Despite the corona, Ezekiel Lazrov continues to conquer America

Ezekiel Lazrov returned to America for the third round of the production "Fiddler on the Roof" starring him, and despite the plague - it is a success.

In the interview, he tells how his traditional family reacted to his marriage to a non-Jewish woman, why the play is a correction for him and how he resembles Tuvia the Milkman

Avner Shavit

27/12/2021

Monday, 27 December 2021, 00:28

• Share on Facebook

• Share on WhatsApp

• Share on Twitter

• Share on Email

• Share on general

• Comments

  Comments

"Getting into Topol's shoes? I do not believe in that concept."

Ezekiel Lazrov in "Fiddler on the Roof" (Photo: John Marcus)

Last Tuesday, the production of "Fiddler on the Roof" returned for another round on the United States stages. The starting point was Boston, and conditions could not have been less ideal: the corona was raging, the weather frozen, and in the movie theater across the street everyone was running to see "Spider-Man: The Road Home" and ignoring Spielberg's adaptation of the musical "The Suburb Story." Still, the prestigious Emerson Theater was quite full, and the evening turned out to be a success: with applause, rave reviews in the local media and most importantly, no verified cases.

This is a strictly American production, but in the role of Tuvia the Milkman stars Ezekiel Lazrov, who also did so in the previous two rounds. The star is Israeli and the lyrics are wonderfully Jewish, and yet "Fiddler on the Roof" has a universal dimension, so it is understandable why he continues to gain international resonance, even sixty years after he first appeared. After all, through the story of the milkman from the shtetl and his seven daughters, the musical deals with conflicts such as tradition versus modernity, homeland versus immigration, national identity versus assimilation. The theater is located in the Chinatown district of Boston, and the families who came there from China can also identify with the history of the Eastern European family.

Lazrov is of course not the first to play Tuvia. He was preceded by others, led by Haim Topol, who did so both on stage and on the big screen - a role for which he won the Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar, a precedent-setting and one-time achievement for an Israeli actor. His successor is aware of this legacy but does not like the concept of "getting into shoes".

"I do not connect to it," he says in an interview with Walla!

Culture, which takes place after the show.

"This concept does not contribute in any way, and even paralyzes. I think each actor sews his own qualities. Each role depends on many things - the director who does the production, the period in which the production goes up. Today there is a different conception of Judaism, of relationships, of life. "Of what is tradition, what is woman and what is man. It is amazing how a period, with its cultural and emotional anchors, becomes perceptions."

More on Walla!

What is important to know in the event of an accident, and in a car insurance claim

Walla!

A vehicle in partnership with the Phoenix

Lazrov performs the most famous number from "Fiddler on the Roof"

How it manifests itself?

"Take for example the way the audience reacts to Tuvia's treatment of his wife. From year to year, the reactions change. Nowadays, every time I tease her or do something to her behind her back - the audience no longer likes it, and I can feel it in the reactions."

In one of the highlights of "Fiddler on the Roof," Tuvia confronts his daughter when she intends to marry a gentile, and this plot line corresponds with Lazrov's personal life. "My family is religious, and I am also traditional myself - separating meat and milk and putting on tefillin every morning, even abroad. My partner, on the other hand, is not Jewish, and so are our daughters, "he says." Today my parents are already completely in love with her, and she is like their daughter. But you can imagine their reaction at first. "Playing Tuvia, who ultimately blesses his daughter 'God be with you', was a kind of correction for me."

"Every time I tease my wife, the audience no longer likes it."

From "Fiddler on the Roof" (Photo: Emerson Theater)

As in "Stisel", "Fiddler on the Roof" also has the character of a matchmaker.

Which do you think is better, matchmaking like once or Tinder?

"I am a matchmaker in my character, and there are quite a few couples for whom I am responsible. I do not believe in any coercion, but I can understand this profession. There is such a thing as match, there is matching energy and connection. These are things that can be identified."

"Twenty years ago, at the Tambour store in Sheinkin. She told me that her friend came to help her, but he did not come, and I found myself helping her carry things. Then I went to study theater in London and we said goodbye, but when I returned we met by chance and it turned out she broke up with Who was her boyfriend at the time - and we have been together ever since. "

Will not compromise on the quality of the burger.

Ezekiel Lazrov (Photo: David Adika)

You have three daughters in common. Are you as involved in their lives as Tuvia in the lives of his daughters?

"Sure, we are very connected. We have no separation between father roles and mother roles. I am always a very present father, even if not physically. I also believe that like Tuvia, father should be involved in his daughters' romantic decisions, but I have not yet To tell them that one guy or another is not right for me. "

"Yes, ever since. As a kid, I would lock myself in a room, lift my head up and talk to him. Ask him questions and argue, and I do to this day. He listens to my opinion."

Lazrov is 47 years old, and defines himself as the "grandfather of the cast."

Everyone does corona tests daily and is very worried that the show will be frozen.

Meanwhile, unlike many Broadway productions, they continue uninterrupted.

The show ends late at night, and all the good restaurants are already closed.

The actor is hungry but does not agree to compromise, and we walk around for half an hour in the cold and darkness in search of a normal place, until we settle down at a noisy hamburger eatery.

The life of glamor!

"I really enjoy all of this, but after five hundred shows, sometimes I just enjoy the show ending," he admits.

"Tuvia is a gift - he is a character who has all the colors that any player can ask for. The most interesting and rare shade is his caring. He is a person who cares all the time. He has no drop of indifference, and that is fatherhood to me."

From "The Unnecessary Man" (Photo: Ran Selwyn)

It's already morning in Israel, and Lazrov has entered into an intensive correspondence session with the production he trusts. This is a multidisciplinary and unique event called "Micha Piga", centered on the play "The Unnecessary Man", which he himself directed according to Ivan Goncharov's book "Oblomov". Starring: Shira Naor, Tali Sharon, Gal Friedman and others. All this will take place between the four and eight of January, at the Hall of Culture.

Lazrov also boasts a handsome cinematic resume. One of the strongest roles was as a father in Nadav Lapid's "teacher" - a restaurateur who refuses to cultivate the artistic aspirations of his son, a young poet, because he understands that in today's Israel the real cultural stars are chefs, and that we need a lot of money to survive.

"All these matters of high or deep art do not bother me," he says. "What's hard for me is the loss of modesty. I grew up on stars who walked around with a T-shirt and a bike, but we became a company of shofuni.Tuvia wants money so that he will have peace of mind to study, not for luxury. He did not enjoy it. "

"I do not order coffee at Starbucks. I have my black coffee in the room."

For those in Israel - tickets for the "superfluous person" can be purchased here

for those in the United States - "Fiddler on the Roof" will continue to tour throughout America in the coming months.

Exact dates, locations and dates can be found here

• culture

• in what

Tags

• Ezekiel Lazrov

• Fiddler on the Roof