Evangel Heights chooses 'Fiddler' for focus on family and tradition

Evangel Heights Christian Academy presents “Fiddler On The Roof Jr.” April 26 and 27.

EHCA selected a shorter junior musical version this season, but will still offer an intermission during the show.

“The junior shows are shorter and we have a smaller student body and the junior versions are more feasible for us to put on,” director and EHCA alumnus Madisson Heinl says.

“Fiddler On The Roof Jr.” takes place in the small village of Anatevka, Russia, during the Czarist regime.

Audiences will be introduced to milkman Tevye, who fights an uphill battle to keep his five daughters protected from an ever changing world and his Jewish traditions. The audience will enjoy humor mixed with honesty and family insight as Tevye tries to marry off each of his daughters in his poor, but happy family.

“It's about how traditions and values in the olden times have been changed,” says senior Amy Thompson, who plays one of Tevye's daughters. “I (my character) go off with somebody that I love and it's going against tradition.”

After performing Disney musicals the last few seasons, Heinl says the musical choice this season focuses on family and tradition.

“Fiddler” is a poignant story about refugee families getting pushed out of where they are living and how they have to navigate in a world with people who are different than they are,” Heinl says.

The audience can expect four big dance numbers and featured dancers balancing bottles on their heads during the “bottle dance.”

Senior Noah Miller plays the family patriarch, Tevye, and his classmates say he already acts paternal. “Those dreams of being a dad have come to a fruition,” he says.

Joyce Hanz is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.