One of my favorite local companies is Hopebox Theatre up in Kaysville. They not only produce high quality shows at reasonable prices, but they have a wonderful mission where each production helps benefit a ‘Hopebox recipient’ who is fighting cancer. They have usually nailed their shows but I have to admit I was not a big fan of their recent production of A Christmas Story (a show I normally love) during the last holiday season. This last weekend, however, they opened the classic musical Fiddler on the Roof and fortunately it is a big bounce back to the outstanding shows I’ve come to expect from Hopebox.

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Given its popularity Fiddler on the Roof is often performed but there are a couple of aspects that make this Hopebox production unique. The biggest standout is how obviously careful they have been to honor and respect the Jewish culture and religious traditions and portray them accurately. I am obviously no expert on the topic but one could just tell there is more of an attention to detail in costumes, language, pronunciation and traditions like how the wedding ceremony and the sabbath prayer are portrayed. In the playbill they thank Liz Paige the Associate Director of the United Jewish Federation of Utah and her involvement is clearly seen and appreciated.

The casting is also strong throughout. I particularly enjoyed all of our young couples with Jarom Young and Rachel Stephenson as Fyedka and Chava as my favorites. “Chavaleh (Little Bird)” is one of my favorite moments of the musical and it is beautifully portrayed here. I also love how they handled Chava and Fyedka’s goodbye with Chava putting her arm on Tevye as he refuses to make eye contact. I’ve never seen it staged that way and it added a moving layer to the scene.

I saw the Teal cast and Jacob Draper appears younger than the typical Tevye but he has the charm and charisma needed for the role and Marsha Holmes is perfect as Golde. Their rendition of “Do You Love Me?” was a highlight of the night.

Whenever I see Fiddler I look forward to “Tevye’s Dream” because it’s a chance for the company to flex their creative juices. Director Marinda Maxfield and choreographer Jordan Wheeler have done so here with them maximizing the small space with sheets coming off of Fruma-Sarah to act like a parachute that can move and flow with the music. It’s very innovative and surprising.

As with any community production there are flaws but the only major ones at Hopebox’s Fiddler is there are times when the singer and the backtrack are a little off and everything isn’t quite working but it’s usually remedied and all is well. I also felt like fiddler Carrie Young was a little underused and there are times when she is sitting watching that I felt she could have been playing or interacting with the cast.

That said, Fiddler on the Roof at Hopebox is a wonderful production I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s playing until March 15th and tickets can be purchased here (also try and avoid the B seats as there is a pole that obfuscates some of the view.)

If you enjoy my writing and would like me to review your production I’d love to. I also have a patreon which is a great way to support my shorter logs for shows I don’t get to review. I have some really fun perks. Please take a look here.