With Someone We Love

I posted a photo on Facebook of the opening night curtain call of the Racine Theater Guild’s production of Fiddler on the Roof – a photo with my wife Kathy and Davidson Kane, as Golda and Tevye, at the center of it.  One of the comments posted came from a friend at Holy Communion, Kathy Fischer, who wrote “There’s something very special about watching a show when someone you love is in it!”   And she is so very right.  As I watch RTG’s Fiddler,  I am so incredibly grateful that Doug cast my wife Kathy as Golda – that she could have the opportunity to undertake this rich and rewarding role, especially in such a fine production and with such marvelous cast mates, is a dream come true.  I could not be happier for her-  and she is the single biggest reason I am so enraptured with this production- because there indeed is “something very special about watching a show when someone you love is in it.”   Especially when they are doing such a marvelous job-  and when you know that they are having the time of their lives,  which she is.

It was only when I looked at that photo again and noticed the smiling face of our friend Peter Jones in the background that I started thinking about Kathy Fischer’s words in a more all-encompassing way.   Kathy is the one person in Fiddler who I love in that husband/wife, can’t-live-without-you, you-complete-me sort of way.   But in a very real way I love this whole cast – and there are certain people in this cast to whom I have even said the actual words “I love you.”  When you delve into the world of theater,  it’s hard not to develop a powerful bond of affection and respect- especially with those good souls who bring their whole being to the table and with whom you sometimes travel long and challenging journeys.  I think of what it has felt like over the years to work with amazing people on amazing roles-  like Bob Benson (again and again, but especially with Jean Valjean in Les Miserables) or Gary Stamm (again and again, but especially with Ebeneezer Scrooge) or Samantha Sustachek (again and again, but especially with Maria in The Sound of Music)  or Jamie Johnson (again and again, but especially in Mary Poppins.)  But why in the world should I even start a list that is bound to be all but endless?   And it’s not just the leads with whom I’ve worked over the years.  It’s everyone else,  from the nuns of The Sound of Music to the cell block girls in Chicago to the revolutionaries in Les Miserables to the Pick-a-little Talk-a-little Ladies in The Music Man to the orphans in Annie to the ducklings in Honk! ….  and on and on.  You really get to know people in a special way when you work with them in this kind of undertaking- especially because music tends to be an agent in which we reveal ourselves, for good or for ill.

And when we’re talking about a show like Fiddler – a show with such heart –  it’s maybe even more true. It seems like the cast has approached this show right from the first rehearsal with a very special kind of devotion and reverence, while also feeling tremendous joy along the way.  One of the greatest pleasures I’ve had in all my years at the RTG is working with Davidson Kane on the role of Tevye – which he was born to play.   There were times during our first musical rehearsals at my house when he and I were both in tears,  so powerfully moved were we by the music and the story.   It is nothing less than a privilege to work with somebody like Davidson on a part like Teyve- although to be completely truthful,  my role in that process has almost been cheerleader more than anything:  saying “that was great, Davidson!  Keep doing it exactly that way!”    That’s fun, of course –  but in some ways the experiences that are even more meaningful for me are those instances where I really had to help someone learn something incredibly difficult, and make sense of it….. like Davidson learning Thenardier’s deeply disturbing Sewer Song from Les Miz ….  or helping young Andrew Dorst – in the midst of his voice changing –  cope with the music of Charlie in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Those are the instances when I truly feel like I’m earning my pay as music director –  and I hope the singers all know that I am there to do whatever it takes to bring them to the point of full and absolute confidence,  so they in turn can deliver the very best performance that they can possibly give.

So yes, in a very real way, I feel all kinds of love for the people standing on that stage, performing Fiddler ….  but of course,  it’s not just me or Doug or Kara who can say that.   I think a lot of people in the audience come to these performances because they love or care about someone in the cast-  and even beyond that,  there are probably others that they know.  But on some level,  it’s also a matter of knowing that these people performing for you -whether you know them personally or not –  come from your community.  They’re not professional performers who were hired and flown in from who knows where.  They are from here.  They are your neighbors.   And to see your neighbors and friends and loved ones deliver a wonderful performance like this is just about as exciting as theater can get.   Dan Martino,  a good friend who has been on this same stage any number of times,  was in the audience today.  He loved today’s performance more than any other performance of it that he has ever seen …..  not necessarily because ours was the best of them all (although he really thought it was spectacular)  but because he got to see it performed by people he knew and loved  – and that goes for the crew offstage as much as the cast onstage.

And by the way,  it’s not that the people on that stage get some sort of Free Pass because we know and love them, and thus can slop their way through it.   It’s not that we love this production just because they’re in it.  This production is truly incredible by any objective standard you can name-  but the fact that such breathtaking work is being delivered by people you know and care about just takes it to a higher level of pleasure.

This is a production done by Amateurs –  but I mean that only in the purest sense of the word, meaning that it’s people doing this because they love it.

And we in the audience love them for it.

(Fiddler on the Roof runs at the Racine Theater Guild runs through the end of May.  Call (262)633-4218 for more information.  Tickets are going very, very quickly.)

Pictured below:  Right before Friday’s opening night performance, the cast listens as RTG board president Jamie Johnson thanks them for all of their hard work that has helped make this production such a spectacular success.

Below:  More shots from the production, which is one of the most impressive I’ve seen on this stage.