Kate Harkin Mostel, the wife of Zero Mostel, recalled in her 1978 memoir (a conjoined autobiography with Madeline Gilford, and co-credited to their husbands, Jack and Zero) a moment during the production of the original Fiddler on the Roof, in which the creative team suffered what literally could be described as a crisis of faith. They were afraid that the show was going to be “too Jewish” to find mass acceptance beyond the hardcore New York theater audience. (Mind you, this was 40 years before Spamalot told us that, “You won’t succeed on Broadway if you don’t have any Jews.”) Mrs. Mostel later said that she thought it was ironic that it took an Irish Catholic girl to convince Jerome Robbins, Hal Prince and company, that the strength of the show was its very Jewishness. History, of course, has proven her right; virtually every group, religion or nationality that has seen Fiddler since 1964 agrees that its message is universal.
You could argue that Fiddler became even “more Jewish” when the Yiddish production (Fidler Afn Dakh) played off-Broadway in 2019—but then, of course, it has long been performed in Israel and elsewhere in a Hebrew translation. Then too, there were decidedly non-Jewish interpretations as well, most famously “Cannonball Adderley’s Fiddler on the Roof,” a brilliant, soul jazz instrumental treatment of the score by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock.
Saxophonist and composer Paul Shapiro (whom most of us first heard in The Microscopic Septet, one of the great bands of the ‘90s and beyond) has been specializing in Jewish-themed jazz for most of his career as a bandleader. Twenty years ago, he released “Midnight Minyan,” which was primarily a collection of jazz adaptations of Jewish Liturgical themes. But buried in the middle of that 2002 CD was “To Life,” Mr. Shapiro’s adaptation of the dance number from Act One. Playing the theme with a big, earthy, vibrato-rich tenor saxophone tone and a screaming crowd (his band and everyone in the studio making a lot of noise), he joyously reimagined “To Life (L’Chaim)” as played by the team of Sam Butera and Louis Prima in Las Vegas, circa 1956.
Now Mr. Shapiro has gone the full Monty. Using that vintage re-arrangement of “To Life” as a starting point, he has rearranged virtually the entire score of Fiddler on the Roof in a variety of different styles. The Penguin Rep Theater in Stony Point, New York, is presenting the results for two weekends, the second of which is April 9 and 10. The company is four musicians, Mr. Shapiro plus a rhythm section of Gary Schreiner, keyboards, Booker King, bass, and Tony Allen, drums, and three singers, two sopranos, Jennifer Apple and Meadow Nguy, and and baritone Freedom Bremner.
Sometimes, Mr. Shapiro plays with the time signatures. “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” was originally one of the most iconic uptempo waltz numbers of the mid-1960s, here it’s recast as a straight ahead swinging four. Conversely, “Sunrise, Sunset” is waltzier—and more Jewish—than ever, performed by Ms. Apple largely in Hebrew and reminding me here of the Israeli singer Chana Albertson, accompanied by Mr. Shapiro on clarinet and Mr. Schreiner on accordion.
Mostly, Mr. Shapiro has fun juxtaposing different styles. “Sabbath Prayer” channels the living in an evocation of the groove and sonic texture of Sergio Mendes and Brasil ‘66, emphasizing the two female voices in harmony, accompanied by flute and a samba beat, a la “Mas Que Nada.” Mr. Bremner is brilliantly showcased in “Miracle of Miracles,” reconceived as a 1960s-style soul-searching ballad, the kind that might be sung by Marvin Gaye, and also “Do You Love Me?” The latter is the most uproarious number in the program, now reworked into a mashup with “Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance?),” the 1962 Motown hit by The Contours. I’ll have to listen to it a few more times before I can figure out how Mr. Shapiro was able to make those two seemingly inapposite pieces of music work together.
The most touching piece, however, isn’t any of the love songs or even the wedding song, but rather “Anatevka.” Even though it’s a fictitious village, it stood in for many shtetls in what was then (Fiddler takes place in about 1905) and now known as the independent state of Ukraine. As the three vocalists sing of home and freedom, they chant the names of places around the world that in recent years have come under siege, not only Kharkiv and Kiev, but cities in Syria and Afghanistan.
There’s an additional spoken word section, newly written for the current moment by Ukrainian poet, Jake Marmer. The message is clear: Anatevka is all of us. It’s a powerful moment. Far From The Home I Love: Songs from Fiddler on The Roof should be, at the very least, an album, but also play performing arts centers and blackbox theaters around the country. The question remains, did Mr. Shapiro make the songs from Fiddler more or less Jewish? It may be a moot point, but everything he has done here only further underscores how truly universal this music and its message is. Apart from that, it’s the most exciting, unexpected performance of “L’Chaim” since Lin-Manuel Miranda’s wedding.
Far from the Home I Love opened April 2, 2022, at the Penguin Rep Theatre (Stony Point, New York) and runs through April 10. Tickets and information: penguinrep.org
