Last night we had tickets to see The Fiddler on the Roof at the Muny. It was a little questionable as to whether or not the show would go on but after an hour and a half rain delay, it did. As I've eluded to before, I possess hardly any knowledge of musical theatre. So, it comes as no surprise that I knew mostly nothing about Fiddler except maybe that - #1, it's a popular play to see and to produce (I think that my high school drama department actually put this on way back when) and #2, it has something to do with Russian Jews. Turns out that I was right on both accounts (oi vai and mazel tov!). Fiddler was, ironically, a cheerfully entertaining show about the loss of culture and tradition due to uncontrollable external forces. Heavy stuff. It's just so amazing to me that even the most serious of historical and cultural topics can be theatrically interpreted by a catchy song or, in some cases, a catchy song and dance (Miss Saigon, Evita, Hairspray, Chicago, etc.). Maybe we've been counting on the wrong people (politicians, humanitarians, diplomats) to solve our problems (war, dependency on fossil fuels, poverty). Maybe we should have just called Stephen Sondheim.Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Fiddler on the Roof
Last night we had tickets to see The Fiddler on the Roof at the Muny. It was a little questionable as to whether or not the show would go on but after an hour and a half rain delay, it did. As I've eluded to before, I possess hardly any knowledge of musical theatre. So, it comes as no surprise that I knew mostly nothing about Fiddler except maybe that - #1, it's a popular play to see and to produce (I think that my high school drama department actually put this on way back when) and #2, it has something to do with Russian Jews. Turns out that I was right on both accounts (oi vai and mazel tov!). Fiddler was, ironically, a cheerfully entertaining show about the loss of culture and tradition due to uncontrollable external forces. Heavy stuff. It's just so amazing to me that even the most serious of historical and cultural topics can be theatrically interpreted by a catchy song or, in some cases, a catchy song and dance (Miss Saigon, Evita, Hairspray, Chicago, etc.). Maybe we've been counting on the wrong people (politicians, humanitarians, diplomats) to solve our problems (war, dependency on fossil fuels, poverty). Maybe we should have just called Stephen Sondheim.
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2 comments:
When I saw this as a teen, I didn't catch all the cultural things.
I saw it again a couple of years ago (as a parent) and I was struck by the sadness the parents went through as their children moved on.
I'm loving your musical musings...check out the upcoming season at the Fox if you're interested in some political and thought-provoking song and dance numbers.
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