Kenai theater group brings famed ‘Fiddler’ to Massay

PALMER — Cast and crew of the upcoming production of “Fiddler on the Roof” at the Glenn Massay Theater are hoping to make a match between Mat-Su audiences and a Kenai Peninsula theater company.

Triumvirate Theatre president Joe Rizzo said he’s excited for his Kenai-based organization to have “an entirely new audience,” and potentially provide more opportunities for aspiring thespians in Wasilla.

“The more arts there are, the better,” Rizzo said.

Triumvirate started about 20 years ago as “basically a children’s theater,” he said, with various drama camps made available to local kids by volunteers. Since then, the organization has grown into a community theater for actors and actresses of all ages from around the state. The group typically puts on five or six productions a year, Rizzo said.

This weekend’s musical will be Triumvirate’s first full show in the Valley.

“This is very exciting,” Rizzo said.

But it’s not without cost.

As “the money man” behind the show, Rizzo said putting on a musical of this caliber is “very expensive,” with royalties (production rights) running to nearly $10,000.

“This is why individuals don’t put on great big musicals,” he said. “Nobody has 10K to risk on this.”

Rizzo said he’s not worried, though, having “great confidence” in his cast and crew.

Triumvirate board member AJ Seims of Wasilla — the only member currently living in the Valley — has been the boots-on-the-ground producer for “Fiddler,” and also acts the part of Tevye, the father of five girls. Tevye’s most memorable musical numbers include “If I Were a Rich Man,” “To Life (L’chaim)” and “Sunrise, Sunset.”

Other famous songs in the play that may be familiar to audiences include “Tradition” and “Matchmaker, Matchmaker.”

Seims said he’s long wanted to do the musical by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, but couldn’t decide if he wanted to act or produce.

Director Rodger Sorensen — who was both Rizzo and Seims’s professor at Brigham Young University-Idaho — suggested he do both.

“I remember Rodger saying to me, ‘But AJ, you are Tevye,’” Seims said.

Sorensen now teaches at BYU in Utah, but was glad to make the trip north to work with his former students — and the rest of the 58-person cast.

“I love working with this group very much,” Sorensen said.

He said the biggest challenge has been directing in spurts, as he has only been able to be onsite a total of about four weeks, with a six-week break in between. While that’s not terribly uncommon in the directing world, Sorensen said professional shows can come together in three weeks under the right circumstances.

“With professional theater you can rehearse eight hours a day,” he said.

But the blessing and the curse of community theater is that most of the cast members have day jobs or school to attend that preclude such intense acting.

One such cast member is Gabriel Brown, a 2010 Colony High graduate who plays Motel the Tailor. Brown and his wife, Alicia, were active in the music and drama programs at Colony, and continue to act in the Valley and their current hometown of Anchorage. He was last seen onstage at the Massay as one of the men’s ensemble in “Chicago.”

Brown said he’s been fortunate to have a flexible work schedule to accommodate his hobby, but that “Fiddler” has been “one of the most grueling” plays he’s been a part of, in terms of hours dedicated to rehearsals. Still, it’s all been “very enjoyable,” he said.

“I mainly just enjoy being a part of something like this,” Brown said.

Performances of “Fiddler on the Roof” at The Glenn Massay Theater are Feb. 19-20 and Feb. 25-27 at 7 p.m., with an additional 1 p.m. matinee show on Saturday, Feb. 27. To purchase tickets in advance, visit glennmassaytheater.com.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com