EYeniDI Echo, Saturday, Matclt 17, 1973
THEAT.RE SURVEY.
'F .. . I ler' W I han fter a not too fortunate, 1
gather, opening niglu the Gil-b rl aod ullivan Group's pr
entation of "l'iddler On The Roof" cam across to me on the Tue dav
as not onl a w lcome change from · the u ual but as a very worthy
effort, indeed, and with an over· all competence that quite: made
up for orne deficiencies in the part .
The good things arc very good. The settings, I thought, are.
even for Pat Murra , beautifully conceived and sen· sitivelv e
ecuted. They are jn the exact pirit of th book, like it,
evokin& a particular folk culture, w1th a in the paintings of
Marc Chagall, from whom Murray drew his inspiration, a nice fantasy
quality which so well ju tified and u tained the figure of the
dream fiddler and his mening to the story.
The large mi. ed chorus, in all of it movements and with real
fre. lmess and inventive· ne in the dance requirements, i extremely
plea ant on the eye. It pleasure as well on the ear is generous and
altogether thi lovely appearance and ound gi e a rare quality
to
both the shape and music of t he how. On jts own it carries,
perhaps, the best portion of the production.
Given the weight of voices from the principals, of small timbre
for the mo t part, t he orchestra might have come down just that
bit lower giving however the conductor two further problems to
contend with, how to retain he virility of his own lower reg_ister
and bow to ensure being beard by the voice on. John Murphy,
obviously, opted to be beard by the singers first of all and where
these were weak the band against them seemed to be too loud.
Of the three lead 'daughters', the voices of two, Marie Twomey
and Melody Me· ·amara are light, though sweet
and hould have been taken much qnieter by the orchestra. With
Teresa Griffin, however, there is no problem; hers js a fine
professional tone and revels in a strong re turn from the baton.
The playing parts there hav e a nice balance.
The male lead ingers, James . Healy, playing "Tevye ., ,
both in accent and manner "ith the great Topal very much in
mind, but down-key and sensitivf'!y, Kenn y Lee, a;; t h~
·'student' ', and Donal 0 Sulh-van. as t he tailor '', in ~n
attractive perform ance, aga,~n
do note quite come up to the demand of the score.
Ho..-.ever, e cept what is to me outside of his brief, John
Murpb,v catches and gives back mo t tunefu11y and intelligently the
pirit of the piece.
This "spirit" personified by the dream fiddler, nicely evoked by
Paddy Comerford, js the one certain permanent element in the
threatened life of the little community of Anaveta. It represents
the resilience of the Jewish people under persecu-tion. It
contait'ls and sustains their faith and their tradition. And it is
important ' to thi how that those who essay the
folk roles of that culture and pirit realise that, though
they
pos ess a comic elment, the e figures must not be allowed to run
in!o caricature. Neither are they cast in the usual musical comedy
moulds.
Because these figures are far too brashly handled here, the
underlying. sinister shadows and the pathos are entirely vitiated,
so that the ever hover-ing "policeman", Donal O'Donovan. loses his
property of menace and when he finally does swoop on the dQves what
began as a rather wonderful cene peeters out anticli·
matically, though picked up, let it be said, again in the
follow· ing scene to build up into a very beautiful and moving
finale.
The gho t scene, t o o, comes off rather wonderfully, with James
N. particularly good here, though I felt Ronnie O'Shaughnessy, as
the mother, could have got a little more variety into the role,
still, she is never less than competent, and this is her best
scene.
In following in detail the London production and doing it
excellently. Jim Healy, finally, has on hands a show quite his
best, excepting "Oliver", and, perhaps "The King and 1", in recent
years. In my book, it is, indeed, substantially better t han the
general, though still , perhaps, more popular, fare. Once again,
the G. & S. have broken new ground and deserve in every way
your upport. You will not be dis·
appointed.
The ladies who appear as T evye's daughters in the Gilbert and
Sullivan . Group's presentation of "Fiddler ()n T11e Roof" which is
retained at the Opera House ... neJl . week. At b~ck: Melody
McNamara and Louie .o:snen. Centre: Marie Twomey and Teresa Gr
ifftn. Front: Ehzabeth Murph).
'Fiddle A Huge Task FOr Any-. "
G "Fiddler on the .ROor ~ 1Ht rouP ned . at .the Opera Hcnue ,
week. · Patrn;l 818
t8dacled Otat. .. there il -Staiin1 an amateur mueical 0~, tile
eattabt wm rile at
show bas alwara been a 8 o'doc.k lbatp each efenint. hazardous
enterpnse, and baa 'l'llere wiU alto be il matinee on become even
more so in the s.tafday afternoon. diffkult economic circumstancea
~~...:....::.:...._:.._ ___ _____ ....l of recent years.
The Gllbert and Sullivan Group are to be applauded, therefore,
for their 'coura1e in taking upon themselves the monumental task of
presenting such a challenging work as
a "Fiddler on the Roof" which 0 began its amateur premiere
at
the Opera House, Cork, on Monday night last and which bas been
retained for next week.
Added to the normal problems that are inherent in an.v musical,
"Fiddler on the Roof" 'has the
. added difficulty that it ·requires _ moving sets. Not alon~ ·
m_ust
Tevye's house look realisttc from the outside, it must Open to
reveal the interior for indoor scenes; it ·must also move about
• on the stage, and. as well, must ' be sufficiently solid
structure to
support the weight of Paddy Comerford, who as The Fiddler,
spends a good deal of time perched on top of the roof. The
effectiveness of the set in use a1 the Opera House is a tribute to
the ingenuity of Patrick Murray, and also to the industrious
stage
1 staff of the Opera Hotise and to the group's own voluntary
back-stage helpers.
To achieve maximum effect, r James N. Healy bas made spe·
cial arrangements which ·enable him to reproduce the original
London production. To further enhance their presentation, the group
bave secured the services of Larry Oaks, one of .the lead· ing
choreographers in the West End of London. His vast tx· perience of
stage slrows and fj]ms has added a new dimen· smn to th-is musical
and has enabled the dancers (all local amateurs) to give a highly
creditable performance, es-pecially in the Bottle Dance ot the
Wedding S·cene.
The cast of "Fiddler on the Roof' is an exceptionally talented
one. And it is worth 1 noting that the cast ·has been . ~ dra wn
entirelv from local talent. The leading ·part of Tevye, rhe lovable
but ever-complaining dairyman, is played by James N. Healy, w hi 1
e Ronnie O'Shaughnessy appears as his wife, Golde. Their five
daughters are played by Teresa Griffin, Mar i e Twomey, Melody
McNamara, Louie O'Brien, and Elizabeth Murphy. Other leading roles
are taken by Kenny Lee, Mary Foley, Donal O'Sullivan, and thev are
well supported bv D e r m o t D i 11 o n , Donal O'Donovan, Tony
Morrissey Noel O'Toole, Dick Healy, Fred Hegarty, Matt Wakefield,
Elizabeth Ingle, Eddie Cahill Susan MHch, and Paddy Comer: ford as
The Fiddler. ·
One of the main reasons for the extraordinary impact which
"Fiddler on the Roof" has made sin
