With his dark, longish hair and full beard, Paul Rossetti was expecting to be scrutinized when he went through airport security on a recent trip.
But he knew everything was going to be OK when one screening officer called out to him “Hey Tevye, come on through!” And another started singing If I Were a Rich Man.
The beard may have been the first hint, but the T-shirt Rossetti was sporting, promoting the upcoming theatre production he’s about to star in, was the dead giveaway.
Rossetti is about to play the beloved Jewish patriarch and poor dairyman Tevye in the famed musical Fiddler on the Roof, produced by Big Apple Productions, with direction and musical accompaniment by Melina Moore.
A seasoned musical theatre performer, Rossetti is unafraid to step inside another man’s shoes, and in this case, religion. His role as the beleaguered father of seven daughters in Fiddler also isn’t the first time he has stepped out of his gentile, Catholic roots to play a mensch.
“My first time was as Max Bialystock in The Producers,” said Rossetti, regarding the role he embodied for the Valley Vocal Arts production in 2011.
“Paul was a natural choice for Tevye,” adds Moore. “Some say Tevye is the greatest male theatrical character ever written. Paul lives and breathes his role, looking and sounding more like Tevye with each passing day. The pathos, joy and vulnerability he brings to the part are heart wrenching.”
In fact, it was Moore’s mother, Ann Schein, coming to Vernon to be a part of Fiddler, who encouraged Rossetti to take on the role made famous by Zero Mostel in the 1964 Broadway musical and by Topol in the 1971 film directed by Norman Jewison.
“The first time I met Melina’s mom was when I played Max and she said to me, ‘How can an Italian-Catholic boy play a Jew so well?’ She told me then that I had to do Fiddler.”
Rossetti, who grew up off the shores of Lake Ontario near Burlington, is now the vice-principal, soon-to-be head principal of St. James Catholic School in Vernon. He is also a member of the religious order known as the Carmelites (Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel), whose faith has a long-standing tradition encompassing prayer, community, and service.
Rossetti sees many similarities between his faith and that of Tevye’s in that his Jewish counterpart attempts to maintain his religious and cultural traditions as outside influences encroach upon his family’s lives.
“I connect with Tevye and his relationship with God,” said Rossetti. “I see Tevye as a mystic. He is safest in his relationship with God and talks to God in a conversational sense, questioning Him without guile. It’s a profound part to play.”
A married father of three children, Rossetti can also relate to Tevye being a family man.
In the musical, Tevye must cope both with the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters, who wish to marry for love – each one’s choice of a husband moves further away from the customs of his faith – and with the edict of the Tsar that evicts the Jews from their village.
“Family is everything for him. I relate to his security in tradition, and the reality that even though it kills him to watch his daughters go out in the world, what he really wants is their happiness,” said Rossetti.
Producing and directing Fiddler also brought Moore back to her roots, and is an homage to her family and culture.
While her immediate family are not strict practitioners of the Jewish faith, they do observe the holidays and follow all of the major traditions, she said.
“I consider myself a Jewish girl,” said Moore, adding, “I used to watch Fiddler on the Roof with my Bubbie and Zaide (grandma and grandpa) on their black and white TV when I was a little girl. My Bubbie passed away when I was eight years old, and my Zaide is still going strong at 93. This show is in honour of them.”
Like the Jews of the fictional town of Anatevka in 1908 czarist Russia, where the story of Fiddler takes place, members of Moore’s own family were forced to leave their villages and were persecuted and mistreated.
“There is so much emotion for me in directing this show and playing and teaching this music,” she said. “It makes me think of my family members who were in concentration camps in Nazi Germany; what they went through, how they struggled and suffered. It brings up loss and tragedy, and ultimately, triumph in the face of it all.”
With a cast of more than 70, including students of Moore’s vocal and theatre training studio, Valley Vocal Arts, and a self-assembled troupe of dancers from both the Sadok and Zirka Ukrainian schools of dance, Moore has her hands full maneuvering the biggest ensemble she’s directed to date.
“We have quite literally outgrown the studio out of which I’ve been teaching for the past decade. It’s time for some bigger digs,” she said.
Fiddler also features familiar faces in Vernon’s theatrical community including Sun FM morning show host Brian Martin as Lazar Wolf, the butcher, Karen Bliss as Golde, Tevye’s sharp-tongued wife of 25 years and mother of their seven children, and Susan Currie as Yente, the Matchmaker.
The cast is also comprised of talented young artists, playing a number of roles.
Most exciting to Moore is the cameo by her mother, Schein, who plays Grandma Tzeitel, a 100-year-old ghost who returns from the dead in Tevye’s famous dream.
“This is my mother’s theatrical debut, and at 69 years old, she takes no prisoners. It’s amazing having her here to share this very meaningful and special experience for our family. I know this means as much to her as it does to me. And it’s great having the Jewish mama help in training the cast to be a Jewish community,” said Moore.
Fiddler is choreographed by Lisa Schofield of Diversity Dance, and Rossetti, doing double duty, has designed the set, while costumes have been designed by Sue Gairns, lighting by Beverley Peacock, hair and beard artistry by Jessica Nicole Studio and makeup by Kristy Wiafe of Black Magic Tattoo.
Fiddler on the Roof runs for five performances at the Powerhouse Theatre, June 4 to 7 at 7:30 p.m. with a 2 p.m. matinee June 6. Tickets are available at the Ticket Seller box office. Call 250-549-7469, or order at www.ticketseller.ca.
