Fiddler on the Roof - "Best Overall Show
of 2003/2004 Season"
Production Team
Director - Bethany Briggs
(Best Director of a Musical)
Music Director - Marilyn Fox (Best Music Director)
Choreographer - Heather Wall Zachary (Best Choreography)
Stage Manager - Yvonne Ator
Assistant Stage Manager - TBA
Production Managers - Kathy Collier & Malinda Whitelaw
Set Design - Bethany Briggs and Cathy Hanville (Best Set Design and
Decoration for a Musical)
Set Construction Manager- Steve Taitt
Set Construction - David Hoxie & Craig Wilson
Costumer - Steffanie Vaughan
Costumes - Cary Worthy & Kay Kirkpatrick
Props Mistress - Harriett Whitley
Lighting Technician - Richard Holcomb
Sound Technician - Andrew Whitelaw
Cast
David Wright (Best Actor in a
Musical)– Tevye
Jane McLelland (Best Actress in a Musical)– Golde
Heather Hamby – Tzeitel
Amanda Hulon – Hodel
Margaret Dalton – Chava
Margit Briggs – Shprintze
Hannah Rhodes (Best Female Cameo in a Musical)– Bielke
Tim Brown (Best Supporting Actor in a Musical)– Motel
Scott Lilly – Perchik
Patrick Brandt – Fyedka
Cathy Hanville - Yente
Robert Fliss – Lazar Wolf
Art Chiappisi – Rabbi
Alec Lewis – Mendel, Bottle Dancer
Tim Wiest (Best Male Cameo in a Musical) – Avram, Bottle Dancer
Rebecca Maness – Grandma Tzeitel & Shaindel
Megan Dixon – Fruma Sarah
Chris Hanville – Constable
Jim Schwankl – Mordcha, Bottle Dancer
Albert Guzman – Nachum, Bottle Dancer
Steve Taitt – Villager, Yussel, 1st Man
Cletus Griffin – Villager, Priest
Becky Whitesell – Villager, 1st Woman
Kristen Laster - Fiddler
Lynn Patterson – Villager, 2nd Woman
Jonathan Bazakas – Villager, Suitor Boy
Todd Michael – Villager, Suitor Boy
Peggy Bazakas – Villager
Jean Burr – Villager
Katherine Elliott – Villager
Randy Graham – Villager
Elizabeth Helms – Villager
Ann Imrick – Villager
Janet Imrick – Villager
Caitlyn Linney – Villager
Erin Maness – Villager
Joe Minder – Villager
Hannah Morayati – Villager
Emma Rhodes – Villager
Tiffany Taitt – Villager
Alan Wiley – Villager, Russian Soloist
Patrick Mitchell - 1st Russian, Bottle Dancer
Katie Daniels – Russian
Robyn Shute – Russian
Paul Tapler – Sasha, Russian
'Fiddler' is a touching tribute to music, dance
By Tom Dillon, Times-News One thing about putting the fiddler
on the roof: It leaves more room for dancing. That's a maxim that
the people who put together Gallery Players' new production of
"Fiddler on the Roof" have learned well.
In fact, they've got the entire orchestra
on the roof, or at least on a raised platform at the back of the
stage. It's the kind of creative thinking that is most welcome in
theater.
The result is that there's a lot more stage
projecting out over the old orchestra pit and into the Paramount
Theater, and a lot closer interaction between performers and
audience. The action is more in your
face.
And that's the way it should be with this big
new production, the first Gallery Players production of
"Fiddler" in more than 20 years. If there's any justice
in the world, this production, directed by Bethany
Briggs, should be a box office hit that will indicate a great year
for Burlington's community theater company.
The cast is led by David Wright, who is known
more for his dramatic roles but pulls off an impressive Tevye, the
Jewish father fighting against change in his Russian homeland.
Wright is paired with Jane
McLelland as Golde, his wife, and they're a great twosome. They
play off each other well.
The "change" that is taking place is
sobering, as the czarist Russian government attempts to resettle
Russian Jewish peasants away from their homelands. But against
this background, Sholom Aleichem managed to create a wonderful
series of stories. And Jerry Rock and Sheldon Harnick created
wonderful music.
This reviewer could find no weak points at all
to Thursday's dress rehearsal, and high points were many. Those
included the singing of Heather Hamby, Amanda Hulon and Margaret
Dalton as Tzeitel, Hodel and Chava, the daughters of Tevye and
Golde; the acting of Cathy Hanville as Yente, the matchmaker; and
wonderful dance scenes, one result of having
more stage to work with.
