And then there’s the music! Easily one of the best scores ever written including If I Were a Rich Man which has Tevye musing to God as to whether it would have spoiled some vast eternal plan if he had been born a wealthy man, Matchmaker where his three eldest daughters begin to worry that the Matchmaker may line them up with husbands that are not entirely desirable, To Life where Tevye and Lazar Wolf celebrate the acceptance of a marriage proposal followed by the beautiful scene when the Russians join in the Jewish celebration, Miracles of Miracles when the poor and mousy tailor Motel finally “roars” and wins the hand of his beloved, and the moving Sunrise, Sunset that they sing at his first daughter’s marriage, wondering at how the years fly by so quickly. Too quickly.

The J*Company youth theatre group, performing at the very comfortable Garfield Theatre at the Jewish Community Center in La Jolla, is opening their tenth season with this remarkable musical. In the lead is J*Company alumnus Steve Glickman, thankfully sounding very much like Topol from the film version of Fiddler that was so perfectly done. Steve’s voice and mannerisms and his singing of If I Were a Rich Man enhanced the show remarkably, as did his often bickering with his wife Golde (Samantha Greenstone) who talked more with her hands than with her mouth (if that was possible!). Other great moments included a beautiful rendition of Far From the Home I Love by Alisha Zalkin as Hodel and an uplifting Miracles of Miracles by Adam Covalt as the previously timid Motel who, just before then, performed a hilarious scene with Tevye in which he asked for Tzeitle’s (Karen Gorodzinsky) hand rather than going through the traditional Matchmaker Yente (Danielle Blum).