AURORA | It didn’t take very much time for Sophia Hummell to adjust to life as one of the newest members of the Phamaly Theatre Company.
The fact that Hummell, 19, was a guest performer who recently arrived from San Francisco didn’t keep her from making fast friends in the Aurora-based troupe. No one in the company was put off by the fact that Hummell was only in town for the summer; they quickly accepted as one of their own the talented violinist who had come to Colorado to take up the titular role in the theater’s summer production of the musical “Fiddler on the Roof.” Even more importantly, no one minded that the gifted young musician only had one arm.
It’s not surprising that it didn’t make any difference for the crew from Phamaly, the nation’s only theater company composed entirely of performers with physical, cognitive and emotional disabilities.
“Nobody missed a beat with her. In this company, it’s not like people were saying, ‘Oh, Sophia, can I look at your arm?’” said Phamaly Artistic Director Steve Wilson. “It’s like, ‘Welcome. There are people with no legs, people with walkers.’ She fit in on day one.”
That’s no easy feat. There’s a strong sense of community in this troupe, a dynamic that isn’t all that different from the tight-knit Jewish community featured in “Fiddler on the Roof,” the 1964 musical written by Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick and Joseph Stein. Based on the short stories of Sholem Aleichem and set in Russia in 1905, the musical centers around a population that’s been marginalized and misunderstood.
The parallels to the experiences of Phamaly company members aren’t so hard to make. Many of the actors have been working together since the company’s first show in 1990, which makes for a pretty strong sense of loyalty and kinship in this singular troupe.
“To me, this story is great because it applies to the Jewish community, but it also applies to every community,” said Mark Dissette, an Aurora resident and Gateway High School graduate who plays the lead role of Tevye in “Fiddler.” It’s the second time Dissette has played the role in a Phamaly production of the show; he pointed out that nearly 20 years of experience, challenges and community have changed how he approaches the role for his second go-around. “Sometimes we all don’t get along, but we come together and support each other,” he added, extending the comparison to the local disabled community. “When we have a chance to come together like this for a few months, you see this tremendous support.”
It didn’t take long for the young violinist from San Francisco to plug into that sense of support.
The funding for additional casting for the show came in part from a National Endowment for the Arts grant that PHAMALY secured earlier this year. The troupe was one of 817 nonprofits across the country to receive such a grant.
Hummell fit in quickly and seamlessly, a logical consequence for anyone who spends five minutes talking to the violinist. Hummell, whose professional credits includes stints in the San Francisco State Orchestra and performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., is warm and vivacious. It takes little urging to get her to open up about her art, training and plans for the future. She’s enthusiastic when she speaks about her budding career as a professional musician or her favorite styles of music.
She’s candid and frank about her prosthesis, but she doesn’t let the loss of her arm define who she is. The design of the prosthetic piece that harnesses her violin bow has changed since she first started playing in elementary school. The first basic design featured a socket for the arm and an aluminum bar; less than a year ago, Hummell’s violin teacher and prosthesis worked together on a new design meant to improve the angle of the violin bow.
Hummell will be using that rig in her role in “Fiddler,” and she’ll have a bit of help when it comes to the violin parts. Hummell will play a roving Jewish mother fleeing the Russian pogroms with her son. Denver Young Artists Orchestra’s Conservatory Orchestra member Leslie Wilburn, 11, plays her son, and the two young musicians have multiple violin duets through the show.
Wilson added the second fiddler in the personage of a son to further underline the show’s themes of family; the backstory about the pair running from persecution and violence also played to the larger messages of the drama.
“The show is about a father and his daughters,” Wilson said, referring to the central narrative of Tevye and his daughters who leave home for different reasons. “In wanting to drive home that and a parallel, I thought, ‘How cool would it be if Sophia and Leslie are both these roving musicians?’ My concept is the fiddlers are escaping another pogrom; they don’t just happen to be random fiddlers who go up on the roof every morning.”
Instead, they’re recent arrivals to a larger family, a larger community with deep roots and unbreakable bonds. It’s a fitting plot point for Wilburn and Hummell, both of whom have managed to make a home with Phamaly.
“Fiddler on the Roof”
Through August 11 at the Space Theatre at the Denver Performing Arts Complex
Tickets start at $30
303-893-4100
phamaly.org