SALT LAKE CITY — “Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof.”
Tevye’s lines at the beginning of “Fiddler on the Roof” encapsulate the musical’s message, according to Ruthy Froch, who plays Hodel, Tevye’s second daughter, in the national touring production opening Tuesday at the Eccles Theater.
“But in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof, trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck,” Tevye continues. “And it isn’t easy. You may ask, ‘Why do we stay up there if it’s so dangerous?’ We say, ‘Because Anatevka is our home.’”
“I think that the metaphor of a fiddler on the roof and teetering on that edge, it represents the safety of tradition and the danger of breaking it,” said Froch, who was raised in a Jewish household in Calabasas, California. “Why do we ask people to teeter between what we know and what we don’t know? And I think that’s really exciting.”
Froch said she thinks traditions are meant to be broken in some respects, but they’re also meant to be honored.
“I think it’s a story about acceptance, about accepting the tradition, but also accepting who you are,” Froch said. “You kind of see both edges of embracing and accepting the tradition, but also what it means to break it.”
The musical also teaches the importance of accepting one another, according to Froch.
“You embrace these characters and you see this story of tradition, of family, of love, and then you learn what it really means to be a refugee by watching it happen in front of your own eyes,” Froch said.
The story evokes parallels between tragedies Jewish communities have faced historically and recently. “Fiddler on the Roof” depicts Tevye’s attempts to follow Jewish tradition amidst his daughters’ desires to marry for love and an edict evicting Jews from his village.
Last month, a series of anti-Semitic attacks took place in the New York area, including a shooting at a Jersey City kosher market that killed six people and a stabbing at a rabbi’s house in Monsey, New York, that wounded five people.
“I think that when horrible things happen in the world, as an actor and as a storyteller, and you get to share a story that maybe would change someone’s mind or impact them differently, it’s a very special, I think, idea and definitely a greater thought of why we do what we do,” Froch said.
“I also think that if you don’t understand, or if you question something in yourself or in other people, to ask the question,” Froch added. “I just think that you don’t know someone else’s story, and if you don’t ask, then you just assume.”
Playing Hodel in “Fiddler on the Roof” for more than a year has helped Froch learn the power of her voice.
“It’s about young women using the power of their voices to ask for what they want, and Hodel is very rebellious in a lot of ways, and she speaks her mind and uses wit and her heart to really capture people,” Froch said. “Through standing up for myself onstage so many times, I have learned and put that in practice in my own life.”
Froch said the national touring production is the same “Fiddler on the Roof” audiences know and love, but it “definitely focuses more on the humanity of the story and the circumstances.”
Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter’s choreography, based on the original Jerome Robbins choreography, also makes the production unique.
“It’s definitely new and exciting and very grounded and pedestrian, and I feel like it’s very traditionally Jewish,” Froch said. “I think that that is definitely the most noticeable difference between our productions and others.”
Froch said she is looking forward to bringing “Fiddler on the Roof” to Salt Lake City.
“It’s been on one of my bucket lists I think of cities to go to. I think it’s so special to bring this story to so many different cities because you just never know who’s been exposed to ‘Fiddler,’” Froch said. “So many people have not seen it, and I think that that’s so special that we get to share the story with so many different people.”
If you go ...
What: “Fiddler on the Roof”
When: Jan. 21-26
Where: Eccles Theater, 131 S. Main St.
How much: $55-$110