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By Roberta Kent For the Tidings December 08. 2014 8:39PM Shout it from the rooftops: A triumph Golde and Tevye (background) struggle to raise their five daughters in a changing society in the award-winning musical, "Fiddler on the Roof," running through Jan. 11 at Camelot Theatre. Photo courtesy of Steve Sutfin “Fiddler on the Roof” is a phenomenon. The play still mesmerizes an audience 50 years after its premiere. Of course, a compelling book by Joseph Stein, lilting music by Jerry Bock and heart-wrenching lyrics by Sheldon Harnick don’t hurt. But who would have thought that a Broadway musical based on stories by the Yiddish writer Sholom Aleichem about Jewish life in a small Russian village in 1905 would resonate with audiences all over the world? Camelot Theatre Company’s production of “Fiddler on the Roof” has all the elements that made the show so successful — a charming story, great music and a charismatic actor playing Tevye, the central character. David King-Gabriel brings a deft touch to the role of the philosopher-milkman. He is neither too broadly funny nor is he oppressively serious. King-Gabriel’s Tevye conveys the travails of being an impoverished Jew in czarist Russia with five daughters with a wry and infectious humor.  And what a complicated world it is. Tevye’s community survives by maintaining tradition — the Yiddish language, Jewish religious observance and strict gender-based roles and customs. Tradition provides security. Anatevka survives like the proverbial fiddler balancing on the peak of a roof, creating joy on the very edge of catastrophe.  The Jews of the village of Anatevka are both isolated from the Slavic population around them and perilously dependent on their tolerance. That tolerance ebbs and flows as waves of anti-Semitism periodically sweep over Russia. Fraying the interlocking threads of this Jewish self-identity threatens disintegration of the entire community.  But, little by little, the fabric of Tevye’s world unravels. As much as Tevye might argue, cajole and bargain with God, change is inevitable.  One by one, Tevye’s three eldest, marriageable daughters break with patriarchal tradition and seek their own husbands. First, the eldest, Tzeitel (Lauren Green) refuses to accept a match made with Lazar Wolf (Paul Jones), the older and imperious village butcher, because she is in love with Motel (Barry Wiedrich), a poor tailor her own age.  Then Tevye’s second daughter, Hodel (Julia Holden-Hunkins), falls in love with Perchik (Tyler Ward), a charming visiting radical from Kiev. Tevye reluctantly gives his blessing to this wedding only to see his daughter leave the village to join the exiled Perchik in Siberia.  However, there is one departure from tradition that Tevye cannot accept. When his third daughter, Chava (Keely McLean) marries a Russian, Fyedka (Liam Akins), out of the faith, he cuts her off. He simply cannot go that far even though it breaks his heart.  Director/Choreographer Daniel Stephens does a fine job of recreating the characters in Tevye’s world with a strong cast of 30 actors and seven accomplished musicians.  There is Golde, Tevye’s exasperated wife (Kathleen Marrs), Yente, the gossipy matchmaker (Dianna Warner), the venerable rabbi (Grant Shepherd), the whiny rabbi’s son (Patrick St. John), and the accommodating innkeeper (Jack Siebold), to name only a few of the story’s principal characters.  Stephens gives the play an authentic feel, down to the use of Jewish “klezmer” music, heavily dependent on clarinet, accordion and violin. He has even included the play’s famous “bottle dance,” where the male guests at Tzeitel and Motel’s wedding dance with wine bottles balanced on their wide-brimmed hats.  Don Zastoupil’s minimal set beautifully evokes the barren steppes of western Russia, as do Brian M. O’Connor’s video projections of early 20th century Jewish villages and Michael Leon’s costumes.  When, at the end of the play, the czar’s orders force the Jews of Anatevka into exile, Tevye finds himself with only the remnants of his family, his optimism, his faith and — most of all —his sense of humor. “God, I know we are your chosen people,” Tevye laments. “But just once, could you choose someone else?”  Perhaps the reason “Fiddler on the Roof” enduringly appeals to audiences who know little about Jewish customs and Eastern European shtetls is that hope, love, family and the pain of new beginnings are truly universal. Roberta Kent is a freelance writer living in Ashland. Reach her at [email protected].                               Ticket availability Camelot Theatre Company: "Fiddler on the Roof"Tuesday, Dec. 9, 8 p.m., many.Wednesday, Dec. 10, pay what you can night), 8 p.m., tickets at the door only.Thursday, Dec. 11, 8 p.m., very fewFriday, Dec. 12, Director's Night, 8 p.m., fewSaturday and Sunday, Dec. 12 and 13, sold out.Call 541-535-5250, or go online to www.CamelotTheatre.org for tickets. http://www.dailytidings.com/article/20141208/NEWS/141209852 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->