Lyric Opera’s ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ is an unforgettable blend of grit and magic

Steven Skybell. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

There's something about a quiet, light, yet persistent snowfall that can shed new light on familiar turf. The Komische Oper Berlin's production of Fiddler on the Roof, now playing at Lyric, sets the entirety of Act Two in such a snowfall. The results are magical.

Odd, that word, "magical." Fiddler is perhaps the least fantastical piece in the American musical theatre canon. Even though Joseph Stein (book), Jerry Bock (music), and Sheldon Harnick (lyrics) were smart enough to leaven their tale with plenty of warmth, humor, and even outright shtick, it was gritty realism before "gritty realism" was cool. The Holocaust was barely twenty years prior when it opened on Broadway, after all. A different specter hangs over the evening now, of course, but when have the world's Anatevkas never faced the risk of a broken neck?

But even under this grim cloud, director Barrie Kosky brings the magic. He's whipped up a wunderkammer of a show.

Quite seriously: Act One's scenery (by Rufus Didwiszus) is dominated by stacks of Old World cabinets—worn, stripped of varnish, undoubtedly always moved at great expense and inconvenience, but they're family history, dammit. The cast springs forth from these hutches just in time to punch out the stirring divisis of "Tradition" and they're seldom locked away after that.

But then, as the Tsar starts pinching the Jews more and more, the cabinets vanish. But the spirit persists.

None moreso than that of Tevye the dairyman, played by Steven Skybell, a veteran of the recent off-Broadway production of Fiddler done entirely in Yiddish. That extra patina of authenticity aside, his voice, humor, and personality fill out the Civic Opera House quite nicely, even as his struggles with his faith send him into a tizzy.

And, when he’s huddled next to his lifemate Golde (Debbie Gravitte) in that light snow, their old standby “Do You Love Me” gleams like a new kopek.

Broadway music pro Kimberly Grigsby keeps the pit aloft, and she has a special little helper in Drake Wunderlich, our Fiddler. His particulars, I dare not spoil, but they ensure that this production of Fiddler is much more than a nice evening out with Babushka—this is something vital, urgent, not to be forgotten. That’s the magic of theatre.

Fiddler on the Roof plays through October 7th at the Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Dr. For tickets or more information, please call (312) 827-5600 or click here.