UMS: Tradition and the Changing World

ANN ARBOR — University Musical Society’s “Fiddler on the Roof” strikes a shaky balance between ‘tradition’ and a changing world. In our new era of multi-ethnic casting, what does it mean to be a Jew?

The concert version of Bock and Harnick’s epochal piece, which played at Hill Auditorium on February 19th and 20th and the Kimmel Center from March 3rd - 6th, was a massive undertaking from an unprecedented collaboration between UMS, their Broadway-sourced cast and creative team, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and University of Michigan’s Department of Musical Theatre. As a Michigan MT alumni and former UMS intern (and a fan of both organizations), I was on the edge of my seat. 

Yet, from the beginning, the decision by the team at Benton Whitley to cast actors of all ethnicities and religious backgrounds to play the Jewish citizens of Anatevka raised justifiable questions about identity politics. 

Just a few years earlier in 2017 and 2018, three separate concert versions of West Side Story sparked backlash for an antithetical reason. Olivier nominee Sierra Boggess, who had been announced to play Maria in the Proms series at London’s Royal Albert Hall, withdrew from the production in the name of representation for Latina actors. 

Then, there was the collaboration between UMS, the New York Philharmonic, and the Musical Theatre Department where white students were strongly discouraged from auditioning for Maria. There was also a concert presentation at the Hollywood Bowl, helmed by budding star Solea Pfeiffer. Neither women cast as Maria in these concert versions were Latina. 

Many have noted the aforementioned double standard. “Why are jews the only exception to this culture of diversity, equity and inclusion?” asks Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, the senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City. “If a straight person can no longer portray a gay person on screen,” he said from the bimah in early 2022, “if even Lin Manuel Miranda’s ‘In the Heights’ was not representative enough of the afro-Latino community in Washington Heights, well…why should a gentile portray a Jew?”

This casting model was initially met with apprehension from the participating musical theatre students. “There was backlash from the students in this way that I’ve never really seen before,” said Lily Rosenberg, a Jewish junior cast in the ensemble. “In a department of 80, there are only 6 Jewish students.” Only 2 were initially cast, and none of them in lead roles. “The whole department was asking if it was the right approach.”

However, after conversations with a supportive faculty, attitudes in the program began to change. “One of the big takeaways…was that Judaism is not a visible identity,” said Ella Olesen, who played Tzeitel, in her Student Perspective. “Judaism can be an ethnic identity, a cultural identity, or a religious identity. Anyone could be Jewish without you knowing so.”

“Even if I’m not cast in it,” added Rosenberg, “I want you to tell the story and learn about my culture and live in this beautiful shtetl. I want you to immerse yourself.”

Student actors report that the process started promisingly, and included conversations with U of M professors, rabbis and other experts brought in by Michael McElroy, chair and Arthur E. and Martha S. Hearron Endowed Professor of Musical Theatre. UMS was tasked with community engagement, and with U of M’s expertise, curated a rich cultural landscape for Ann Arbor residents through contextual events like roundtable discussions on refugee crises in contemporary Europe and the Yiddish origins of "Fiddler on the Roof," accompanied by an exhibition from the Polish School of Poster Design. 

This might have been an effective model for how to move forward into a more genuinely inclusive world, and for honoring a minority culture while inviting people of other ethnicities in.

After all, though it’s a show specific to the Jewish experience, “Fiddler” contains widely relatable themes. “While it is steeped in Jewish culture and has the specificity of Jewish culture, it is very much about democratic American ideals,” said director Sarna Lapine (Sunday in the Park with George). “It is incredibly universal.”

Nearly a month later, however, the creative team arrived and rehearsals began. “Because we had such a short timeline for such a big project, there was never designated time to embed what we’d learned into the direction or choreography,” noted a student cast member who agreed to share their experience anonymously. “A lot of the heart of the story, and the specificity of the culture, was missing.”

When asked during the process about the decision to cast multi-ethnically, Lapine waxed poetic. “Given this movement toward social justice and equity and inclusion, as well as breaking down all kinds of barriers around strict gender identity and gay marriage laws, we are living in a world that is in pursuit of loving kindness, compassion, freedom and justice, human rights, and civil rights, and the show reminds us of the importance of that.”

As Michigan MTs learn early on in Brent Wagner’s Musical Theatre History class, when you broaden the scope of any writer’s intent so widely that it loses specificity, it also loses its universal appeal. “Fiddler” may be a show for everyone, but it is not a show about everyone.

This was evident in the final product. “It doesn’t feel specific to the Jewish experience, but it was great,” noted the student. “That’s the consensus of the Jewish audience.”

And then, “if you can dance the hora, but you can’t say what a pogrom is, have you succeeded?” 

Despite good reviews, the double standard irks. If the benevelolant reasons for multi-ethnic casting are as stated by Lapine, to “step into the shoes of these characters, learn about where they come from, and realize how much they have in common,” and to “open up being in this show so that an audience can see itself in the company,” then artists should advocate for this model everywhere — not just in “Fiddler,” but in productions like “West Side,” too. It’s when the standard only applies in one direction that it rings hollow. 

But, if such concern threatens to make us less literate about other cultures and belief systems and makes us afraid to approach each other for fear we might say the wrong thing, is it the right standard at all? 

For a religious community so concerned with welcoming people to the table, segregation isn't the desired approach. Cultural literacy is. 

“This all started with the recognition that there is bias in casting, but we’ve gone off the rails,” Rabbi Hirsch continues. “If everything is about sensitivity to feelings over and above sensitivity to facts, then we are sliding on this slippery slope of secular apostasy — the betrayal of liberalism and Western values.” The very Western values and democratic American ideals that lie at the heart of “Fiddler on the Roof”. 

“The world is changing, Papa,” says Chava to her father as she begs for his blessing to marry her Russian love

“No,” says Tevye. “Some things do not change for us. Some things will never change for us.” 

Let’s hope he was wrong. 

Bydalek is a writer, performer and administrator living in New York City. She is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan.