TEVYE THE MILKMAN

Once the American listener gets used to a shtetl dweller with an English accent, Neville Jason makes a fairly decent Tevye, the hapless milk and cheese purveyor of pre-Revolutionary Russia who is "cursed" with a house full of beautiful and strong-willed daughters. He himself tells us the funny/tragic stories of his daughter’s various marriages in an already dangerous (for Jews) world being violently yanked into a new century. His tales helped make his creator, Sholem Aleichem, a beloved writer and inspired the hit musical FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. While one could wish that Jason had a wider resource of expression and a better appreciation of Aleichem's excruciating irony, he does very well with the charm, humor, and, especially, the heartbreak of the character he portrays. Y.R. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2009]