Fiddler takes to the roof Tuesday

Monmouth Junction School students to perform "Fiddler on the Roof" at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday.

By: Chinenye Okparanta
   
   Dressed in matching red T-shirts with "Fiddler on the Roof" inscribed in white letters on the front, the members of the music and drama club at Monmouth Junction School sat on the floor of the gymnasium at 10 a.m. Tuesday and watched excitedly as audience members trickled in.
   The gymnasium soon filled with the sound of the students whispering to each other as they waited to begin a special pre-opening-night performance of "Fiddler on the Roof" for senior citizens from the Senior Citizen Center.
   With musical selections from the popular 1971 Broadway show, the 65 cast members introduced the audience to Tevye, his wife Golde, their troop of daughters and the other residents of the small town of Anatevka in Russia.
   Fifth-grader Suraj Anandalwar, in the lead role of Tevya, began the show with "Tradition," a song in which he describes himself as a traditional man.
   "He’s obsessed with tradition," said Suraj. "But once his daughters start going against them he’s forced to allow them to."
   Tevya’s small-town world is thrown into a tailspin as his daughters fall in love rather than have their marriages arranged by the local matchmaker.
   Tevye delivers one of his many nuggets of wisdom as he sings, "If you’re wealthy enough, nobody will call you stupid," before finally giving in and allowing one of his daughters to break with tradition and marry a poor tailor, rather than the wealthy butcher her father matched her with.
   "You just can’t stop your daughters from doing what they want," Suraj said.
   Tevye’s world spins further out of control when the czar orders him and his family out of their homeland.
   "The families are being removed from their home because of prejudice and the kids can relate that to our world today," said musical director Sharon Baker-Keyes. "It has engendered a lot of discussion among our kids, especially with the fifth-graders who will study the Holocaust later on in the year and will be able to relate a lot of the things that happen (in the musical)."
   Although the show has plenty of heavy moments, the students manage to play up the comedic aspects through lively song and dance numbers.
   "It’s just a really fun role," said fifth-grader Lauren Mejia, who plays Golde. "I get to sing and act and I have some very funny lines."
   Lauren, 10, said that the musical also has a lot to do with family.
   "I think it’s about spending time with family and getting to appreciate what you have because you don’t know when it’s gonna be taken away from you," she said.
   "Fiddler on the Roof" will be performed 7 p.m. today (Thursday) and Friday in the auditorium at Crossroads North Middle School on Georges Road. Tickets are $3 and can be purchased at the door.