‘Fiddler on the Roof’ to aid hospital
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| DEBORAH ALLARD-
BERNARDI , Herald News Staff Reporter |
08/17/2004 |
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FALL RIVER -- "Fiddler on the Roof,"
the classic musical dealing with the struggles of love,
poverty and tradition, will be staged at Bristol Community
College in September.
Presented by the Little Theatre of Fall River and the
Friends of St. Anne’s Hospital, the show is a fund-raiser to
help St. Anne’s Hospital purchase new equipment for delivering
radiation treatment to cancer patients.
The show will run Sept. 9
to 12.
The collaboration between the theater and the
Friends of St. Anne’s is a first-time endeavor.
Although the Little Theatre has helped other nonprofit
groups raise money, Jeff Belanger, president of the Little
Theatre, said this was the best collaboration yet, because it
had the ability to help so many people.
Hudner Oncology
Center at St. Anne’s Hospital serves more than 2,000 cancer
patients per year with radiation, education and support, as
well as other services including nutrition, social work and
spiritual care, according to Anne Ferreira, spokeswoman for
St. Anne’s.
Hudner Oncology is the exclusive academic
and clinical affiliate of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in
Boston.
Ferreira said the Friends of St. Anne’s have
pledged to raise $500,000 to underwrite the new radiation
therapy equipment, including the area’s only intensity
modulated radiation therapy technology.
Belanger is
aiming to raise $20,000 with the presentation of "Fiddler on
the Roof."
"We need to attract a big audience," he
said.
The play will be staged at the Margaret L.
Jackson Arts Center at BCC. With 700 seats and four
performances, a total of 2,800 people can see the
play.
"Fiddler on the Roof" was adapted from the short
story "Tevye and His Daughters" by Sholom Aleicham, and made
into a book by Joseph Stein.
The beloved play
premiered on Broadway in 1964 and ran for more than 3,000
performances with music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon
Harnick. It was directed and choreographed by Jerome
Robbins.
"Fiddler on the Roof" is the story of Tevye, a
poor dairyman who tries to instill the traditions of the
tight-knit Jewish community into his five daughters.
Set in 1905 in Anatevka, a Jewish village in Russia,
his eldest daughter, Tzeitel, falls in love with a poor tailor
and begs her father to allow her to marry him. But, he has
already chosen a more-suited husband for her.
Tevye,
already dealing with social change and the growing
anti-Semitism of Czarist Russia, will have to choose who he
will allow his daughter to marry, and face betraying his
lifelong values and traditions.
"Fiddler on the Roof"
is said to have a sadness about it, along with warmth, humor
and honesty. Belanger said it is a performance that "cuts
across barriers of race, class, nationality and religion" and
leaves audiences "crying tears of laughter, joy and
sadness."
Well-known songs to be performed include
"Tradition," "Sunrise, Sunset," "If I Were A Rich Man" and
"Matchmaker."
Some 100 performers are to be cast in the
musical, including Paul Allard as Tevye, Cathy Taitz as Golde
and Janice MacDonald as Yente the matchmaker. Also featured
are other local favorites and new performers to Fall
River.
" ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ " is Broadway at its
best," said Belanger. "We hope that people make every effort
to support the improvement to cancer treatment at Hudner
Oncology while enjoying a musical theater
classic."
Belanger has also directed such hits as
"Jesus Christ Superstar," "The King and I," "Oliver!" and "La
Cage Aux Folles."
"Fiddler on the Roof" will be staged
at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 9 to 11, and at 2
p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12.
General admission tickets are
$15. Students and senior citizens pay $12, and children 12 and
younger pay $5. Group rates are available for parties of 20 or
more.
For reservations, call
508-675-1852.
Deborah Allard-Bernardi may be reached at
dbernardi@heraldnews.com.
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| ©The
Herald News 2004 |
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