So, just to catch up from last night...
As for Fiddler On the Roof
Harvey is Harvey. Rosie is Rosie. And, fortunately, Fiddler is still Fiddler. It's a very solidly written show, and it takes a lot of "stuff" to diminish it's overall message and effect. I like the production, and I found myself tearing up a couple of times.
However... -Yes, there's always a "however"....
I think the presence of Mr. Fierstein and Ms. O'Donnell may actually work against the show in one aspect. Despite some of their short-comings, they gave very good performances. Unfortunately, due to their very public and recognizable personas, I felt that the audience wanted to see more of those larger-than-life personas. They wanted the broad humor, the Funny, the schtick. In some places in Fiddler that type of approach can work. In others, not so much. In some of the more touching moments in the show - especially the Chava sequence - there were giggles here and there in audience. I felt that people thought Harvey was holding for a laugh, a punchline, when, in reality, he was just in the moment being serious. There was one young woman in the front row, house right, who just kept laughing - and pointing(!) - at very inappropriate times. Ugh. Ah, well...
I still enjoyed the show. There were a few Jerome Robbins' touches I missed - "To Life" in particular. And I liked the staging of "Tevye's Dream", but if you're gonna put Fruma Sarah on a wire in the air, then at least have her fly!
The liked the new orchestrations by Larry Hochman, but there were a few things I missed in that regard too. -I was lucky enough early on in my career to do three productions of Fiddler back to back with full orchestras, so it's sort of in my blood. But, again, a very good "sweetening" and re-tooling for a smaller - but not that much smaller - pit.