Blog Installment, Sunday, November 14, 2010

Well, I am sitting looking out at the Gulf of Mexico from our beautiful hotel in Pensacola, Florida. I walked the sandy beach yesterday in both Biloxi, Mississippi and in Pensacola, Florida and had a great show last night. The audience was not to be believed. The cast can’t figure out which has been our best, we have had so many great audiences!! The theater was another gem in Pensacola and from the stage, it looked to be a full house!

I have to comment on how great our stage and wardrobe crew are! We get to sit on a bus all day and then perform at night, but then we come back to a lovely hotel and sleep in a non-moving bed for the night. Our crew loads everything out after a performance, all the props, costumes, wigs, sets, lights, sound on to three or four forty foot container trucks and then they load themselves onto a bus and head out at midnight or so to the next destination. They sleep on the bus, their bus actually has beds on it, but still it is a bus. Once they arrive, usually very early in the morning, they then have to Unload everything once again and set it up for the evening’s performance! If we have a matinee, their load in time gets cut down and must be done much quicker! Amazing is too mild a word for them. They always have a smile on their faces and they are the best crew to work with. We are so fortunate that they really know their business and take very good care of us and the show!! Thanks and cudos to all of the Fiddler Crew of 2010-2011!!

Needless to say, all of us will be looking forward to staying in one place for a little while!

Not much else to say today. I want to go walk on the beach one more time before wheels up at 11:30 am today. We have a show in Panama City this evening and then on to Melbourne, Florida for three nights, and two shows. Oh, I think I mentioned another member of the cast who plays our Rabbi, Tom has been keeping Updates of all of our experiences during this tour. He had some interesting facts about the last 10 days that I wanted to add here:

“Since October 1st, we have driven 2969 miles through 13 states and 1 Canadian province, performed the show 12 times in 7 different theaters and racked up enough Holiday Inn frequent flier miles to house the entire Chinese Army for a fortnight.  

Since Springfield, Missouri on October 15, we have travelled 2385 miles through 3 additional states, performed the show another 12 times and, again, have racked up enough Holiday Inn frequent flier miles to house all of the homeless people in Amarillo for a week.  (There are a lot of homeless people in Amarillo, surprisingly enough?)

So, that brings our totals to date:  (As of 10/31/10- we have gone further now folks!!)

MILES DRIVEN:           5354

MILES FLOWN:            860

STATES VISITED:   16

PERFORMANCES:     22

CITIES VISITED:         21 (including 5 stopover cities)”

Tom also had a copy of one of our reviews from Lincoln, Nebraska:

Timeless classic ‘Fiddler’ sparkles

BY ELIZABETH GOVAERTS / For the Lincoln Journal Star JournalStar.com | Posted: Tuesday, October 12, 2010 11:45 pm

"Fiddler on the Roof" is one of those rare, timeless works of art that speaks to us as effectively today as it did when the musical opened on Broadway in 1964.

It's the story of Tevye, a poor Jewish milkman in Anatevka, a village in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, and his struggle with the impending upheaval of life as he knows it.

In the touring production at the Lied Center for Performing Arts, John Preece played Tevye with an authentic weariness. Tevye has been beaten down by life and poverty, but is anchored by his strong love of his family and his traditions. He struggles heroically to adapt to the changing times, but, inevitably, cannot let go fully of what he knows and give in to the unfamiliar. This is the irony of this morality tale about the evils of hate and prejudice that displace Tevye and his family from their beloved Anatevka. While he valiantly attempts to accept his daughters' decisions about their lives and the young men they love, his own prejudices are too deeply held and cause him, in the end, to reject his daughter Chava.

"Fiddler on the Roof" is full of some of the most memorable songs written for the stage, and it's the score by Jerry Brock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick that are the centerpiece of the show. Songs such as "If I Were A Rich Man," "Sunrise Sunset," and "Tradition" live beyond the context of the show, and stand alone as masterpieces in and of themselves.

The original Broadway production was directed by renowned choreographer Jerome Robbins, and director/choreographer Sammy Dallas Bayes has lovingly reproduced Robbins' original dances for this version. The choreography was expertly executed, most spectacularly in the euphoric "To Life" and in the series of wedding dances which culminates in the famous "Bottle Dance."

This seasoned cast is consistent and tight throughout, with notable performances by Preece, Kevin Stangler (Perchik), and Nancy Evans as Golde. Despite the fact that this cast has performed this show hundreds of times, favorite moments in the show, like Hodel, Chava, and Tzeitel singing "Matchmaker Matchmaker," are even better than remembered, thanks to the sparkling enthusiasm of these talented performers. Don't miss this wonderful opportunity to see this timeless classic for yourself.

More later…..