By Ryan Burr
OUTscene Critic
It’s been five years since Harvey Fierstein took the Broadway baton from Alfred Molina as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof.” On Tuesday evening, he graced Seattle for the first time in this lead role, receiving a consistently warm, delighted response at The Paramount Theatre.
His gravel voice is just as distinctive as it was years ago, though he clearly has improved his musical abilities.
In an interview with The New York Times just prior to his debut as Tyeve at the Minskoff Theater in 2005, Fierstein compared the “Fiddler” vocal demands to those in “Hairspray,” in which he played the endearing—and huge—Edna Turnblad. “[Fiddler] lays in my voice better because everything is down here. ‘If I were a rich man, hmm, hmm’ is more like my speaking voice, whereas Edna was more up here, and its rock 'n' roll, and I'm not a rock 'n' roll singer. Also in ‘Hairspray’ the songs were more songs, as in stand-alone songs, whereas in ‘Fiddler’ they are out of the drama. Songs don't go on any longer than they have to - and they are just sung once; it doesn't come back with a chorus. They are monologues almost.”
Incidentally, this isn’t Fierstein’s first voyage to Seattle. In fact, he last participated a decade ago in the Seattle Men’s Chorus. And he blessed us with his Pre-Broadway debut in his “Hairspray” performance in 2002.
Of course, it helps that Fierstein effectively portrays the role of a Jewish man whose most basic desires for his children are met with great friction. His acting is superb, especially in his bedroom scenes with his wife, and his 'Campy' personal addresses to God. The whole cast delivers successfully on this front, too.
The pain in the play, and the degree to which faith guides Tevye and the community, has affected Fierstein personally, he admits in The New York Times interview. “I used to go home from ‘Torch Song Trilogy’ and just cry for an hour. Now, I can't even make it through the scene at the train station [in which Tevye bids farewell to his second daughter] - with the stage manager - without breaking down.” (In 1982’s “Torch Song Trilogy,” Fierstein played a gay drag-performer seeking true love and family. He wrote and starred in both the Off-Broadway production (with Matthew Broderick) and On-Broadway production (with Estelle Getty and Fisher Stevens).
The 57-year-old, Brooklyn-born actor explained in The New York Times interview that his involvement in “Fiddler” has “really brought out the Jew. I mean, I don't believe in God, I don't believe in heaven or hell, but I pray three or four times a day.” He said he was brought up in a home where his father spoke Yiddish, but “we were High Holy Day Jews - and I'm not a High Holy Day Jew at all now. I'm of the community, not necessarily of the religion.”
Little Trivia: Fierstein and Tommy Tune are the only individuals to have won Tony Awards in four different categories.
“Fiddler on the Roof” plays through Sunday, May 30. Visit The Paramount Theatre online for tickets and show times, http://www.stgpresents.org/
OUTscene Critic
It’s been five years since Harvey Fierstein took the Broadway baton from Alfred Molina as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof.” On Tuesday evening, he graced Seattle for the first time in this lead role, receiving a consistently warm, delighted response at The Paramount Theatre.
His gravel voice is just as distinctive as it was years ago, though he clearly has improved his musical abilities.
In an interview with The New York Times just prior to his debut as Tyeve at the Minskoff Theater in 2005, Fierstein compared the “Fiddler” vocal demands to those in “Hairspray,” in which he played the endearing—and huge—Edna Turnblad. “[Fiddler] lays in my voice better because everything is down here. ‘If I were a rich man, hmm, hmm’ is more like my speaking voice, whereas Edna was more up here, and its rock 'n' roll, and I'm not a rock 'n' roll singer. Also in ‘Hairspray’ the songs were more songs, as in stand-alone songs, whereas in ‘Fiddler’ they are out of the drama. Songs don't go on any longer than they have to - and they are just sung once; it doesn't come back with a chorus. They are monologues almost.”
Incidentally, this isn’t Fierstein’s first voyage to Seattle. In fact, he last participated a decade ago in the Seattle Men’s Chorus. And he blessed us with his Pre-Broadway debut in his “Hairspray” performance in 2002.
Of course, it helps that Fierstein effectively portrays the role of a Jewish man whose most basic desires for his children are met with great friction. His acting is superb, especially in his bedroom scenes with his wife, and his 'Campy' personal addresses to God. The whole cast delivers successfully on this front, too.
The pain in the play, and the degree to which faith guides Tevye and the community, has affected Fierstein personally, he admits in The New York Times interview. “I used to go home from ‘Torch Song Trilogy’ and just cry for an hour. Now, I can't even make it through the scene at the train station [in which Tevye bids farewell to his second daughter] - with the stage manager - without breaking down.” (In 1982’s “Torch Song Trilogy,” Fierstein played a gay drag-performer seeking true love and family. He wrote and starred in both the Off-Broadway production (with Matthew Broderick) and On-Broadway production (with Estelle Getty and Fisher Stevens).The 57-year-old, Brooklyn-born actor explained in The New York Times interview that his involvement in “Fiddler” has “really brought out the Jew. I mean, I don't believe in God, I don't believe in heaven or hell, but I pray three or four times a day.” He said he was brought up in a home where his father spoke Yiddish, but “we were High Holy Day Jews - and I'm not a High Holy Day Jew at all now. I'm of the community, not necessarily of the religion.”
Little Trivia: Fierstein and Tommy Tune are the only individuals to have won Tony Awards in four different categories.
“Fiddler on the Roof” plays through Sunday, May 30. Visit The Paramount Theatre online for tickets and show times, http://www.stgpresents.org/
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