Dr. Fred Scheff – in tune with himself

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Balances singing, acting, teaching, cantoring

Dr. Fredric ScheffWARWICK – Dr. Fredric Scheff, the Temple Shalom cantor and the star of the Ocean State Theatre Company’s Les Misérables, whose list of accomplishments is as impressive as his voice, turns out to be a realist. He recently sat for an interview with The Jewish Voice and shared some of his professional and parenting philosophy.

Perhaps influenced by a lifetime of performing in theater, where he attempts to be as truthful as possible, Dr. Scheff answers questions in a straightforward manner, leads life as a pragmatist, and dodges adversity with the skill of a seasoned professional.

Recently, during Yom Kippur services at Temple Shalom, the Conservative synagogue in Middletown, he arrived on the bimah with a huge cold. At first, the cantor rationalized the bad luck by thinking that God was testing him: “God was saying, ‘I need to play with Fred, make him humble.’ And then I thought, no, God’s got better things to do than micromanage my being sick.” He says that, in times like these, he usually applies everything he’s learned about surviving professionally as a singer. Scheff knows it’s going to be a really long night, but he also takes nothing for granted, so he just keeps reminding himself that every breath he takes is one breath closer to the end of the next thing he has to do. Then, he gets his sense of relief and moves on.

What gets the cantor going and inspires him is his love for his work which, incidentally, he doesn’t consider to be work. For him, singing is as natural as breathing, “I like going in to do what I love to do.” He started his journey on the bimah of Temple Am David in Warwick when he was a child. He grew up under the tutelage of Irving Pole and Natan Subar. Recalling fondly his work with Karl Kritz at Camp Ramah, he says that he longs to be back there, camping out around the shul.

A huge proponent of togetherness and passionate involvement, the cantor compares that experience to his time in an Israeli kibbutz, where he studied for a semester while in high school. Just as prayer is most powerful as a communal activity, the same reasoning applies to witnessing a theater performance.

Scheff believes that his great teachers influenced him so much because they loved what they did and that showed in their work. He shares, “I remember seeing in Irving Pole’s eyes as he was singing the music that this was a living, breathing thing, not something from a museum.

“When you listen to Beethoven, you realize he wrote this because he had to. When you sing it, it’s because you have to. Sitting in front of your twelve-inch TV in your dorm room [waving] your cigarette lighter … playing music is not the same as being in Central Park with a half million other people.” To Cantor Scheff, it’s important to feel that energy. He knows that people go to the theater because they want to be moved, “It’s much more pleasurable to hold hands with somebody while holding your cigarette lighter than to be there alone.”

Because it’s his job to convey information to people in a memorable manner, the theater singer gives his all in each performance. “If you don’t love doing it, you won’t enjoy it yourself. You will be unhappy, and then everybody who’s with and around you will be unhappy as a result.” He has an inherent enthusiasm for his work and he wouldn’t have it any other way. The cantor explains, “To convey without the joy of doing it is like the most beautiful-looking challah that’s made out of Styrofoam. If a challah tastes good, it doesn’t matter if it’s lopsided and a little lumpy. If it looks perfect, but it tastes bad, then what’s the point?”

Of course, passion is not enough to keep the audience’s attention. You must also study until you learn to amaze in a seemingly effortless way. Dr. Scheff believes that “it’s the discipline of practice that allows you to do all the things that makes the audience happy.”

In order to stay true to his own beliefs and maintain a stellar work ethic, the cantor had to rely on his family to support his role as a breadwinner and forgive his absences from some important events, such as graduations. He credits his wife, “a Navy brat,” who was used to such a lifestyle since her dad would be away on a regular basis. Scheff doesn’t think that he was the one who had to give things up to choose work: “Was it a sacrifice that I had to make or was it a sacrifice that my family made so that I could go on tour?” He justifies his time away from the home as a necessary element of combining passion with survival. Yes, he is traveling and doing what he loves, but he is also bringing home a paycheck that’s necessary to buy a house and everything that goes in it. He feels that earning a living to support his family is more important than missing a celebration; he has no regrets about the choices he’s made.

Similarly wise is Jean Valjean, his character in Les Misérables. Valjean thinks that the survival of a child outweighs a broken window pane (the shop window Valjean breaks to get bread for a starving child). Dr. Scheff thinks the show will be a huge success because of the size and the immediacy of the Ocean State Theater. “To be able to see a show as epic as Les Misérables in a space as intimate as this venue is really a gift. To perform it here, where small gestures [can be easily] read, it doesn’t have to feel Wagnerian in its execution to make it effective. I’m reveling in the opportunity to do this.”

Irina Missiuro (IMissiuro@gmail.com), a freelance writer and editor, is a Providence resident.