This is said to be the second- largest cast
Gallery Players has ever assembled, but they meld with each other
well and really do seem to create a sense of community. You're
even a little scared of the Russian soldiers in the small town.
The play is about two hours and 45 minutes in
two acts, but the musical highlights are many. Wright is
appropriately sardonic in "If I Were a Rich Man," and
the chorus sounds almost choir-like in "Sunrise,
Sunset." The daughters are great in "Matchmaker."
The show opens tonight to run this weekend and
next, and you'll be doing yourself a great musical favor if you
take it in. It's tops.
A Fiddler's
Reunion By Charity Apple, Times-News
“Excuse
me, is Nachum The Beggar there, please?” Emily Peterson is
delighted when the voice on the other line answers: “You bet he
is.” Peterson isn’t making prank calls; she’s contacting
members of the 1980s “Fiddler On The Roof” cast for a reunion
Saturday. The performers will be acknowledged during Saturday’s
current production of the play at the Paramount Theater, 128 E.
Front St., Burlington. Twenty-five of the cast members from the 1980
production have responded, and Peterson is looking for even more.
“You know, I’m not even sure if I’m calling the right numbers
sometimes,” said Peterson, who played Yente The Matchmaker in the
1980 show. “But I’m delighted when people do respond.” The
1980s production was such a big hit among area theatergoers that
some people still refer to Glenn Peterson, Emily’s hubby, as “Tevye.”
He played the Jewish patriarch with five daughters. The show is
based on stories by Sholem Aleichem about a Jewish family dealing
with change in its Russian homeland. Charlotte Gant Olson played
Chava, one of Tevye’s daughters. Olson now lives in Seminole,
Fla., with her husband and three children. Parents Eddie and Betsy
Gant and brother Eddie Gant Jr. still live here. “I’ve seen the
show on Broadway, and I think Glenn’s portrayal was better,”
Olson said in a telephone interview from her home. “Glenn has such
a warmth, humanity about him. He acted like our father, on stage and
off.” Olson was only 16 years old at the time of the show, and she
said that it solidified her feelings about theater. She doesn’t
perform anymore, but she welcomes the chance to visit Burlington and
see a show. Unfortunately, she can’t come to Saturday’s event.
“I wish I could. But I’m not coming back to Burlington until
later this month,” she said. “But I am so excited for this cast.
It will be an experience they won’t forget.” Olson certainly
hasn’t forgotten the cast of “Fiddler On The Roof.” “I know
it sounds corny,” she said. “But it really was a family-type
atmosphere. Everyone was so nice and kind.” One particular memory
involves closing night. “Here I was, bawling my eyes out,
wondering what I would do now that the show had ended. And I can’t
even remember who it was — but an adult put her arms on my
shoulder and comforted me. That’s just how kind everyone was.”
Olson has lost contact with most of the cast, but she remembers
names like fellow Williams classmate Susan Stanley. “Fiddler On
The Roof” was a defining moment in Stanley’s life, too. “It
was just wonderful,” she said. “It was one of those moments,
when I decided — I want to perform.” And she has — in
community theater projects in Winston-Salem and beyond. Stanley is a
seventh-grade language arts/elective theater class teacher in the
Forsyth County School System. She also teaches community theater to
elementary and middle school-age children. Stanley’s mother,
Frances McKenzie and stepfather, Robert McKenzie, still live in
Burlington. When Terry Woodings, music director of the 1980s show,
called to invite Stanley to Saturday’s event, she said it was “a
blast from the past.” But she accepted because of “the bond that
we created.” “Those bonds are still tight,” Stanley said. She
and Terry Woodings still exchange Christmas cards, and although she
hasn’t heard from Olson in a while, she still has fond memories of
their friendship. Producer Pat Alwood will be on hand for
Saturday’s show, too. Pat and Richard Alwood attended last
Saturday’s production, but are driving from their home in
Danville, Va., to see all of the old cast members once again. “How
exciting is that?” asked Bethany Briggs, the director of this
weekend’s show. “It sure is fun to be part of a crowd like
this.” The Gallery Players had 700 people attend last weekend’s
show. Good tickets are still available for Friday and Saturday, at 8
p.m. and the 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday.
