian"“ was gorgeous. But his opening scenes as well as "If I Were a Rich Man" lacked warmth.

An excellent voice isn't necessary for this part, as was amply proved by Zero Mostel, Luther Adler, Herschel Bernardi and even Harvey Fierstein, who was delightful in 2005. For Tevye, nuance trumps vocal quality.

You may ask, in the cadence of Fiddler: Is it necessary that Tevye show a lovable personality? That I can tell you in one word: Yes. He must be the most charismatic man in the village. And he must show what earned him the honorary title of "Reb." Tevye is not scholarly, and he repeatedly misquotes the Torah, but he bears an aura of religiosity and of yiddishkeit, an immersion in Jewish religious life. That's what Jacoby lacked in his introductory scenes.

Nuns like it, too

But when Tevye and Lazar Wolf drank to the impending marriage of Wolf to Tevye's oldest daughter, Jacoby became more extroverted and animated. Thereafter, Jacoby was dramatically superb as he was torn between his lifelong beliefs and his love for his daughters.

Mary Martello was excellent as his wife, Golde, and Denise Whelan impressed as the colorful Yenta the matchmaker. Many other fine performances enriched in an ensemble that included some of Philadelphia's leading actors in supporting roles.

I was reminded of what I experienced the first time I saw this show, in 1970. Women seated behind me kept whispering, "That's so true!" When I turned around I saw that they were nuns, dressed in habits. They identified with Tevye's predicament, and so have Asians and Africans. This story about tradition remains universal.