Encore!

In 2001, students in Anaheim, California, celebrated an age-old tradition,

a performance of the beloved classic, Fiddler on the Roof.

If I were a rich man Yubby dibby dibby...

Now, after two decades of sunrises and sunsets,

the 2001 Katella High School cast of Fiddler is reuniting

for one encore performance.

This is Encore!

Hit it. -(UPBEAT SYNTH MUSIC PLAYING)

When I was 15, I thought I would be a big superstar by this time.

-(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING) -(DUSTIN SINGING)

I was in, you know, a band.

The first album did well. Had a hit single.

Everything crashed and burned, and I had to get a job.

Well, this is what I do. I'm a skilled and tenured pinball tech.

It's, like, really cool taking something that has been

totally thrashed and beat for 20 years,

and bringing it back to its original... glory.

But never in my mind I'd be, like, "Oh, we got Fiddler on the Roof back together."

What? That's just insane.

He was invited to the blacksmith's...

Being in that show as a freshman in high school,

opening night, standing ovation...

It was... It was really important for me in my life.

It solidified that I wanna be a performer.

Hi, folks. How we doing over here?

We're good. How are you? -Doing good.

Do we need a few minutes with the menu?

I have this picture from the show of me as Golde.

It's just a reminder of this amazing, special time that I had,

and kind of keeps me motivated.

I'm just living the dream. (CHUCKLES)

Hey, that looks good. What's that?

Where did you come from?

Enjoying that sandwich, son?

I'm a girl.

I really liked making my teachers laugh, making my classmates laugh.

I was the morning announcements guy,

so I got to do a bunch of different voices and sketches every morning.

Hannibal Lecter.

I also did some Tom Brokaw.

My idea of what a New Yorker sounded like.

Oh, this is so exciting.

Hi guys, whatcha doing over there, boys and girls?

So a lot of these today would probably be considered offensive.

-May we see a menu, please? -(KIDS CHATTING INDISTINCTLY)

I really miss being on stage.

But as a father of three young kids, there's just...

There's not much time for it anymore.

Whoa, whoa. (LAUGHS) -(WOMAN CHEERS)

Yay!

In high school, I went through different phases,

like, "Oh, I'm into swing music now. Ooh."

You wore boots and a trench coat. How cool were you, dude?

I'm here.

Of course.

In drama, I got to accept who I was, the geek that I wanted to be.

Ryan Shakman?

Michelle Anderson, good to see you. Good to see you.

-Hi. (CHUCKLES) Come here.

How are you?

Ryan's hilarious. He is so crazy.

I think he had a little crush on me.

-Oh, my God. -Hey, you wanna go to prom next week?

(CHUCKLES) Let's do it. -(RYAN CHUCKLES)

I had a crush on Michelle back in the day. And everybody knew it.

But Michelle was such a sweet friend. And she asked, "You going to prom?"

We went as friends and just had an excellent, excellent night.

So, been doing anything? Any modeling, any, uh...

-I act, still. Do you? -(PIANO PLAYING)

-No. -No?

-What are you doing these days? -I'm a store clerk.

I'm so excited to be here today

To be with my friends In a wonderful play...

I'm so excited too

Maybe not as excited as you

-Ooh, that's a nice rhyme. -(MICHELLE LAUGHS)

-You haven't lost the chops, kid. Thank you.

You didn't have to play just for me.

-(MICHELLE LAUGHS) -Don't you even start. Oh, my God.

(CHUCKLING) Oh, man. Oh, goodness.

I wouldn't say I was popular, but people certainly knew who I was

by some of the plays that I was in.

To be cast as Tevye was a huge deal.

I... I just think it's gonna be super surreal to step on that stage

with people that I did this with almost 20 years ago.

And some of them, it's been that long since I've seen them.

-Look at you. You look thin. Yeah.

-Oh. -You look good.

Jeff was a showman.

Tradition!

My grandmother, God rest her soul, until the day she died,

talked about his performance as Tevye.

Tradition!

I was probably a bit of a troublemaker.

Junior year, I had kind of decided that I don't need my math class anymore,

uh, and had stopped going, which led to my expulsion.

That experience made me take a long, hard look in the mirror.

