She s always doing something, always busy, whether she s yelling at Tevye or making sure her daughters are doing what they re supposed to be doing. She kind of thinks Tevye is lazy, and he kind of is. She loves him, but she s too busy to give him much thought. Nothing will ever be the same. Although the musical deals with a culture and events that couldn t be more remote for most members of the cast, the message is universal, said Long.
Fiddler is different.
The songs are integrated into the plot line, so it s very natural. I like that. LaVoie said that playing Tevye brought a whole new depth of understanding for him. It makes you do research on the character, how they feel, what s going on. Like most of the cast, LaVoie has seen the movie, but he is trying not to draw on it too much.