20 YEARS AFTER A SMASH, `FIDDLER' REPRISES HERE

The first musical Cindy King directed at Notre Dame High School "Fiddler on the Roof" was a smash, she recalls 20 years later.

"I was 23 and I thought everything I did was wonderful."

But so did the audiences. In costume and beard, tall-and-skinny Bill Schlitt's beautiful voice and assured manner as Tevye made people wonder whether she'd imported a ringer. "He really fooled everybody," King said.

The cast, a self-reliant group, plowed through the inevitable rough spots. King remembers Schlitt ad-libbing dialogue when Chava completely missed her cue one night.

In general, she recalls the "late hours and warm feelings."

Notre Dame will reprise "Fiddler on the Roof" at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the school gym. Tickets are $5.

King decided to remount "Fiddler," the first musical to be repeated during her tenure, for two reasons. First is the practical one it offers feature parts to a good number of performers. "We have quite a few people we knew had the abilities to do the parts," she said.

The fact that the musical is grounded in the Jewish tradition also was attractive, King said.

"In today's world we lose a lot of tradition and we forget about family values," she said.

"We wanted to bring it back to reinstate the idea of traditions being important."

At that, King said some of the seniors were upset about repeating "Fiddler." "They said, `Oh no, it's not original," she recounted.

But if tradition is the message, Notre Dame's production has it.

At least one member of the 1993 stage crew Christy Auer has a parent who worked on the 1973 production.

The Notre Dame Class of '73 will host a reception for the show Saturday night. Among those who will be present are Ed Radetic, a St. Louisan who played Motel the tailor in the 1973 production. Jim Pfau, one of the original bottle dancers, still lives in Cape Girardeau and will attend Saturday's performance.

In the orchestra, clarinetist Ann Welker was student Ann Annberry when she played in the original "Fiddler." Dr. Dan Cotner also played the trombone in the 1973 production.

King said the original leads live in Virginia and California, and won't attend because their 20-year class reunion will be held here in June.

Because Notre Dame is a small school, the "Fiddler" cast and crew of 167 represent more than 60 percent of the student body.

"We have a lot of new people in the show who have no background in school productions at all," King said.

About one-third of the cast of 50 plays on the school's baseball or softball teams, which mean rehearsals must be scheduled around ball games.

As a result, King compromises, redesigning part of one set to make it simpler and hoping against extra innings.

"The show must go on," she says.

Each of the school's annual productions is started from scratch. Besides directing, King also is in charge of the scenery and lighting. Dina Strickert, a Notre Dame music teacher, is the vocal director, and math teacher Lenny Kuper has been the rehearsal pianist.

Volunteers Duva and Roger Arpin are handling this production's most crucial and time-consuming component making the wool beards each of the male cast members must wear.

"Fiddler's" most difficult requirement is its combination of Jewish dialect and comic timing, says King, who teaches English, speech and drama at the school.

"When you add recreating something that's attached to the culture and comic timing, that makes it hard."