Singing, dancing rabbi makes acting debut in ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
Alliance Theatre casting director Jody Feldman felt like her rabbi, Ron Segal, had something special.
“I listen to him chant all the time; I know he can sing,” said Feldman.
Check.
He’d blown away his congregation when he performed at a “Dancing with the Sinai Stars” fundraiser in 2021 and won.
“He’s a phenomenal dancer,” said Feldman.
Check.
“Being in front of a large congregation for all of these years has certainly eliminated any kind of stage fright,” said Segal. “I have no concerns about being in front of people.”
Check.
Nevertheless, when Brad Levenberg, rabbi at Temple Sinai, suggested Segal for a part in the Alliance Theatre production of “Fiddler on the Roof,” even Feldman — a devoted 18-year member of Segal’s congregation, which she calls her spiritual home — wasn’t entirely convinced.
Feldman gets “tips” about amazing performers all the time: friends of friends, people’s daughters, family members who someone thinks would be perfect for “A Christmas Carol” or “Sister Act” or “Bring It On.”
But, Feldman cautioned, “My job at the Alliance is to put forward to directors and creative teams the best talent, the best people for the role.”
“Considering Rabbi Ron, I was like, ‘OK, well, let me think about this.’” said Feldman.
Segal wasn’t exactly sold either when he learned Levenberg had pitched him to Feldman as an actor. “He knows I like the theater, but I never, ever would have done something like this,” he said.
And yet, on Sept. 4, Segal will make his professional theatrical debut at the Alliance playing the rabbi and spiritual center of the Russian village of Anatevka in 1905 in what Feldman said is probably the most performed musical of all time, “Fiddler on the Roof.”
By all accounts, Segal killed it singing “Suddenly, Seymour” from “Little Shop of Horrors” at his Alliance audition for “Fiddler on the Roof.”
Once she saw Segal perform, the show’s choreographer Chloe Treat, would not be denied, said Feldman. “She just stands up and she stomps her foot, and she’s like, ‘I’m not doing this show. if Jody’s rabbi is not in it!’”
“Everybody just fell in love with him,” said Feldman.
And the rest is musical theater history, with Segal becoming possibly the first real rabbi to perform professionally as the fictional rabbi in “Fiddler on the Roof.”
The Alliance production of “Fiddler on the Roof” is a collaboration with the Atlanta Opera, whose artistic director, Tomer Zvulun, directs the beloved musical. The production is a mix of mostly regional performers as well as two powerhouse leads: Israeli television and film actor Itzik Cohen plays the charismatic, philosophical village milkman Tevye. His wife Golde, who wants nothing more than to marry off her house full of daughters, is played by Tony and Grammy winner Debbie Gravitte.
“The amount of talent in the room is just spectacular, and I’m just trying not to be the weakest link and throw everything off,” said Segal, though he has his own gifts to lend to the production.
“There have been several cast members who have approached me during breaks and off times with questions about Jewish history or different characters that they’re playing, and I’ve tried to be helpful historically or textually, and I’m honored, truly,” he said.
To attend rehearsals six days a week, Segal had to temporarily put aside some of his real rabbi duties so he could don beard and wig and prepare to move an audience to tears and joy in the timeless tale of community, tradition and the destructive forces of hatred.
Though it’s his first time on stage as an adult, Segal was an enthusiastic thespian while attending college at Houston’s Rice University where he played Billy Flynn in “Chicago.” He also performed in “Guys and Dolls,” “Once Upon a Mattress,” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
“It was really a source of great fulfillment and joy,” said Segal, who had considered transferring to a college with a theater program. But his parents dissuaded him, encouraging him to learn a trade. You can always come back to the theater later, they told him, not realizing the prophetic nature of their promise.
He ended up majoring in psychology. Upon graduation, he tried his hand at retail, worked as an assistant director at a summer camp and then went on to rabbinic school. Inspired by the leadership of Rabbi Phil Kranz at Temple Sinai, Segal moved to Atlanta.
“The opportunity to work with Rabbi Kranz was truly what drew me to Atlanta. And this community has just been an amazing, amazing source of blessing and joy and fulfillment in our lives,” says Segal, now in his 30th year at Temple Sinai.
The play’s action takes place in imperial Russia in a Jewish community where residents are being systematically driven out of their village by the czar’s soldiers. Segal connects to the film’s powerful statement against antisemitism that transcends place and time. His own grandparents came from Germany and Hungary, and his grandfather was able to narrowly escape Nazi Germany before Kristallnacht.
“It is impossible to be a Jew today and to not feel great pain at the fact that there is just so much hatred,” said Segal. He noted that the themes of “Fiddler on the Roof” resonate today with its message about the inevitability of change, “the consequences of ‘othering’ people, the insanity of abject hate.”
Embodying a character facing such persecution has been a profound experience, said Segal.
“How do I refrain from not becoming overcome with emotion on stage? Because parts of it are already, even in rehearsal, very moving,” he said. “I certainly hope that audiences will be impacted and moved by what they encounter and see and feel.”
THEATER PREVIEW
“Fiddler on the Roof.” Sept. 4-Oct. 12. $31 and up. Alliance Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. 404-733-4600, alliancetheatre.org
