Armidale Drama & Musical Society
'Fiddler On The Roof'
Town Hall, Armidale -
September 1978
Musical Direction by Elizabeth Wadleigh
Produced by Keith Aubrey
Choreography by Margaret Coggan
Based on the Sholem Aleichem stories by special permission of Arnold Perl. Book by Joseph Stein. Music by Jerry Bock. Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. By special arrangement with Music Theatre International, New York.
SYNOPSIS
The action takes place in Anatevka, an impoverished peasant village in Tsarist Russia, populated largely by hard-working Jewish families. Tevye, the dairyman - a pious man and his wife Golde have raised five daughters.
Yente, the matchmaker, tells Golde that the wealthy Lazar Wolf, the butcher, wants to marry the eldest daughter, Tzeitel. Golde is delighted at the prospects of such a good match.
Tevye meets Perchik, a young student and aspiring social reformer. He offers the penniless student food if the young man will give lessons to his daughters.
Tevye meets Lazar Wolf at the local inn and finally agrees to let the marriage take place. His rejoicing is brought to a halt by the Constable who warns him of an impending demonstration to be held against all Jews in the district.
In the meantime Tzeitel is promising her own hand to the poor tailor Motel and when they inform Tevye of their plans he is shocked that they have broken with tradition. Realising however that their love is genuine he relents and gives his blessing.
Tevye, faced with the problem of informing his wife that Tzeitel will not be marrying into wealth, tells Golde that her long-deceased grandmother and Lazar's deceased wife Fruma-Sarah came to him in a dream and warned him to make a match with Motel, the tailor. Golde is convinced of the authenticity of the dream and the wedding of Tzeitel and Motel is celebrated in traditional style but its gaiety interrupted by the Russian police who carry out the threatened purge.
Act Two opens two months later. Motel and Tzeitel are poor but happy and now Perchik and Hodel are very much in love. Perchik informs Tevye that he wants to marry Hodel but must immediately join his compatriots in their revolutionary activities.
Presently news arrives that Perchik has been arrested in Kiev and has been sent to Siberia. Hodel decides to join him and takes leave of her family. The third daughter in the meantime has become attracted to the young Russian Fyedka and when it seems that the attachment will become permanent Tevye formally severs his ties with his daughter even though it hurts him deeply.
The safe world which Tevye has struggled so hard to build for his family receives its greatest blow when he learns that the Tsar has ordered all Jews to evacuate their age-old home and move elsewhere. He, his family and his people move off to where they feel there will be not hatred and poverty. They begin their long journey to America as the curtain falls.
MUSICAL NUMBERS
Act 1
'Prologue - Tradition' - Chorus and Principals
'Matchmaker' - Tzeitel, Hodel, Chava
'If I Were a Rich Man' - Tevye
'Sabbath Prayer' - Tevye, Golde and Chorus
'To Life' - Tevye, Lazar and Chorus
'Dance' - Perchik, Hodel
'Tevye's Monologue' - Tevye
'Miracle of Miracles' - Motel
'The Dream' - Grandma Tzeitel, Rabbi, Tevye, Fruma-Sarah, Golde and Chorus
'Wedding Introduction - Sunrise, Sunset' - Golde, Tevye, Perchik, Hodel and Chorus
Act 2
'Now I Have Everything' - Perchik, Hodel
'Tevye's Rebuttal' - Tevye
'Do You Love Me?' - Tevye, Golde
'The Rumour' - Yente, Surcha, Mirala, Mendal, Avrahm and Chorus
'Far From the Home I Love' - Hodel
'Chava Sequence' - Tevye, Tzeitel, Hodel, Chava and Chorus
'Anatevka' - Principals and Chorus
SCENES
Act 1
Scene 1: Kitchen in Tevye's House
Scene 2: Exterior of Tevye's House
Scene 3: Interior of Tevye's House
Scene 4: The Inn
Scene 5: Street Outside the Inn
Scene 6: On a Bench Outside Tevye's House
Scene 7: Tevye's Bedroom
Scene 8: Village Street and Motel's Tailor Shop
Scene 9: Section of Tevye's Yard
Act 2
Scene 1: Exterior of Tevye's House
Scene 2: Village Street
Scene 3: Exterior of Railroad Station
Scene 4: Village Street
Scene 5: Motel's Tailor Shop
Scene 6: Outskirts of the Village
Scene 7: The Barn
Scene 8: Outside Tevye's House
CAST
Tevye the Dairyman: Ron Vickress, Golde his wife: Claire Keoghan, Tzeitel: Sue Burton, Hodel: Rhonda Burchmore, Chava: Alison Duguid, Shprintze: Patricia Keoghan, Bielke: Anne Vickress, Yente the Matchmaker: Els Coventry, Motel the Tailor: Alan Wilkinson, Perchik the Student: Errol Ingram, Lazar Wolf the Butcher: David Mink, Rabbi: Bill Howarth: Mendel his Son: David Grant, Avrahm: Ian Woodhouse,Grandma Tzeitel: Pat Kerr, Fruma-Sarah: Irene Fiori, Fyedka: Mark Hewitt, Constable: Roger Zohrab,Shaindel Motel's Mother: Patricia Campbell-Hardwick, Nachum the Beggar: Pat Kerr, The Fiddler: Laurie Pulley, Moishe: Stuart McKern, Label: Jock Coventry, Yussell: Mark Gawkroger, Yankel: Peter Smith,Shloime: Ken Fiori, Yakov: Adrian Smith, Yitzuk: Troy Fiori, Priest: Jack Savage, Surcha: Pat Smith, Mirala: Beryl Hamel, Fredel: Lyn Forbes, Sima: Wendy Chappell, Anya: Gemma White, Rivka: Isabel Powell,Bluma: Bronwyn Llewellyn, Berille: Theresa White
Villagers: Anne Mulcahy, Christine Pulley, Colleen White, Debbie Butler, Helen Mink, Joy Hamilton, Julie Burton, Margaret Frend, Pam Menzies
Russians: David Grant, Jack Coventry, Mark Gawkroger
ORCHESTRA
Violin 1: Anne Lewis, Eunice Allingham, Maurice Anker, Sister Cecilia, Violin 2: Alex Deme, Maxine Kirk, Renata Sturmer, Cello: Arpad Gott, Roeland Weisfelt, Piano: Robyn Driscoll, Flute: David Hawkins, Oboe: Simon Hawkins, Clarinet: Jim Hawkins, Trumpet: Ross Smallwood, Mandolin: Robert Moss, Percussion: John Grigg
PRODUCTION TEAM
Musical Director: Elizabeth Wadleigh
Producer: Keith Aubrey
Choreography: Margaret Coggan
Repetiteur: Robyn Driscoll
Stage Manager: Peg Leask
Set Construction: Stuart McKern
Lighting: Tony Marjoram, Mike Rochester
Costumes: Frances O'Brien, Sylvia Pink
Makeup: Kath Brewster, Claire Dawson, June Dore, Robyn Busby, Wendy Kelly
Prompt: Barbara Delangre
Properties: Barbara McConville, Margaret Phipps
Publicity: Pat Smith
Posters: Gwenda Hardie
Front of House: Peter Robertson
Stage Crew: Doug Lobban, Stewart Heffernan, Terry Packer
Photography: Frank Anderson
Catering: Marie Rowlands, Noelene Sinclair
Ushering: Mary Wright, Pam McWaters, Rita Farrell, Tracey Smith
THANKS TO
The Armidale College of Advanced Education for rehearsal venue