You know, it was definitely a wake-up call, for sure.

James Menke.

-Well... Hi!

-Oh, James. -Get on up here.

I was very involved in the theater program.

And I'm really excited about reacquainting myself

with... with, uh, being on stage and being part of a cast.

-Congratulations on everything. -Thank you, thank you.

Fatherhood. Oh, my gosh.

Yeah? Yeah. You too?

-Yeah. Yeah. One, and one on the way.

Oh, congratulations. Oh, that's so cute.

Yeah. Thank you. Oh, my gosh. That's amazing.

Oh...

What? Angela?

-Hi! Look at your straight hair. -Hi.

-Where's the curly hair? -Yeah?

It's gone. Gone forever.

My hair in high school... I don't know what I was thinking,

but it just was huge and curly.

Like, you... you didn't wanna sit behind me

'cause you wouldn't be able to see past my fluff.

-Hi. So good to see you.

You too. My gosh. You look...

Angela, she and I both went to the same church

and, you know, didn't go to the same parties.

I guess you could say she and I were both goody two shoes.

-And you have boys, girls? -Girls.

Girls? -He's got kids. I got a cat.

-How many kids? -She's working on it.

I'm working on it. I'm working on the cat thing.

Not the kids thing.

-Ryan, where do you live? -I'm in Brea.

-Oh, so you're still in Orange County too? -Yeah. I'm still there.

I mean, after my mom passed, I've been there since.

Oh. Who do we have here?

Oh, my. Is that Dustin?

-Who is that? -Oh, speak of the devil.

Oh, my gosh. -I made it.

-(MICHELLE LAUGHS) Is that a... is that a wig?

I guess I gave him my curly hair. He can have it.

How's it going? Is this real?

Oh, yeah. -Look at this gorgeous hair.

I've changed... definitely physically. I'm much taller.

In high school, it didn't bother me that I was a little guy.

Like, I was so punk.

I was just like, "I couldn't be bothered by these trivial matters."

-How many bands have you been in now? Oh. (EXHALES)

Let's see. There was Omi Comí, Thrash Cats, Attack of the Killer Origami,

of course, the new one, Midnight Peacemaker.

-Oh, of course. -Yes.

-It's the new one. Okay.

Getting on stage and just performing, it's like...

Gosh, I can't even describe it any other way. It's like a drug.

So it would be nice to go one more time.

-Hello. -Hi, you guys.

-Hi. Hi.

-How's everybody doing? Good.

Great. I don't... I don't think

this is someone that we know.

So, uh, I'm Chase. I will be your director for the week.

Oh, my. There's no backing out now.

Just looking for the exit, you know.

My name is Adam Wachter. I'm the music director.

Hello. I'm Peggy Hickey.

I'm your choreographer.

Yeah. -Indeed. You said the magic word.

-(SPEAKING HEBREW) Absolutely.

-Well... -Great.

...should we get started?

-We've only got six days. -Yeah.

Yeah.

Doing something that we did 18 years ago and just...

not seeing each other since, it's a little surreal.

Everybody is so grown up.

Where were the little kids with the chunky cheeks

and, like, the green hair, the duck shoes?

It's a trip.

I've never heard you sing.

Chase and Peggy have never heard you sing.

Ooh. I don't like this. We would love to have you sing

just a little snippet of something for us.

What... And we thought because you did your show in 2001,

that what might be a fun choice would be a big hit from 2001...

-Oh. -Oh, here were go. Great.

-...which is "Drops of Jupiter" by Train. Seems like... Yes.

What? What?

With musicals, I tended to hope I would get

a speaking part with as little singing as possible

because I couldn't really carry a tune if I had two buckets.

Oh!

There is an added pressure, being a professional actor,

if I slip up, right? If I flub a line or if I'm a little pitchy, right?

I legitimately thought I was going to become a professional singer...

...magically, but then, I'm so self-conscious, you know?

But when I was performing, I felt confident for, you know,

like, five minutes, and then I would leave the stage

and be back to, you know,

the girl who wanted to just kind of hide in the corner.

-Thank you all so much. Thanks, guys.

We will... To be continued.

-Really good work. Thank you, guys.

Do you guys remember, uh, Dr. S and...