“Fiddler on the Roof” at Arena Stage (photo: Margot Schulman via The Broadway Blog.)
If you can’t wait until next fall for the latest Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof, head to Arena Stage for their highly acclaimed production, which has become the theater’s highest grossing production in its 65-year history, shattering the record previously held by the 2011 return engagement of Oklahoma!
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of an American classic, the story follows Tevye, a humble Jewish father who finds his devotion to God severely tested by his headstrong daughters, who want to be their own matchmakers, and the increasingly ruthless government forcing him from his land. The jubilant and masterful score includes “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” and “Tradition.”
Illustration by Jody Hewgill.
Tony Award nominee Jonathan Hadary (Golden Boy, Spamalot, Gypsy) makes his Arena debut as Tevye in this celebration of family, community and life’s unexpected miracles, large and small. Ann Arvia (Mary Poppins, Les Miserables) plays opposite him as Golde, and the pair is joined by 20 D.C.-area actors out of the 28-person company. The production features choreography by Parker Esse, who adapts the original Jerome Robbins choreography for an in-the-round configuration, and musical direction by Paul Sportelli.
Popular demand for Fiddler on the Roof led to a weeklong extension of performances, and the production continues through January 11, 2015 in the Fichandler Stage.
“We are a theater that focuses on American voices, and the American musical is our seminal art form,” shares Smith. “We produce the gold-standard musicals because they each tell important stories of our times. Fiddler on the Roof is such a story. Fiddler covers the idiosyncratic beauty and range of human experience: the tyranny and joy of families, the creation and destruction of traditions, young love and mature love, community, immigration and racial and cultural hatred. There is a pulsing heart in the middle of this production that breaks on a nightly basis and re-knits itself each day, becoming more powerful every time. As we feel our world cracking apart, don’t we need this beautiful story of family and community?”
Lyricist Sheldon Harnick, who attended the opening night performance, adds, “I only wish that composer Jerry Bock and book writer Joseph Stein could have seen this superb production, directed so brilliantly by Molly.”
Fiddler on the Roof
Arena Stage
1101 Sixth Street SW, Washington DC
Through January 11
