PHOTO | RIK ANDERSEN
Web Editor’s Note: For more photos of Fiddler on the Roof, click here!
Fiddler on the Roof makes its way into the Branding Iron Theater at West Texas A&M University. The musical opened last week and will commence again this week, the 21-24.
I sat down with Kayla Gregg, senior musical theater major, who takes on the roll as Tzeitel, to talk about this season’s play and what it means to her.
Jonas Leon Rios: What do you think about the production of Fiddler so far?
Kayla Gregg: It’s going great and is a lot of fun. It’s also great working with Mr. Brantley. I really love the story; it’s just amazing. It’s a part of history that a lot of people my age don’t know about. Even though it is a very deep, very sad historical play, there is so much comedy in the play. The audience just rolls every night, and so do we backstage; it’s so much fun.
Rios: Now, as opposed to last semester’s production of Beauty and the Beast, how does this compare?
Gregg: Obviously it’s a smaller part, (as opposed to the main role of Belle, Kayla played last semester) and the set is not as intricate as Beauty and the Beast, but it’s still a great show. I love watching what the designers have done with the set; it’s a very simplistic idea and yet it comes across very well I think. Seeing Mr. Brantley perform and to be ale to work and learn from him has just been wonderful.
Rios: So why Fiddler this semester?
Gregg: Part of it is because it’s WT’s centennial and we wanted to do a big show, but also because it’s a tribute to the Brantley family. Mr. Brantley’s father was the director of music, here at WT, for a very long time. He performed Tevye when he was here at WT. So, it’s bringing that tradition of the Brantley family on through to us as well.
Rios: What will you take away from this experience?
Gregg: Wow, what won’t I take away from this experience? It’s really quite indescribable to get to do this production, which I watched since I was a child; we had the movie, and I watched it over and over again. To be a part of this production with Mr. Brantley, and with the others and the cast who are all just phenomenal, is quite an experience. It’s interesting to do a show of this proportion that is so different from the last big show we did, Beauty and the Beast.
Rios: What do you think you’ll miss about all of this?
Gregg: The bantering back stage and the audiences’ reactions to the slapstick comedy is just priceless. The audience reaction to the relationship between Tevye and Golde is just wonderful, and of course the other characters as well. I’ll definitely miss all of that.
Rios: For those who haven’t seen Fiddler, what can they expect?
Gregg: It is a family show; it is funny. It will make you laugh, and it will make you cry in several places. I tear up every night, and I mean every night. I also laugh until my sides hurt every night, of course backstage. It’s such a well-rounded show, and the characters are so close to everybody. You can see how these characters live and how they are struggling through their lives, but their smiling through their struggles as well. It’s just a great, great show.
Rios: Will this be your last play as a student?
Gregg: That remains to be seen. We have auditions for Twelfth Night coming up the week after Fiddler closes, and then in the spring we’ll have auditions for a play that Mr. Brantley is directing. So, I might audition for shows that year as well.
Rios: What do you plan on doing after you graduate?
Gregg: I’ll probably be here as a student next year as well, trying to get my teaching certificate; I’d love to teach, but if I’m supposed to perform then I’ll go that route, too.