Fiddler On The Roof

Fiddler On the Roof is my favorite theatrical event. I have seen the movie numerous times. I have listened to the music countless times. I have seen it performed live in Seattle.

Nothing compared to yesterday afternoon. I saw it live on Broadway at the Minskoff Theatre on West 42nd Street., the 2 o'clock matinee performance.

Row D, seat 105 ... so close I could see each expressive wrinkle in Harvey Fierstein's face as Tevye. It was as good as it gets! And let me add this to the first set of accolades, John Cariani was so good as Motel (he received a Tony nomination) that I had tears rolling done my cheeks from laughing.

From humor to the pathos of the pogrom, through the travail of the wrenching of age-old traditions, the dramatic story is amplified by the powerful musical score.

But ... and this is THE qualifier ... beyond all that is the cast. On Broadway in a musical the audience finds the best of the best ... in each and every role.

With the indescribable experience of experiencing the best of the best comes a surge of feeling, of being part of that specific event ... then, there ... that is intoxicating. And like any natural high, once felt, draws the individual back from across any distance in time or space. It becomes a dream of returning.

Another thing, I sense in this the realization that the experience, no matter how often repeated, will never become stale. Like cool water quenching thirst, good food quenching hunger, loving sex satisfying lust, ... . What is more, walking through Times Square and the Broadway Theater District to get to the performance is like foreplay.

I am ready to go back to Broadway as a theatergoer ... just like I am ready to go to Interior Alaska as a tourist. Inherent in both is the feeling that the exitement will never end ... all I have to do to feel the thrill is take another step into the pull of the dream.