‘Mazel Tav, Mazel Tav!’ The classic musical, Fiddler on the Roof, was put on by Colorado Mesa University’s (CMU) theater department from Feb. 27 to Mar. 7.
Fiddler on the Roof is a story about a Jewish community that is caught in the middle of a progressing world and their traditions. It involves conflicts of class, religion, as well as forced immigration. The plot revolves around Tevye, the main character, and his struggles to follow through with Jewish traditions of arranged marriages when his eldest daughters resist to comply.
Opening weekend was sold out three out of four shows and closing weekend was nearly sold out, if not sold out every show.
Hannah Warner for The Criterion
“This is by far one of the most packed shows that we’ve had here in a while, so it feels good,” CMU student Emma Busby, who played Tevye’s second youngest daughter Shprintze, said.
Behind the scenes, a lot of time and effort was put into making the show possible. The cast had rehearsals for four hours every night since the beginning of the spring semester.
“I think our director said thousands of man hours were put into this show,” Busby said. That would include the work put in by the cast, the director, tech crew, the band and more. “It takes a lot of work to make it happen.”
During the wedding scene, a few of the male cast members had to learn how to dance while balancing a bottle on the top of their heads which took a lot of practice.
“Learning how to bottle dance was one of my favorite parts. People think we have magnets in the hats but we’re actually balancing the bottles. There’s always that slight risk that the bottle might drop and break on stage,” CMU student Brandon Sutorius, who played Mendel, said.
Courtesy of George Brown
CMU Student Taylor Cienega played Tzietel, Tevye’s oldest daughter, in the musical. Her character was the first conflict for Tevye, forcing him to choose between traditions and the happiness of his daughter. Cienega said that Fiddler on the Roof is a story that reflects and brings awareness to many of the societal problems facing the world today.
“Today we are facing problems with refugees. At the end of this show they are seeking refuge and they’re being kicked out of their country,” Cienega said. “It is very wonderful to humanize the people that we just call refugees, and you see that they’re real people with traditions and they deserve to live just like we do.”
The cast bonded together both on stage and off, according to CMU student Kayli Sarbaugh, who was in the ensemble and Tzietel’s understudy.
Courtesy of George Brown
“My favorite moment, other than dancing in the wedding scene because that’s a blast, is sitting backstage and watching the dance ‘To Life’ and just jamming to it with Taylor, who plays Tzietel. They just do such a good job with the dance,” Sarbaugh said.
The theater department’s next show will be the play “The Wolves” which opens on Apr. 9 and closes on Apr. 18.
