Tzeitel (Tessa Fuller) begs her father (Cody Waddington) not to make her marry the butcher, as he arranged, because she’s in love with someone else, in the New Artists Productions’ “Fiddler on the Roof Junior” at the Sprague Community Theater in Bandon. World Photo by Amy Moss Strong

Preparation matters.

That’s the lesson New Artist Productions draws from the success of “Fiddler on the Roof Junior,” which has generated an unprecedented level of positive response for the group.

The show, which opened last weekend, continues through Sunday at the Sprague Community Theater in Bandon.

“We’ve gotten all kinds of accolades for it,” said co-director Dan Almich. “On their way out, people tell us they’re delighted.”

While New Artists has typically shown growth from one production to the next, comments posted on The World’s Web site and letters published in the Bandon Western World suggest the group has matured significantly with this musical.

“I think it’s the best show we’ve done, too,” said co-director Anita Almich, responding to the comments.

The difference, Almich said, was that cast members had their lines down earlier in the rehearsal process.

“We knew early on that this was going to be a magical performance for us,” she said. “We’ve had experiences where, into tech week, kids are still asking for their lines. But this time, as soon as they stepped onto the stage, the kids knew what they were doing. Everyone, two weeks prior to the play, was fully prepared. … That’s a luxury that we’ve never had.”

Almich’s experience with underprepared casts in the week before opening is a common one in local community theater. While these productions have often shown tremendous ability to pull things together at the last minute to avoid opening-night embarrassment, they’ve rarely reached the full potential their actors have demonstrated in other settings.

When directors have time for fine tuning, it shows, Almich said.

Another advantage for “Fiddler on the Roof Junior,” was that the Almichs had help, with JoAnn Reierson serving as vocal coach.

In the play, a poor dairyman, Tevye (Cody Waddington); his wife, Golde (Clarissa Castaldi); and their five daughters (Hope and Zeta Hay, Tessa Fuller, Jeneveve Winchell and Autumn Moss-Strong) cope with the difficulties of life as peasants in small Jewish village in Russia a century ago.

“We worked a lot on the historical background of the play,” Dan Almich said.

The cast also includes Liza-May Skeie, Destyni Fuller, Robin Hill, Russel and Josiah Hay, Larkin Madden, Chelsea Hill, Thaddeus Miller, Linzi Silburn, Katheryn Sands, Rose Garrett, Megan Hultin, Jordan and Hayley Chandler, Mercedese Mannon, Sarah Skeie, Alaina Russell, and Darby and Max Underdown.

The show plays at 7 tonight and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10, $8 for seniors and $5 for students.