This was the Christmas present that instigated an extra Christmas present and I have Topol to thank for it.
A month before Christmas I received a phone call from Broadway Tucson with an automated recording for all ticket holders of Fiddler on the Roof. Topol had been injured and he wouldn’t be performing for the rest of the season. This meant two things. I would never see Topol perform as Tevye and Richard’s Christmas present was no longer a surprise.
I was faced with a dilemma. Should I tell Richard about the phone call? I decided to break it to him gently.
“Topol has been injured and will be out for the rest of the season,” I said bluntly as he walked in the door from work.
Now Richard was faced with a dilemma. Compensating for the loss of a Christmas surprise is serious business.
His solution? Amazon.com.
I love each of my Christmas presents. The show on Saturday was very good. I played along in my memory, and I wish the woman behind us had followed my lead. She sang and quoted the whole first act. I will always remember this performance because we heard it in stereo, with a raspy, crass voice behind us singing, “Do you love me?” etc.
Fiddler on the Roof was my first show as a performer. I soloed as the violinist at Sundance for one night when I was 15. My teacher congratulated me and reminded me that I was now a professional. (I smiled even then at the unlikely event that I would ever be a professional violinist). I played the show again when I was 16. Richard and I went to the show for our 5th anniversary. He was hoping to let me see Topol for our 15th.
Clearly, the show is Tradition for us.
As we drove home, we didn’t talk. I decided to ask Richard what song he had playing in his head.
“Le Chaim,” he replied before starting to sing.
The song in my head was Sunrise, Sunset.
What song do you love from Fiddler on the Roof?