Last night Dear Husband and I went to see a community performance of Fiddler on the Roof. We had an early dinner and then drove west through the farmland to the town of Sandwich, Illinois.
\nOne of my friends from exercise is a member of the troupe that puts on at least one musical each year. This year she was cast as Gramma Tzeidel, and nearly brought the house down.
\nMost of our friends went to opening night, or the performance last Sunday. I wanted to be able to go with my husband, and we had commitments last weekend, so we got tickets for the final performance.<\/p>\n
Last night Dear Husband and I went to see a community performance of Fiddler on the Roof. We had an early dinner and then drove west through the farmland to the town of Sandwich, Illinois. One of my friends from … Continue reading
\nThe musical was performed in the renovated Sandwich Opera House<\/a>. They’ve done a beautiful job with this restoration. As we waited for the curtains to open, I looked at the designs on the ceiling, and the stained glass dome over our heads, and thought that they would make great quilt patterns.
\nThe cast ranged in age from about five to perhaps sixty five. Two women co-directed, and the performance moved along briskly. One of the actors had lost her voice that morning, so they gave her one of those miniature microphones so she could do her lines, and one of the directors sang her role from the pit. As they said in the welcome message, “The Show Must Go On!”
\nI was astonished that they were unable to find enough performers for the orchestra. The cornet player doubled on critical French horn parts, and they did without any other brass. The only stringed instrument was a bass. It would have been nice to have at least five other musicians, with a violin, viola, and oboe to balance off the flute and clarinet. You realize that I was itching to get my hands on that part of the performance. All sorts of thoughts ran through my head about ways to improve future performances, but this is more time consuming than anything else I presently do. I’ll have to think on it.
\nThe actor who played Tevia was perfect for the part. We enjoyed the by-play about having FIVE daughters, and the facial comments on life with Golda.
\nIf you haven’t been to a community play or musical lately, go. Support their work. We had a lot of fun last night, and I hope to go again next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"