Nandan Nair

Every society has its own culture and norms that have been followed for many decades. However, every generation, new ideas are developed, and the conventional ideas are tested, questioning people’s faith, and making society choose between converting to the new ways, or sticking with tradition.

This is the central plot of “Fiddler on the Roof”, the musical which me and my classmates at Quincy High School performed. It follows the story of a milkman named Tevye and his 5 daughters, and their inner struggle to choose between generations of tradition, or love.

This show was very different from the one I did at Central, Singin in the Rain Jr, because at Central, you just do one show in the winter, while at Quincy High, we do three shows; two plays in the fall and spring, and a winter musical between them. Another difference is that Quincy High has a reputation for putting up very good shows, so there was some added pressure to really perform well. However, with this added pressure came added benefits, as we also got higher quality props, and our costumes were also specially designed, all to make the production look as realistic as possible. The best part was that for all the people who played the role of a father, we got stick-on beards and mustaches to wear. While the “glue” we used to attach the facial accessories to our faces (called spirit gum) felt itchy on our chins, and was a hassle to get off our faces after each show (after removing the beards, the gum stayed on our chins as a white layer, which was very uncomfortable, forcing us to use isopropyl alcohol to get rid of it), it was small sacrifices we had to make, and the show was much more realistic because of it.

The three days in which we put up the show were, for me, the best days of that entire production, as there were so many surprises with the crowd and such, and it was very exciting to put on a show in front of so many people. For example, one of the dance numbers in the show, L’Chaim, which means to life, was so energetic and fun, and the crowd always gave us a huge applause following the end of the number. It gave us a lot of motivation and confidence for the rest of the show. The Saturday night show was especially amazing, as the crowd was so energetic and welcoming, and it made the show all the more enjoyable.

It was a fun show to make, and I have made many new friends, along with memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I would especially like to thank Mrs Spencer, Mr Boel, and Mr Doucette, for bringing this entire production together and making it as amazing as it was. I look forward to performing in next year’s musical.