The Boys Next Door
Production Team
Director - Fred Rubeck
(Best Director of a Non-Musical)
Producers - Scott and Katie Jo Icenhower
Stage Manager - Richard Holcomb
Cast
Arnold Wiggins - Tim
Wiest
Lucien P. Smith - Robert Lee
Norman Bulansky - Tony Liguori (Best Leading Actor in a
Non-Musical)
Barry Klemper - Sion Harrington
Jack - Geoff Pilkington
Sheila - Kathy Collier (Best Leading Actress in a Non-Musical)
Mr. Klemper - John Parker (Best Male Cameo in a Non-musical)
Clara/Mrs. Fremus/Mrs. Warren - Bethany Briggs
Mr. Hedges/Mr. Corbin/Sen. Clarke -Patrick Williams
Cinderella
Production Team
Director/Choreographer - John Walker
Music Director - Andy Mock
Stage Manager - Emma Jones
Set Design & Construction - TBA
Costumers - Dianne Daniels and Ginny Hannersmith (Best Costumes for
a Musical)
Props - Linda Hollifield and Donny McMullan
Producers - Tim Brown and Harriet Whitley
Cast
Cinderella - Katie Bell
King - Reid Dalton
Queen - Lynne Patterson
Stepmother (Best Supporting Actress in a
Musical-tie)- Jane McLelland
Portia - Jadelyn Sommers
Joy - Jennifer Jean
Prince Charming - Allen Wiley
Fairy Godmother (Best Supporting Actress in a
Musical-tie) - Bethany Briggs
Ensemble, Townspeople, Singers, Dancers - Lauren
Epps, Kimberly Presutti, Yvonne Ator, Megan Dixon (Best Female
Chorus Member), Kristin Hegel, Maggie Piggott, Harvey Sage, Bain
Daniels, Chris Hanville, Albert Guzman (Best Male Chorus Member),
Chip Barnette
Review of "Cinderella"
By Tom Dillon, Times-News
I've seen "Cinderella" as a children's play, and I've seen
"Cinderella" as a ballet. But I hadn't seen Rodgers and
Hammerstein's musical version of the old tale until Thursday night.
That was the dress rehearsal night for Gallery
Players presentation, which opens this evening at the Paramount, and
I must admit that the advance comments about it are right: It's a
wonderful tale for Valentine's Day, with music that's just right.
It wasn't designed for Broadway. The original show
was for television in 1957, with Julie Andrews in the lead role.
Maybe that's why the songs aren't as familiar as those from, say,
"South Pacific."
But tunes like "Ten Minutes Ago," "Do
I Love You Because You're Beautiful?" and
"Impossible" are still great for humming along after the
show, as I'm sure some theatergoers will be doing this evening.
And the whole production is designed to put a smile
on your face while giving you a few good laughs. Director John
Walker described this last week as one of his best experiences with
Gallery Players, and it's easy to see why.
There's a good mix of new and old talent. Jane
McLelland as the evil stepmother and Bethany Briggs as the fairy
godmother are Gallery stalwarts, as are Reid Dalton as the king,
Lynne Patterson as the queen and Allen Wiley as Prince Charming.
Jadelyn Sommers and Jennifer Jean set just the right
tone as the two stepsisters, and the whole cast moves well -- as
would be expected with Walker (of Walkerdance) as director.
However, it's Elon University student Katie Bell as
Cinderella who gives the show its real magic. She has a great voice,
and she didn't miss a note Thursday night; she seemed light as a
feather. She's reported to be majoring in elementary education, but
here's hoping we'll see more of her on the stage, too.
The show boasts great costumes, courtesy of Dianne
Daniels, Ginny Hammersmith (who also outfits "The
Nutcracker" here) and others. It has an appealing six-piece
orchestra, including violin and flute, and the set is first-rate. A
pumpkin really does turn into a coach on stage, though I'm not going
to tell you how they do it. That would spoil the surprise.
It's a relatively short play, only about an
hour-and-a-half with one intermission. But it's fun, and it teaches
a great lesson. As the song says, "Impossible things are
happening every day." Maybe we just need to notice.
The Foreigner
Production Team
Director - John Collier
Producers - Steffanie Vaughan and Diane Daniels
Stage Manager - Kathy Collier
Set Design & Construction - Steve Taitt (Best Set Design
and Decoration for a Non-Musical)
Cast
“Froggy”
LeSueur - Steve Taitt Charlie
Baker - Chris Hanville Betty
Meeks (Best Supporting Actress in a
Non-Musical)- Dianne Daniels Rev.
David Marshall Lee - Michael
Carter Catherine
Simms - Steffanie Vaughan Owen
Musser - Bob Fliss Ellard
Simms (Best Supporting Actor in a
Non-Musical)- David Vaughan
