Our very own talent at WSU just finished their run of the musical “Fiddler on the Roof” at the Festival Playhouse Theatre.Joseph Stein's novel "Fiddler on the Roof" is a popular book that was spawned into a musical production in 1964 and a movie in 1971. The story details the life of main character, Tevye, who has five daughters, three of whom want to make their own choices such as marrying for love, while also paying tribute to Jewish traditions and what it means to him and his family. One of the leading performers, junior Joshua Beasley, portrayed Tevye in the WSU production."What I love about the story is that it's a Jewish story at first glance but when you really dig deep into it – it's really a story about normal people who just happen to be Jewish,” Beasley said. “It's about being able to just live and breathe and play, and being able to just have fun, engage and tell a story. It's just a lot of pretend mixed in with research and having a great time with wonderful cast mates." The play has a lot of symbolization when it comes to its' characters and beliefs, and Beasley weighed upon this.
"The reason why it's called "Fiddler on the Roof" is that it's actually a metaphor for the fiddler being on the roof and is not really known nor specified in the show,” he said.In the plot of the show a fiddler happens to fall off a roof and the characters have to make a decision – to protect either their fiddle or themselves. Beasley believes the play shows that you can keep a connection with someone regardless of their religious identity.“I say at the top of the show that we keep our balance; we prevent ourselves from not falling through with tradition and throughout this whole show there are specific times in which our tradition is taken away from us and is questioned," Beasley said. "I fall off the roof per se and have to choose to save my family or my faith. People can take away from that sometimes you make bad decisions because of what you strongly believe in and you can hurt somebody that you deeply love because of your religion."
