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Light Drizzle Make a match with ‘Fiddler’
MacArthur High School play opens for three performances
The curtain rises this Thursday night at MacArthur High School as “Fiddler on the Roof” opens for a three-night run.
The cast of more than 50 students has been rehearsing since early September under the direction of Lisa Levenberg and Ryan Nolin. “It’s coming together,” Levenberg said as preparations entered the final week. “The kids, they will rise to the occasion. We think it’s going to be really successful.”
Levenberg formerly directed the play about a decade ago when she taught at Jonas Salk Middle School. With “Fiddler on the Roof” having debuted 50 years ago, she said it was the perfect selection for MacArthur’s annual musical production.
“It hasn’t been done on the high school level in this district ever,” she said. “I love the music. It’s a beautiful story.”
“Fiddler on the Roof” centers on Tevye, a poor milkman and the father of five daughters, living in the Russian Empire in 1905. The story chronicles his attempts to maintain his family and Jewish religious traditions while outside influences encroach upon their lives.
“It’s timeless,” said Nolin, the choreographer, a teacher at Division Avenue High School. “It’s very funny at points. It’s a show I’ve always wanted to do.”
Playing the lead role is sophomore Ted Fiber, who was last seen on the MacArthur stage playing Jean Valjean last year in “Les Miserables.” He also played Reverend Shaw in “Footloose” as a seventh-grader, and the baker in “Into the Woods” in eighth-grade.
Fiber, of Wantagh, said he likes this year’s selection of “Fiddler on the Roof,” specifically the music and the historical aspect of the storyline. “Tevye is very fun to play,” he said. “He’s very funny. I like his songs a lot.”
Fiber’s goal going into auditions was to land the lead part. Nolin noted Fiber’s commanding presence on stage, and Levenberg cited his vocal abilities. “His voice is incredible,” she said. “It’s like no other voice I’ve heard on a high school boy.”
She said that during one rehearsal, when Fiber practiced singing “If I Were a Rich Man,” there was a hush over the rest of the cast.
Playing Tevye’s three oldest daughters are MacKenzie Zorn as Chava, Audra Gail as Hodel and Nicole Cevetello as Tzeitel. Levenberg said they have a good rapport with each other and convincingly play the role of sisters.
