The Tony-nominated production of “Fiddler on the Roof” is one of the hottest shows on Broadway right now, performing for a packed audience eight times a week.
On Tuesday evening, however, the theater will be dark in honor of Yom Kippur according to Playbill.com. The producers of the revival show canceled the Oct. 11 performance to allow Jewish company members to observe the holy day. Instead, they have added an evening performance today.
No doubt this is a welcome change. In 1966 actress Ann Marisse was fired from the original Fiddler for taking off during Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
The revival of the Broadway classic — which stars Danny Burstein, Jessica Hecht and Jenny Rose Baker, among others — follows the Tevye the milkman through a changing world as he struggles to hold onto his tradition in the little village of Anatevka. The heartwarming story of Tevye and his family features classic musical numbers including “To Life (L’Chaim!)” and “If I Were A Rich Man,” alongside choreography from the Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter.
The most Jewish show on Broadway has been making the tribe proud over the past year with its success. The current show, which opened at the Broadway Theatre at the end of last year, has played over 300 performances already and was nominated for a 2016 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical and Best Choreography. If that wasn’t enough, Danny Burstein was nominated for a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical in addition to winning a Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for his role in the show.
And as for what makes this show so compelling? In an exclusive interview with The Jewish Week earlier this year Danny Burstein explained, “It’s a universal tale — everyone understands loss, change, breaking of traditions, watching kids take off on their own, what it’s like to be forced from your home, and man’s inhumanity to man.”
After the scheduled break for Yom Kippur, “Fiddler on the Roof” will be running on Broadway through December 31st. So raise a glass to tradition, and make sure to see the show before it closes.
