Saw the show on Saturday night. Let me start off by talking about the ridiculous security procedures that they had. There was a man shining a flashlight in all of the bags. However, he went up the line and then turned his back to the people already checked leaving anyone able to slip something into an already checked bag. There was what was supposed to be a bomb sniffing dog but it clearly was not.
Danny was a terrific, comedic, heartfelt and well sung Tevye. My only criticism of him was that he appeared to be acting during Rich Man did not seem to be totally in the moment. This should come with more time of course.
The framing device did not work at all for me. When Danny came out with the red coat my wife whispered to me that it must take place in modern-day. The Playbill doesn't even state that it takes place in 1905 so this supported her theory. It was evident that the show did it take place in 1905 after it started. I did not like Danny leaving the stage to get the redcoat and then beckon to the fiddler to join them as it took me completely out of the moment.
I rather enjoyed Jessica's interpretation of Golde. While she cannot sing she can certainly act! This was especially evident when she showed her affection and compassion for her husband. It was genuinely heart felt when she's saw Chava at the end.
This set has been spoken about much on this board and I really did not have any complaints about it as I enjoyed seeing the almost lifelike house. I have never seen a house so large in our production of the show and to me it nailed the mark. The floating houses did not bother me at all as I saw the village more than anything.
The dream sequence was done very well and now Frumah Sarah kind of glides in and out. She has a long flowing dress covering her entire body. She was very large and very tall but missed the mark at being scary as I've seen in other productions.
The dancing was very well done and authentic but I did not care for the new music especially during the To Life scene. The full orchestra sounded glorious and I thought every scene was lit very well. I do want to give special notice to the wedding scene and all of those extremely hard-working dancers who pulled it off so effortlessly.
My favorite of the three daughters was Hodel. She sang FFTHIL beautifully. I read on this board that the stage was set with the train bench previously but now it was gone which to me did not work because this show starts off with the sound of the train approaching and leaving.
Adam was perhaps the best Motel I've ever seen on a stage. He was funny, loving and sang gloriously.
Going back to the set again this was the first production in which we saw the interior of the barn. I would not however have staged Anatefka inside the barn as I felt this would've been a perfect opportunity to show the village that they so love.
Also I would like to go back to Danny for a moment and speak of his terrific comedic skills. This was especially evident during the To Life Scene.
As a whole, I thought this was one of the better productions I have ever seen of the show. The only other one I've seen that can come close was when Topol performed it on his farewell tour.
If you're on the fence about seeing this production, it's definitely worth a visit and if the 2004 production left a bad taste in your mouth this will certainly wash it away.
