Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#2Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 12:05pm
Sweets... he's successfully played the role on Broadway AND on tour -- to huge critical and audience praise.
I guess you missed the memo.
Go and crawl back under your rock. 
#2Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 12:07pm
Tonight I'm gonna party like it's 2005!
#3Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 12:11pm
Hmm, well this is a role extremely close to me.
Maybe i'm one of the only ones who doesn't like Fierstein...
#6Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 12:21pmSo? You are acting all surprised that he is playing the role.
#7Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 12:32pmYeah, surprised they didn't learn from last time...
#8Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 12:41pm
I just saw him here in Denver this past Tuesday. I was going to review the show but realized it is only here through today and was pretty much sold out a while ago.
The production is good and he is very good. He gets by with the singing. There are some moments when his gravelly voice doesn't really work but they are few. I revisited the movie 4 days before attending the show and prefer Fierstein's portrayal of Tevye over Topol's. Fierstein's comic timing was perfect and brought the levity needed, and written into the book. He played Tevye as pretty upbeat even through the trials he went through with the firt two daughters and then breaks down when the 3rd daughter makes her announcement. He showed how weary he had actually become while trying to keep a smiling face and keep his wife and family happy. His body language was wonderful. The sound left a bit to be desired as there were a few times you didn't quite understand what he was saying. But very few. "If I Were A Rich Man" and "Matchmaker" seemed to be speeded up a bit. Especially "..Rich Man". It could have been a tad bit slower to give him a bit more time to do that "dance" or for it to be a bit more "affective" (We are kind of waiting for it). It just seemed to breeze by. But all in all, he made a really good Tevye. Every funny line landed, unlike Topol's in the movie. JMO
#9Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 12:52pm
Here is an interview he did with the Denver Post about playing Tevye.
http://www.denverpost.com/theater/ci_15081434
PiraguaGuy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/10/08
#10Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 1:01pm
I thought he was the best Tevye I've ever seen live.
Really.
#11Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 1:12pm
"And he ain't shy in proclaiming that Chaim Topol, the septuagenarian who starred as Tevye the Russian milkman in said film, and whom Fierstein replaced in the national touring production that stops in Denver for a week starting Tuesday — had it all wrong"
You see, I think the complete opposite. I think Topol's got it all wrong.
#12Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 1:16pmThat's not the opposite.
#13Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 1:22pm
Aha, my bad.
I think FIERSTEIN'S got it wrong!
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#14Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 1:24pm
Not all parts require beautiful singing. Many require better acting so that it is incredibly meaningful. (Ah, the good old days.)
I'm not a huge fan of Harvey's in general...but he is lovely in this role.
#15Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 1:25pmTopol was good but I didn't even chuckle once during the movie. We did the show in High School and for the longest I had most of the show memorized. I remember I saw the movie and didn't like it for some reason. When I revisited it last week, the movie, I remembered why.
#16Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 1:28pmThe scene where he has to reject his daughter has never been so heartbreaking since Zero Mostel.
#17Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 1:31pmI really liked the lighting when the spot was on him and he was collapsed on the cart.
bluebubbles
Chorus Member Joined: 12/1/09
#18Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 1:56pm
I saw him when he was on Broadway a few years ago. Granted, things could have changed between now and then, but I thought he was wonderful. I've seen both him and Alfred Molina, and I preferred Alfred Molina just because I thought had the whole package, but Fierstein was a close second. He was extremely committed and passionate throughout the whole performance and, as someone said in an earlier post, the scene where he rejects Chava was heartbreaking. His voice actually added to that scene, just because it was so shrill and had so much emotion in it. What he didn't have in vocal technique, he made up for with passion.
Updated On: 5/23/10 at 01:56 PM
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#19Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 2:00pmIf I had to choose between a great actor and a great singer...I chose the actor. Every time.
#20Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 2:10pm
And Tevye is usually played by opera singers? Neither Topol or Zero Mostel are/were bang up vocalists, themselves.
And Harvey's singing was actually miles better than Alfred Molina's (who he replaced).
I had the distinct privilege to see Harvey’s Tevye on Broadway. It was one of the most moving, surprising, well-crafted performances I have ever seen. His acting was spot on and his singing was actually quite competent. I am greatly looking forward to seeing his performance again next week.
Harvey received great praise for his run on Broadway. His Golde, Andrea Martin, also gave an unexpected and moving performance. You might want to do your research and you know, maybe see the performance for yourself before blindly bashing something. People, of course, are entitled to their opinions but I take great offense when somebody writes something off as awful without seeing it.
Especially when they’re blindly bashing something that still has a wonderful place in my memory as one of the finest performances I have seen on stage.
#21Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 2:19pm
Marquise
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/1/04
#22Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 2:30pm
This thread is a perfect example of why I don't take this forum seriously anymore. Instead of sitting back, reading and actually learning something you have these kids throwing around their uninformed opinions.
Seriously, the original poster had no idea Harvey Fierstein headlined a major Broadway revival of FIDDLER five years ago? What a joke! What self respecting theater aficionado doesn't know that?
#23Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 2:35pm
Unfortunatly Marquise many of the kids who love musicals these days (not all, but many) don't believe in getting a well-rounded view of the genre they love. They like to know as much as possible (minute details many of us find frivilous) about a few shows, most written post-Rent or Wicked. They use these shows as the golden standard. With google at their fingertips, there's no excuse to not know certain things about theatre. But priorities are different these days.
I love the internet but I'm really glad I narrowly escaped it when growing up.
#24Harvery Fierstein as Tevye?
Posted: 5/23/10 at 2:58pm
Mildred, I might add that even with all of this information at their fingertips they are too lazy to take a minute to seach for it. I have seen many threads started here asking a question that could be easily answered by serching the internet.
Back to Harvey...
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