"Your
father, the others here think that what happened at Tzeitel's wedding
was just a little cloudburst, and it's over, and everything will now be
peaceful again. It won't. Horrible things are happening throughout the
land: pogroms, violence. Whole villages are being emptied of their
people. It's reaching everywhere and it will reach here."
"Perchik" in Fiddler on the Roof
Observing
the times we are living, I cannot help but reflect on my 13 months
performing as the violin soloist for Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway.
In addition to the thrill of playing to a packed theater 8 shows a
week, poignant acting, dazzling dancing, soaring music and the magic of
Broadway, I also loved it because it felt like we were doing important
work. We were griots, artists embodying for our time the retelling of
the poignant, cautionary tale. Each night as I absorbed “Perchik’s”
words and the scene of the pogrom, it became clearer that we were not
just taking a historic look back to 1905, but also an uncomfortable look
into our own county’s apparent future. This time last year, I was able
to walk into the story of Fiddler on the Roof by visiting the modern
Anatevka near Kiev, Ukraine. From the joy of taking part in the first
wedding in Anatevka in 100 years, to the tragedy of Baba Yar, which we
visited as I listened to the Shostakovich Symphony of the same title, it
was an incredible experience and a visceral, unforgettable reminder of
the lessons of Fiddler. I also think of my late friend Alfred Mur and
remember, through the Holocaust Memoir I published for him, the
unimaginable things that he endured. One can only hope that we as a
nation will have the clarity and the courage to rise to the better
angels of our nature. But one thing is clear, Fiddler on the Roof is as
relevant today as ever.
Sincerely,
Kelly
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