Islanders:

Ron Roth is Tevye in MST's Fiddler on the Roof

Nancy Howe, Director of The Main Street Theatre and Dance Alliance, peers over her glasses and says, "You can't even consider doing a show like Fiddler on the Roof unless you have a really strong Tevye, so before we committed to doing this show, I called Ron Roth to see if he would be interested in playing Tevye." The answer was a resounding "yes."

Ron Roth, a 22-year resident of Roosevelt Island, was born in New York City and studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. His interest in performing began at an early age. He says, simply, "As a kid, I wanted to be the center of attention." As the man matured, however, so did the motivation. Acting, he says, "is the ultimate time machine. For that brief moment, you can be anyone, anywhere, and you can take the audience with you. For that moment, you're timeless." What keeps Ron going, though, is that acting is never a completed process. "Every day, you learn something new. Where else can you do that?"

The path that led Ron to acting has become a familiar one, followed by such talents as Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy and Billy Crystal. About twenty years ago, Ron began doing stand-up comedy. "It was the quickest way to the footlights," Ron says. "You walk in, go to the stage, and for fifteen minutes, the show is all yours." Ron was even recruited by the government of Finland to teach a stand-up comedy workshop. "The suicide rate is really high there, so I guess the government thought that the people needed more humor." Although it was an interesting experience, Ron is skeptical about the success of the project. "They were pretty funny, but most of their gags were about suicide."

Along the way, Ron has stayed busy and his list of credits keeps growing. Among numerous stage credits, Ron has appeared in regional theater (The Miracle Worker, Plaza Suite, Wait Until Dark, The Crucible), and has appeared on television programs such as America's Most Wanted and A Current Affair. In addition, Ron has turned in well-reviewed performances in several feature films, such as Bonfire of the Vanities, Green Card, and The Super. Fiddler will mark his fourth appearance on the Main Street Theater stage.

Of all the roles Ron has played, though, he says that the role of Tevye may be the most satisfying. "Tevye has everything - comedy, drama, pathos - everything." It is also one of the few roles that is at once a leading man and a "character." As Ron says, Tevye is "the kind of role an actor dreams of."

An acting teacher once told Ron that it takes 20 years to become an actor. Since then Ron has spent over 20 years honing his skills in the comedic and dramatic arts. Tevye is a role that Ron is ideally suited to play. As the tailor in Fiddler would say, "It is a match made to measure."