INTERVIEW: New play offers different look at Tevye
Photo: Tevye Served Raw stars Allen Lewis Rickman, Yelena Shmulenson and Shane Baker. Photo courtesy of Jonathan Melvin Smith / Provided by show’s rep with permission.
Fiddler on the Roof is one of the most popular musicals of all time, and a new off-Broadway play offers a more enhanced look at not only the musical’s main star, Tevye, but also the work of the scribe behind the iconic story of a Jewish family struggling with change, love and tradition.
Tevye Served Raw, currently at the Playroom Theater in New York City, features many different bits and pieces of Sholem Aleichem’s writing. There are adaptations of his Tevye stories, including What, Me Worthy? and Get Thee Gone. There are additional Fiddler scenes from the show’s Yiddish version, and stories from the writer’s comedic side, including Strange Jews on a Train, The Yiddish Sisyphus and A Stepmother’s Trash-Talk.
Allen Lewis Rickman pulls triple duty on the New York premiere of Tevye Served Raw. He translated the piece, directs the show and also stars. Alongside him on stage are Yelena Shmulenson and Shane Baker.
Baker has worked extensively with New Yiddish Rep, including the company’s Yiddish translation of Waiting for Godot. He has shared stages with the likes of Itzhak Perlman and Chava Alberstein, and even assisted director Doug Hughes on The Grey Zone.
Recently, Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Baker about the new production. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.e
What are the qualities of Sholem Aleichem’s writing that you love the most?
Aside from his beautiful and gentle humor, his characters make absolute sense while still retaining a sense of mystery, of the unknowability of another human being.
What can audiences expect at Tevye Served Raw?
Humor delivered with the force and precision of a well-wielded meat cleaver; gentle sentiment and emotion delivered with the irony and hope of a shrug; and a truly unique theatrical experience.
What has it been like to work with Allen Lewis Rickman and Yelena Shmulenson?
Allen is a master of theater with a unique viewpoint and serious theatrical chops. Working with him is always a learning experience. Yelena brings the grace and wisdom of a professional who is in demand across all media and in multiple languages (English, Russian, Yiddish and probably a couple of the other languages she speaks). Both are expert at bringing to life those characters I described who make absolute sense and yet still retain a sense of the unknowability of another human being.
How much research goes into performing these roles?
I’ve been working on one of the pieces for over 20 years, and I’m still not 100 percent satisfied with my take. So a little bit of research.
When did you first fall in love with theater?
As a child I stooged for both Blackstone the magician and for the Police Circus — so you can blame them.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Tevye Served Raw, featuring Shane Baker, Allen Lewis Rickman and Yelena Shmulenson, is currently running at the Playroom Theater through Aug. 14. Click here for more information and tickets.
