‘Fiddler’ Has Ear Appeal : Vocals make up for the cast’s shortcomings.

Since “Fiddler on the Roof” first appeared on Broadway, the Ukrainian village of Anatevka has become a part of our folklore.

Frequent visits to Anatevka make one feel as much a part of the family of Tevye, the milkman, as one’s own. His daughters are our siblings, and his stolid but loving wife Golda is a welcome and sometimes alarming figure.

Each visit to Anatevka--in this case, the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse’s revival of the Joseph Stein-Jerry Bock-Sheldon Harnick musical--is a new experience, with Tevye’s family taking on fresh shapes and and colors, and the villagers and suitors to the daughters sometimes given an original twist.

As Tevye would say, shaking his fist at his good friend God, “Why can’t we all be equal?” Each production has its advantages and disadvantages.

Here, part of the problem is director Lynn Reinert’s casting, which has very young performers playing much older characters, giving some of Anatevka’s residents the look of Munchkins. The other is Reinert’s inability to blend the acting of some of the actors into a tightly woven fabric.

But the production also has its joys, in its vibrant sound, under the deft musical direction of Damien Lorton. Lorton leads his quartet of musicians with a knowledgeable and stylish hand, and vocally the entire cast is exceptional. Lorton knows his way around a theatrical score, and this “Fiddler” is very much alive when the Bock-Harnick tunes take over.

Tim Nowicki, who has played Tevye before, sounds marvelous, his rich voice perfect for Tevye’s thundering pronouncements and humorous put-downs of his own inability to cope with new mores. But he doesn’t always follow through at those moments when he’s not singing. Christine Martin’s Golda, rigid but also with underlying humor, is a good match for her husband in their love duet, “Do You Love Me?”

The older daughters, played by Megan Endicott (Tzeitel), Adriana Sanchez (Hodel) and Angelique Batsel (Chava) are delightful vocally and charming, although Sanchez’s long, painted nails suggest a beauty salon in poverty-stricken Anatevka that we’ve never been told about.

As their suitors, Scott Haring is Tzeitel’s Motel the Tailor, Aaron Huniu is Hodel’s Perchik, the student with revolutionary ideas, and Christopher Scott is Chava’s forbidden Russian soldier Fyedka. All in excellent vocal form, but Haring is the only one with a real flair for the material.

Barry Cohen gives a very good reading of the jilted suitor Laser Wolfe, and Sherry Domerego wears her character Yente the Matchmaker as though she had just picked it up from the cleaners. Ivar Vasco has some strong moments as the Russian Constable, who is fond of Tevye but has a duty to perform.

BE THERE

“Fiddler on the Roof,” Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse, 661 Hamilton St., Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. $15. Ends July 3. (949) 650-5269. Running time: 2 hours, 50 minutes.