Local actress Nina Gabianelli plays Yenta in “Fiddler on the Roof in Concert” that will be performed in a one-time-only performance on Tuesday at the Michael Klein Music Tent at 7:30 p.m.
Nina Gabianelli has lived in and around Aspen for almost 25 years. Throughout her time here she has acted in almost every theater group in the Roaring Fork Valley. On Tuesday, she will appear for the second consecutive year in the ongoing collaboration between Theatre Aspen and The Aspen Music Festival when she performs as Yenta in “Fiddler on the Roof in Concert” at the Michael Klein Music Tent.
Gabianelli graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from Boston Conservatory. She then spent a decade acting in New York City. She also worked regionally in theaters from Philadelphia to Florida and produced and performed in several solo shows in the Manhattan cabaret circuit.
Gabianelli worked as the general manager at the Crystal Palace Dinner Theater from 2003 to 2008. While she was running the show she was also performing in the shows as an actress. She worked with the defunct Aspen Community Theater, the Glenwood Vaudeville Theater, Theatre Aspen, the Thunder River Theater Company and she is a founding member of the wildly popular Consensual Improv.
“Consensual Improv has 13 members, which includes seven or so of the original founding members,” Gabianelli said. “ So we’re a pretty tight knit long-term group.”
In her acting career in the valley some of her favorite roles include Miss Hannigan in “Annie” for Theatre Aspen; Mrs. Lovett in “Sweeney Todd” at the Glenwood Vaudeville Revue; Joanne in “Company” for Aspen Community Theatre and most recently Genie in Theatre Aspen’s 2023 production of “Beautiful.”
Theatre Aspen started out in Hotel Jerome with local actors but it evolved into a company that brought in talent from Broadway and other regional theater groups.
“There’s a long tradition of good theater here in this valley which is really great, but as Theatre Aspen moved to a more professional company it became more difficult for those of us who live here to participate,” Gabianelli said. “I’m just so honored to have had the opportunity, both last year and this year, to participate in this collaboration between Theatre Aspen and the Aspen Music Festival.”
Gabianelli plays Yenta in Fiddler. When asked about her character, she said, “She’s the matchmaker. She’s the gossip. She’s the town busybody. But the matchmaker is very important in old traditions where people didn’t choose their husbands, their husbands were chosen for them. The matchmaker’s job is to find the right husband for the right person and she’s the subject of one of the most well known songs in the play (‘Matchmaker’).”
Tuesday’s production is a reunion of sorts for Gabianelli as she went to college with the play’s co-star Anne L. Nathan (Golda), with whom she has remained friends since graduating.
“The opportunity to perform together on the same stage with Anne is just outrageous,” Gabianelli said. “And then, a week ago, I got the rehearsal schedule and found the name David Benoit on it. He also is a graduate of Boston Conservatory, a few years behind us. So you’ve got basically three people who went to school together performing Tuesday night.”
When asked what she liked most about “Fiddler on the Roof,” Gabianelli said, “The score is just beautiful. Aspen Community Theater did it in 2007 and I played Yenta at that time as well. The music is just beautiful. It’s everlasting. The story of family, tradition, change and growth are such universal themes that will continue on. It’s not a dated play. It’s an everlasting piece of material.”
