Being Fruma-Sarah: An Inside Look at HHS’s Fiddler on the Roof
By Alexandra Shworak
A Fiddler on the Roof production! Sounds fun, true? True!
I loved being in Fiddler so much! It was a great production for my freshman year! I have enjoyed feeling so included in Footlighters. I played (past tense… sad!) Fruma-Sarah, the screaming dead lady in Tevye’s dream.
Though at times the rehearsal process was long and grueling, we made a very tight show. All four performances turned out great! The cast included Claire Wild as the Fiddler; Jake van Leer and Annie Tracy as Tevye and Golde; Alexandra Burkot, Amy Waters and Kendra Comstock as Tzeitel, Hodel and Chava; Charlie Collison, Jared Geilich and Connor O’Leary as Motel, Perchik and Fyedka. And those are only a few of the many leads and ensemble members in Fiddler.
My dream counterparts Grandma Tzeitel (Molly Zegans) and the Rabbi (Mike Lion) and I had special make-up protocols. Myself especially. I had clown-white face paint, blue/purple/black cream eye shadow, and bright red lipstick. My costume was also quite epic. It weighed ten pounds! It was made of around fifty different pieces of fabric stitched together, making it a fabulous contraption to get in and out of. I even got to keep it! I happen to use a piece of it that fell off as a hair accessory. Halloween next year? I think yes!
I also loved being in Fiddler with my sister, Jocelyn. She was cast as ‘Woman.’ It was her first Footlighters show, and we had a blast together! After almost a month, we still find ourselves singing the songs, repeating lines that weren’t even ours, and finding references to Fiddler in the oddest places. I was even reminded of it a couple of times while reading The Tempest!
I know that Fiddler will have a long-lasting effect on me, and I can’t wait for next year’s show!