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Fiddler on the Roof on Tour
In Broadway terms, Fiddler on the Roof is a tradition unto itself. The much-loved story of Tevye the milkman's struggle to reconcile old Jewish ways with the modern world opened on Broadway in 1964 and held the record for longest-running musical — with 3,242 performances until it closed in 1970 — for nearly 10 years. The blockbuster won nine Tony Awards — including best musical, direction, and choreography — and has been revived on Broadway five times.
Producer Harold Prince hired director-choreographer Jerome Robbins to bring Sholom Aleichem's turn-of-the-19th-century Yiddish tales of life in the Anatevka shtetl, where existence is "as precarious as a fiddler on the roof," to the stage. Jerry Bock's music and Sheldon Harnick's lyrics illuminated the fading world of East European Jewry, while Joseph Stein's book brought a humorous taste of Jewish comedy's borscht belt. Painter Marc Chagall's blend of Jewish traditionalism and artistic modernism inspired the show's memorable look. Zero Mostel played Tevye, and Beatrice Arthur, of Maude television fame, portrayed Yente the matchmaker.
The most recent revival arrived in 2015, when director Bartlett Sher enhanced the show's authenticity with the help of Israeli-born choreographer Hofesh Shechter. The New York Times praised the new production as "superb" while noting how it recaptured the foot-stomping, hand-waving energy of the original.
Sher's revival, now on tour with Yehezkel Lazarov as Tevye and Maite Uzal as his wife Golde, is delighting audiences with celebratory songs like "Tradition," "If I Were a Rich Man," and "To Life (L'Chaim)," as well as beautiful melodies of love and loss such as "Sunrise, Sunset" and "Far From the Home I Love."
As part of a trend that began with The Sound of Music and The Wizard of Oz, Fiddler on the Roof fans are dressing up as Anatevkans and belting out tunes during screenings of the show's 1971 film adaptation. Their participatory zeal reflects the devotion the musical has inspired and the power of its music.
"What can we do?" asks Tevye of Golde during a moment of doubt. "It's a new world." One solution is to return to the source for cultural renewal. We may not experience the same problems as shtetl Jews in 1905 did, but Fiddler on the Roof assures us that almost any difficulty can be surmounted with great music and exuberant dancing.
Although Topol was to perform in a farewell tour, his replacement was definitely up to the role. The play kept our attention while developing a love of the characters. Rights and freedoms can easily be taken away if we become sedentary observers of life. Be like Perchik: get involved with the hard issues.
I have never been to a play at Sheas before, and the place is incredible. I was sitting far up in the balcony, but was still able to see the play clearly. The play itself was amazing. Perfect mix of humor and emotion. I highly highly recommend anyone seeing it!
The actors and dancers were extremely talented and were top quality. This production is the level of any Broadway show of which I have attended numerous ones. The venue was good but it is an older theatre - but everyone was friendly and the show was well worth the ticket price. My family truly enjoyed it and are still talking about it. We are so glad we attended.
Great, just great. Laugh, cry, all your emotions come out in this production. Missed Topol, but understudy was amazing
my wife and i enjoyed it very much. the acting was supberb. would recommend to others if you enjoy the movie,you will love the play.
The cast was amazing and the special effects were outstanding! Eventhough we were hoping to see Topol, the man who played Tevye was phenominal! I wish it was here longer!
Excellent performance. The only disappointment was that Topol was not performing due to health reasons, but John Preece did an outstanding job.
Topol was hard to hear from the balcony. More speakers should be installed in the theater so that everyone could hear all that was said. The theater itself should have more-visible seating section numbers.
Although Fiddler on the Roof was amazing, beautifully acted, wonderful music, Topol, the reason we drove 4 hours to see this musical, was a no show. He was either injured or sick that evening, we're not quite sure, but his stand-by took his place. The disappointment was worse than great. Ticketmaster should really try to compensate the people who bought tickets to see this play mainly because of Topol. What a disappointment. We, nevertheless, enjoyed the musical tremendously. Perhaps Ticketmaster could give us a really nice discount if we chose to buy tickets again to see Topol.
This performance gave me chills of delight from the opening until the standing ovation. I sat there in awe of the talent we were fortunate enough to watch. The acting, singing and dance numbers were excellant.
We were a little apprehensive about seeing Fiddler since the main character, Tevye, was not being played by Topol as advertised. Are we ever glad we went!!! John Preece was stupendous; he made the character of Tevye come alive as we remembered from the movie. The rest of the cast was also great. We highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good solid musical story. The sound at Shea's is also wonderful. We bought a DVD of the movie; a bit pricey but we're sure it's worth it.
This timeless classic was as endearing as ever!! Topol was unable to perform, his understudy was amazing. The performance had all the rich tones and classic dancing that is associated with this play. It does not disappoint. Its message is as relevent as ever.
Saw this show many years ago with my family and thought I would take my son to it this time around...we were not disappointed!! Topol was still fabulous despite his age! I had read some reviews prior to going and some of the negative ones saddened me but I found them to not be true at all. We were happy to have seen Topol in his farewell tour in Fiddler on the Roof!
The entire cast was fascinating and the music was wonderful.
I was disappointed to learn that Topol was not going to be preforming, but his replacement was amazing. Enjoyment value was top notch.
When the play started, my first thought was why is John Preece "rushing" through his lines? Opening night "jitters"? He improved slightly as the play continued but I wasn't really impressed. Then again, I've seen Topol perform on screen and live so it's difficult for me to be objective. In my opinion, Topol and Tevye are one in the same
Fiddler on the Roof is evreything a stage play should be. Shea's Theater is always worth the visit !! The dancing and singing is second to none. I would compare Fiddler to Phantom of the Opera as my two favorite presentations. The whole cast amazed me with their abilities to sing, dance and act at such a high level. Without mistake. All I can say is thank you!!!
Absolutely perfect from start to finish!! Wanted to see Topol and thought I might be disappointed, but very, very pleasantly surprised. Hope to see it again. Tradition!!
Of course I go to a show where the star was sick, missing or decided to take the night off, but the show was still excellent.
Both the play and the venue (Boston Opera House) were excellent. It was amazing seeing Topal live and the rest of the cast played their characters perfectly. This was a wonderful evening that my wife and I will cherish for many years to come.