Fiddleing on the roof

Fiddler on The Roof was the first musical I had ever seen. Not only was it the first musical I seen but it was also the worse! It's not like its a bad musical just it wasn't one that I was interested in.

When I was a freshman in high school I was in drama club. We went and seen Fiddler on The Roof as a field trip with the choir kids. It was being put on at the Strand Theatre by Gratiot county players club which is this group of men, women, and children in my community that puts on plays and musicals. The strand theatre was the central buzz of our town back in the day, it was where my parents and grandparents had always gone to see movies. When I was really small it was a theatre that played movies once they left the big movie theatre, so usually new releases would show up there about a month after they left the other one. The best part is you got to see them for half the price. when I was about 10 years old it was shut down and turned into a play house.

On the way to the theatre everyone was so excited, but who wouldn't be with a chance to get out of school. We walked to the front of the building once we got there and it looked like exactly what it was, an old movie theatre. there was a booth out front with glass windows where people once bought tickets for the latest blockbusters. we walked through big wooden double doors that lead into the lobby. There sat an empty counter that once house snacks and treats. We were lead to a door on the left of the counter. In the room there sat over a couple dozen old theatre seats, they didn't even recline like the fancy ones we have now days. at the front of the room sat a stage. We all took our seats and waited for the musical to begin.

Everyone has there opinion on anything, but I have to say Fiddler on The Roof was down right boring! In a nut shell, its about a poor Jewish peasant who must marry off his three daughters while the girls fight the Jewish traditions and the government threatens to take their home. Boring right? thought so.

After the play was over, we all headed back to school extremely disappointed, we almost would rather have sat in class all day then sit through that. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that you shouldn't watch it but I will tell you that I thought it was terrible!

Why I Chose My Topic

I would like to say that it was the summer of 95' when I first realized my pure passion for musical theater. My father, step-mother, two step-sisters and I were living in the microscopic town of St. Louis, Michigan. Its the kind of place where you know everyone and their entire family tree and you can trust leaving your house unlocked while you run to the grocery store. The kind of place you would want to raise a family.

Now I don't know to many parents that let their 4 year old run around outside unattended so, essentially my step mother did the same and we were kept inside a lot while she did the cooking, cleaning, and whatever else it is that stay at home moms do. I can truthfully say a good portion of my childhood was spent glued to a television that played the same episodes of Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes on a daily basis, but one morning we were introduced to something different, something i had never seen before... A musical. 

The first time I seen Grease, which was the first musical i had ever seen, was probably one of the most exciting moments of my life! i still get all giddy just thinking about it to this day. I was Hypnotized by the tight leather clothes, The beautiful sounds that seemed to gloriously emit from Olivia Newton John and John Travolta's mouths, and last but not least the music itself. I felt the love Danny and the T-Birds had for their beloved car "Grease Lightning", I WAS  Sandy valiantly singing my heart out about the love of my life and the summer we spent together on the beach.

The reason i chose musicals for my topic is quite simple, I love music and I love Theater so why wouldn't i love musicals? There isn't anything that could possibly bring me more joy than being told a story through incredibly composed music and adept vocalists brought together by a writer simply telling his story in a different way than what we are used to, such as reading one in a book as an example. In this blog i intend to cover a wide range of topics pertaining to musicals including reviews and my very own experiences with them. My intentions with this project are to get my viewers to to appreciate Musical Theater and perhaps maybe even learn to love it as much as I do!