Tradition

Last night I got the chance to go with my mom to see Topol in "Fiddler on the Roof" aka "Jew: The Musical." It's a story about Jews in a small Russian town who have to fend against the new, changing world both in terms of their way of life as well as oppression from the Russians.

I first saw "Fiddler on the Roof" as a movie when I was in 4th or 5th grade. Topol, in his mid-30s, starred in it as the protagonist Tevye, a poor milkman. While he didn't originate the role, he's certainly the most notable Tevye and it remains his signature part.

It's kind of hard to explain what it was like seeing him on stage, especially now that he's over 70 and heading into retirement soon. It's not quite Adam and Anthony in Rent since they really are still young and energetic enough to play Roger and Mark about the same as they did when they started. It wouldn't be anything like Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins since she's far too old to play the part now. Instead, it was somewhere in between.

It was noticable right from the opening that Topol is not, and does not sound like, the same man who starred in the 1971 film adaptation. He sounded much more subdued and his age hung on every line. He no longer had the loud, booming deliveries that he used so effectively in the movie and his angry Tevye was much softer. His performance was much more subtle, as he had to replace his anger with sarcasm, and instead of raising his voice he turned it into a high, quieter sound.

His performance is definitely different, not necessarily worse, especially considering that he is 73 years old. In fact, there were times when I was comparing the guy down on stage to the actor who played Tevye in the movie when I had to remind myself that it was the same person. It was actually quite fascinating seeing someone I had watched so many times at home in that same role playing it so much differently.

While it was nowhere near the performance he gave almost 30 years ago on film, Topol made it pretty clear that Tevye is his role, with all due respect to Zero Mostel, and that he's still got it in him to perform, even if it did feel at times like he was saving himself for the rest of the tour.