Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 18, 1995 TAG: 9508190001
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ADRIANNE BEE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
If you didn't get a chance to get away this summer, it's not too late.
There's a great little Russian village where people sing, dance and sometimes drink large amounts of brandy. Anatevka is nice this time of year, and a ticket to "Fiddler on the Roof" is all you need to get there.
Local singers and dancers, teen-agers and children, carpenters and costume makers, with the official title of Summer Musical Enterprise, are bringing the production of the classic musical to a Virginia Tech and Radford University campus near you.
The motley group of volunteers ranges in age from 6 to "I plead the Fifth on that one," as Carol Coles, one actress, said. They are putting in hours after school and after work so the curtains to Anatevka can open on Wednesday, Aug. 23.
Set in pre-revolutionary Russia in 1905, "Fiddler on the Roof" is the story of Tevye, a poor Jewish milkman, his wife, Golde, and their five unmarried daughters, who all live in a town where tradition rules. And one of those traditions, arranged marriages, inspired the famous song, "Matchmaker, Matchmaker."
Fifteen-year-old Katie Sina of Blacksburg, who plays daughter Chava, said she wants "to be on Broadway." She and Kate Schwabb, 18, are both spending their summer vacation working at Virginia Tech.
"We count down the hours all day until we can get out of work to practice," said Sina. "There's nowhere I'd rather be than rehearsal."
"It's fun to get lost in the world of Anatevka for a couple hours," said Schwabb, who plays daughter Hodel. The cast members are lost in Anatevka and rehearsal hasn't even started yet.
For example, the reporter asked, "Do you know where I can find Claire Fischer-Davies?"
Steve Smith, 16, squinted his eyes and looked confused for a moment. "Oh," he finally said, "You mean Golde," and points to a small woman who could be mistaken for a teen-ager herself.
The rector at Blacksburg's Christ Episcopal Church, who is also trained in operatic singing, Fischer-Davies is having fun hanging out with the younger cast members. "I was a failure in high school," she said and broke into laughter. Now, she finds herself in the center of a teen-age crowd. "I'm really having a good time with the high school kids."
Then there's the youngest participant, Ben Papillon, "the cute factor," as director Jeff McCoy, describes him. According to his dad, Ben fell in love with the ensemble's production of "Mame" last summer and had been waiting ever since to try out. Angel-faced Ben, who said he's "6 and a-half," is in "almost first grade at Kipps [Elementary School]." Ben's dad, Terry Papillon of Blacksburg, said Ben's been working hard perfecting his dance steps.
Matt Ridley, 18 and just out of Blacksburg High School, proudly displays his soccer state championship ring with a shiny blue stone. "I love all the people and getting to be somebody different," he said and then offered a gummy Power Ranger.
Ridley and Smith tell of the fun that goes with the hard work: occasional leap-frog and Power Ranger games.
"These guys are not indicative of the entire cast," laughingly interrupted Coles, manager of Ridenhour Music Center in Christiansburg and Yente the Matchmaker on stage. "But seriously, once these guys hit the stage, they are very professional and very talented."
Smith says theater is "just something to do" while older sidekick Ridley, who was in last summer's production of "Mame," is heading to Radford University to study music education.
"Excuse me, my public awaits," joked Coles as she mockingly tilted her head skyward and glided away.
Steve Brown, who plays Tevye and belts out the familiar song, "If I Were a Rich Man (yadda, yadda, yadda, ya)," comes into view. A theater veteran, Brown said this is his 38th acting production. When he's not acting, Brown spends his time as choir director at his church. Brown has even written the script, lyrics and music to his own musical, "Road to Paradise."
Even if you're not a main character, according to Ridley and Smith, you're encouraged to invent a name and identity for yourself within the play. Ashley Hirt, 13, and one of the nameless chorus members, was daunted by this. "I play a guy and a girl chorus person so I couldn't name my character," said Hirt.
Director McCoy of Blacksburg, now the drama teacher at Pulaski High, has been an actor in the ensemble's productions for the past three years, playing a variety of supporting roles in "The Music Man," "Oklahoma" and "Mame." The productions already have gone through a couple of directors. "One had to have double-knee replacement surgery and another had a job conflict, but I didn't get it by default," he added and laughed.
McCoy figures about 30 percent of the cast is trying out theater for the first time.
"I really like acting as a hobby," said Dan Gardener, 19, who plays Motel, one of the suitors. A business and economics major at Roanoke College, Gardener said, "I don't want to live paycheck to paycheck and job to job, though."
Geoff Knobl, a computer programmer by day, Perchik by night, said he's here mostly for the music. And the music consists of an orchestra - accordions, horns, violins, cellos, and lots of singing, all led by Charlotte Smith, who is the music director at Christiansburg High School.
Heather Massie, 23, sings "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" with Sina and Schwabb and works as a DJ at radio station WKEX. Massie took acting classes at the University of Virginia for two years and has been in a number of productions in the New River Valley. Massie admitted she gets a little nervous, "but you kinda have to be so your wits are there."
Busy Massie takes acting seriously, researching the period and characters for performances.
"Fiddler" is a family affair for some. The Thompson family: mom, Patty, and children, Rachel, Ross and Adam, are all in the musical. "It was my idea," claimed Rachel, 17. Music seems to be in the Thompson genes. Patty, a teacher at Margaret Beeks Elementary School in Blacksburg, wrote and published her own musical and taught at a creative arts magnet school in South Carolina. Patty's current undertaking is learning to play the Celtic harp.
And speaking of undertaking, there's Pat Horne, a beautician at Richardson Horne Funeral Home. She works as part of the artistic staff of "Fiddler" as the musical's dance coordinator. The set designer is Jeff Berger. Executive producers Annette Perkins and Sherry Hirt have been instrumental in the production, Hirt being responsible for many of the costumes, such as the long beards a couple guys are trying on this summer.
You might have caught the cast at the Fourth of July parade, at their booth at Stepping Out, or one of the "call-outs," where they sing Fiddler songs for the public.
Now, you can see the musical and meet all the interesting folks in Anatevka.
"Fiddler on the Roof" In Blacksburg at the Squires Haymarket Theater on the Virginia Tech campus, Aug. 23-27; general admission: $8, retired, $5, student, $4. In Radford at Preston Auditorium on the Radford University campus, Aug. 31-Sept. 3; ticket prices same as Blacksburg.
by CNB