Fiddler on the Roof at Sundance

One of my favorite things to do during the summer is to head up to the Sundance Resort to see a show performed under the stars.  It is really beautiful at Sundance and it always feels so good to be up in the mountains with the fresh smell of the pine trees.  This year Sundance, in conjunction with Utah Valley University, performed Fiddler on the Roof and it was wonderful.  The set was very innovative with various buildings representing the village of Anatevka.  During specific scenes, the buildings would open up to become the inside of Tevye's house, Mordcha's Inn & Tavern, and Motel's Tailor Shop.  I really loved the staging, especially in "Tevye's Dream."  Fruma Sarah came out on a huge platform which was wheeled around the stage with ghouls dancing around her (I once played Fruma Sarah and I totally embarrassed Marilyn by singing along).  It was very effective!  The choreography was amazing!  I loved the Bottle Dance at the wedding and the Russian dancers in "To Life."  All of the actors did a nice job but David W. Stensrud was particularly charismatic as Tevye (I saw him as the Ghost of Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol last year at Hale Theatre).  He added a lot of business to make the iconic role his own.  I thought it was hilarious when he started warming up for a fight before he told Golde about Perchik and Hodel.  It was such a fun show to watch because all of the fabulous songs like "Tradition," "Matchmaker, Matchmaker," "If I Were a Rich Man," and "Sunrise, Sunset" are so familiar.  I highly recommend this show for a lovely evening in a spectacular setting.  Go here for information and tickets.  It runs through August 16.

Note:  It is quite the process to get to the theatre.  The upper parking lot was full so they sent us to an unpaved overflow parking area.  The parking attendant laughed at my parking skills!  Next we took a shuttle to the lower parking lot and then a tractor pulling a trailer up to the theatre.  It was a crowded Saturday night so we had to hike quite a ways up the mountain to find a spot to sit.  After the show we had to do it all again to get back to the car.  I had a small meltdown when I saw the line (at least a hundred people) for the shuttle to the upper lot.  It was a really good thing that the show was so great...