“The older the fiddler, the sweeter the tune.” Pope Paul

Our last show in the Big 🍎 – “Fiddler on the Roof” presented Off-Broadway entirely in Yiddish ~ Oy Vey! I have seen several versions before, but this revival, directed by Joel Grey, is theatre PERFECTION. Bare staging, several floor-to-ceiling banners of brown crinkled butcher paper; two of the banners both stage left and right were used to superimpose the translation both in English and Yiddish. But did I really need it? The storyline and music are so familiar that only occasional glances were necessary to follow along.

I’m sure this revival would have gathered a few Tony Award nominations, but Off-Broadway plays and musicals do not qualify. But Steven Skybell (as Tevye), Jennifer Babiak (Golde), and our perennial favorite, comedian/actress, Jackie Hoffman (Yente), delivered Tony caliber performances. All the actors were exceptional. One highlight, among many, was the four “bottle dancers” in the wedding scene … it brought back fond memories of our own wedding.

If you are a devotee of this show, no matter in what language it’s singing or spoken in, the melody and lyrics are hauntingly beautiful……from the opening number “Tradition” to fan favorite, “Sunrise, Sunset.” The duet by Tevye and Golde, “Do You Love Me?” had me in tears. I saw tenderness and emotional connection between the characters that I have not experienced in other performances.

You’ve always heard “save the best for last” and this being our last play and last night in the city . . . we did save the BEST FOR LAST. It’s a performance that I won’t soon forget.

David has been searching high & low for Drake’s Ring Dings, Yodels, and Devil Dogs with no luck. Not a fan, but he grew up eating this crap and he gets nostalgic for it when in NY. We met Candace this morning for brunch; she’s another one of David’s fashion industry BFFs, and lo and behold, after hugs and kisses, as Candace sat down she hands David a bag full of his favorite goodies. You could have peeled the boy off the ceiling with happiness. She also got me a bag of chocolate rugelach, a Jewish-filled pastry, a favorite of mine. As always, we could have sat from brunch to dinner chitchatting away.

Dinner tonight was a special one spent with my East Coast family, the Bershad Clan. They descended on the city from the Metro/L.I. area for an Italian dinner at Amarone, in Hell’s Kitchen, for laughter, good food, and tall stories. In attendance: David’s brother, Steven and his girlfriend, Teri, Cousin Mark with his wife Debi and their two beautiful and accomplished daughters, and Mark’s sister, Cousin Lynne. Small group, but at times you’d think we were all Cubans – as we were loud, after all – they’re retiring to Miami!

We are spending our last night in a boutique hotel on West 42nd Street. We lost the hot water yesterday at our Airbnb and our host very apologetically booked us the hotel room……..no wonder he’s rated a “Super Host.”