North Farmington High's Rausch Brothers Share Love of Theater

Brothers Avery and Evan Rausch of Farmington Hills say they're best friends, and this summer, they're also castmates in a production of "Fiddler on the Roof". 

Evan, 17, and Avery, 15, travel across town for rehearsals with Warren Civic Theatre and a cast that numbers close to 200 kids. The students have been acting since they were in grade school, starting with Sky's the Limit, a children's theater company. Avery was the first to catch the acting bug. 

"I tihnk I was just looking for something else to do. I wasn't really into sports," he said. "I just decided to give it a shot."

After performing in "The Wizard of Oz", Avery convinced Evan to get involved. Since then, the two have become part of a large community with plenty of built-in friends.

"I like meeting people," Avery said. "It's kind of a small world, you run into people you know, friends of friends, wherever you go."

"Meeting people is a huge part of it," Evan agreed. "A big part of it for me is getting up on stage in front of an audience... There's nothing better."

The brothers said they were looking for shows to do this summer, when they learned Warren Civic Theatre was doing "Fiddler", a musical about a Jewish father with five daughters who tries to maintain tradition as everything around him changes. It was one of their favorite shows and among the first they saw as children. 

Avery plays the fiddler, a fitting role since he has played violin since 5th grade. Evan plays Mendel the rabbi's son, and he'll be among the "bottle dancers" who perform during a wedding scene.

"We're going to legitimately balance glass bottles on our heads," Evan said. "The whole part of it is just keeping your spine straight ... I learned that in marching band and applied it to this."

The brothers also work on show songs and help each other with feedback. They often sing together and performed a duet in a talent show at North.

Avery wants to go into "some sort of vocal performance" after high school; he has performed with a choir at the Detroit Opera House and has been in four children's main stage productions there. Evan hopes to double major in music education and musical theater in college; a senior, he's looking a several different schools. 

Their mother, Terri, says her sons' interest in theater developed naturally, and she has "never really pushed them. It's their desire, this is what they truly want to do. They love the stage. They thrive on it."

"Fiddler on the Roof" runs Aug. 10-12, and 17-19, at the Warren Community Center, 5460 Arden Drive. Friday and Saturday shows start at 7 p.m., Sunday shows, at 3 p.m. Tickets are $12, $10, or $5 and are available at the door, or in advance by calling 586-268-8400. Learn more at warrencivic.org.

Correction: The time for Sunday performances was incorrectly reported in the original version of this story. It is 3 p.m.