Young Shoreline actors in Broadway Bound Children's Theatre production

Three actors from the Shoreline area. From left. Erin Harper, Anna Ostrem, and Mia Perritt. 

Photo by Jordan Lusink.

Young actors from across the Seattle area are currently in rehearsal for Broadway Bound Children’s Theatre’s production of Fiddler on the Roof, Jr. which runs Friday, June 3 through Saturday, June 11 at the Falls Theatre at ACT. The Tony-award winning classic musical dramatizes the struggle to maintain Jewish traditions in a changing world.

Among the actors participating are three students from the Shoreline area: Erin Harper, Anna Ostrem, and Mia Perritt.

The young actors are engaging in discussions about Jewish experiences in turn-of-the-century Tsarist Russia, just prior to the first Russian Revolution. The show in itself emphasizes the changing times. Not only does Tevye have to navigate a tumultuous political climate, he also strives to impress upon his daughters the importance of tradition. This is especially poignant in moments when Tevye and Golde reflect on the differences between their marriage, arranged by a matchmaker, and the potential marriages of their five daughters. Tevye struggles with his daughters’ separation from their Jewish roots, namely the desire to marry who they choose; but as he says, even the “traditions” were new once.

One of the many things the cast has been learning more about is the tradition of arranged marriages. “The first time a couple would meet was on their wedding day,” said Felix Halvorson, a 4th grader in the production, “because they weren’t allowed to choose who to marry. They had to marry whoever the matchmaker chose for them.”

Fiddler on the Roof, Jr. production staff includes Director Sonya Shaw, Choreographer Debbie Pierce, Musical Director Barbara Lynne Jamison, Lighting Designer Tom Sturge, and Scenic Designers Martin Christoffel and Norm Spencer. 

This is the fourth show in Broadway Bound’s 2010-11 season. The season began in August, with the world-premiere staging of an original musical God Lives in Glass (Rainier Beach High School) and continued recently with Hairspray and Willy Wonka. The 2010-2011 season will conclude with the performances of Fiddler on the Roof, Jr., followed shortly by the production 13, also at the Falls Theatre at ACT.

Tickets to Fiddler on the Roof, Jr. are $15.00 and are available online or by phone at 206-292-7676, or in person at the box office at ACT Theatre. For more information about Fiddler on the Roof, Jr. and Broadway Bound, visit BroadwayBound.