Long Beach Playhouse — Attraction in Long Beach

I attended the final dress rehearsal performance of Long Beach Playhouse's production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF on June 26, 2025. Directed by Gregory Cohen and starring Eric M. Schiffer as Tevye, this was, among other superlatives, the most charming presentation of the show I have ever seen. Director Cohen's creative use of this theater's intimate physical space began with an active Anatevka street scene happening prior to rise as the audience took its seats, continued with a fabulous staging of THE DREAM Sequence with the tombstones in the cemetery and the masked villagers becoming a movable feast of sights and sounds, and Tevye and Golde's upstage exit at "It's nice to know" in DO YOU LOVE ME started my own personal waterworks.

There is so much praise I could heap upon this cast that I had best stifle myself, at least in part. Schiffer has impeccible comedic timing, the requisite emotional range at moments of sadness and pathos, and the physicality to rank among the best of Tevyes. Lisa Meert's Golde parries perfectly with Tevye and adds lush and creamy contralto harmony. Cassie Angerosa-Korrie, Rachel Girardet and Lorelei Dumas as the three eldest daughters provide beautiful vocals and strong individual challenges to Tevye's struggle with the encroaching tide of modernity. Jack Murphy's Constable projects a near-tactile warmth toward Tevye despite his obligation to fulfilling his official duty to his superiors, Sherry Donerego masters Yente with such professional depth, Adriano Brown gives Perchik a well-honed edge as the fiery revolutionary, I could go and on. The ensemble's vocals and dances are excellent and the Chavele dance sequence took my breath away. I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the dream's end.

Go see this production! You will be so glad you did....

The theater -itself- is small in a good way (every seat is an excellent one). I've seen a few shows, now, and it seems like the pool of acting talent they draw is... widely variable. In any given show, I've been blown away by the talent of some of the actors, and blown away by the mediocrity of others. They generally don't seem to have much money to spend on sets or effects, which is too bad but unsurprising... this generally doesn't detract that much from the shows, but I wouldn't see any more musicals from them until I've been promised that they have hired at least -one- real musician, rather than all the music coming from speakers playing terrible midi-quality versions of the instrumentals. (Seriously. Into the Woods, my favorite musical ever, was kind of ruined by that.)

They also really need to hire at least a couple more people to man their phones/email. I've had difficulty sometimes getting ahold of anyone to convert season tickets into...

I love seeing plays at the Long Beach Playhouse! Going to the theater (theatre?) really makes me feel like an "adult", but for those who can't afford Broadway, this well run theater with excellently casts productions is a great way to spend an evening. I'm so excited to be a first time subscriber this coming 2015-2016 season! Hopefully we can afford to renew next year! They have 2 stages which offer different productions. Downstairs at the Main Stage they play the classics and more serious theater, geared toward the family; upstairs in the Studio Theater they'll play lesser known plays, adaptations, wacky stuff, but be prepared for some salty language and...