One-on-one: Director Jeffery Matthews
Washington University’s production of “Fiddler on the Roof” directed by Jeffery Matthews premiered this past weekend to sold-out audiences in the Edison Theatre. Parents and students were transported from St. Louis to the little shtetl of Anatevka, Russia.
Jeffery Matthews decided to direct “Fiddler on the Roof” because he thought a traditional musical would provide a good balance to the four new plays that were in production last spring. After starting in the spring, when the production committee chooses the plays for the following year, Matthews spent the summer with the musical’s designers. One of the reasons Matthews wanted to direct “Fiddler” was the fact that it is such a well known play that he had never directed it before.
The musical’s cast is filled with just about every type of student you can imagine, from freshmen to seniors, and from anthropology majors to drama majors.
According to Jeffery Matthews, the reason was because “the performing arts department wants to provide a wide net for casting.”
This allows for a wide, diverse cast, and it also allows the cast to become more comfortable with one another.
“Everyone is so welcoming and friendly to each other. it makes it so much easier to act around people when you don’t feel awkward,” said freshman Micah Herstand.
That level of comfort pays off in a show consisting of family relationships and the workings of a tradition-laden and close-knit village. The connections between the characters are obvious to the audience and draw them in to a level reached by very few amateur theaters. To viewers, the cast seems comfortable with each other, with the stage and with their audience. Part of this is in fact due to the musical’s viewers.
“We sold out the last two nights [Oct. 27 and 28] and it gave us great energy,” said Herstand.
If the amazing cast and crew don’t draw you to see Washington University’s biggest production at the theater this weekend, the human need for theater should.
According to Matthews, everyone should go to the theater.
“Theater makes us more human because it [leaves us with] difficult and often unanswerable questions to grapple with.”
Related Posts
Print This Post