Broadway in Columbus presents 'Fiddler on the Roof,' a cultural classic

Generations have identified with “Fiddler on the Roof,” about a poor 1905 family facing change.

The Columbus Association for the Performing Arts and Broadway in Columbus will present the national tour of the beloved classic, which will open Dec. 14, in the Palace Theatre.

“The original artists said they were making a musical about a family that happens to be Jewish. That’s important because anyone can relate to it,” tour director Sari Ketter said.

Composer Jerry Bock, lyricist Sheldon Harnick, author Joseph Stein and choreographer Jerome Robbins created the 1964 musical — famous for songs “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” “Miracle of Miracles,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “To Life” and the opening “Tradition” — from the stories of Yiddish author Sholem Aleichem about Tevye the Dairyman, his wife and five daughters in a Russian Jewish village.

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“Rooted in the text, history and characters, this muscular and energetic production honors and lets you see how good the original work was and is,” Ketter said.

As tour director, Ketter aims to fulfill the vision of Tony-winning Broadway director Bartlett Sher (“South Pacific,” “The King and I”), who staged the 2015-2016 Broadway revival of “Fiddler,” the template for this tour. Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter restaged the dancing, inspired by Robbins’ work.

“What Bartlett brings to the piece is comedy, tragedy and every quality in between, but always from a very real place,” said Ketter, who also was assistant director of Sher’s Broadway production.

New York Times critic Charles Isherwood praised the ”superb” revival.

“As directed by Bartlett Sher with his customary sensitivity, ... this multihued staging moves to a heart-stopping conclusion ... in keeping with the production’s emphasis on the musical’s emotional underpinnings, rather than the frosting of shticky comedy,” Isherwood wrote.

After more than 500 performances in the national tour, Israeli film-TV-theater star Yehezkel Lazarov hasn’t tired of playing Tevye.“It’s the best role I can have, and the most demanding. Tevye has all the colors in the world that an actor can ask for,” Lazarov said.

“He cares about everything from his heart: his daughters, his wife, his religion, God, the future. ... and from there comes the frustration, the anger, the love,” he said.

More often an actor in plays, Lazarov has done few musicals.

“’Fiddler’ has its own place in Israeli culture, really at the top of musicals. But growing up in Israel in the 1990s, you couldn’t even say the word ‘musical’ as an actor because in the arts, it was considered the wrong thing to do. ... popular but shallow,” Lazarov said.

“But working with Bart, who takes ‘Fiddler’ so seriously, and as a tragic play, I feel more strongly about doing it than all other serious plays I’ve done in my life,” he said.

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His commitment was reinforced by his family history, strikingly parallel to Tevye’s and other families facing anti-Semitic pogroms in their Russian village of Anatevka.

“Coming from a religious family with a history of refugees, ... my own story meets this story,” Lazarov said.

Fleeing pogroms and other persecution of Jews, his grandfather and grandmother left Russia in the 1930s, each with 11 brothers and sisters and their mothers.

“Those are the roots of what I’m bringing, probably in my veins, to the show,” Lazarov said.

Having married a non-Jewish woman over some family objections, Lazarov said he better understands the show’s dramatized conflicts between freely chosen love and the Jewish tradition of arranged marriages via matchmakers.

“That makes the story very personal. ... My story is the same as Tevye’s daughter Chavah (who leaves to marry a gentile Russian),” he said.

“I know how it feels not being accepted and having this conflict with my own family, although today everyone loves and accepts my wife,” he said.

Maite Uzal, a Roman Catholic of Spanish descent, also found it easy to identify with her character, Tevye’s wife Golde.

“For me, faith is very important, so there are many things I can relate to as a person of faith. Golde, very hardworking, is driven by her faith,” Uzal said.

From the moment she wakes up, Golde performs daily religious duties and rituals.

“Saying prayers and keeping her head covered, Golde has to wash, prepare the bread and relate to her husband and daughters in certain ways,” Uzal said.

One of her favorite songs to sing is “Sabbath Prayer.”

“It’s a meditation in song about the Sabbath, a moment of huge relief for Golde after her whole Jewish week racing towards the Sabbath,” Uzal said.

Uzal has appreciated the score since growing up in her native Spain.

“My dad loved ‘Fiddler’ and we’d sing it on Sundays. He did all the male parts and I did all the female parts,” she said.

Ironically, her father’s later disapproval of her theater-career aspirations sparked Uzal’s more intimate understanding of the musical’s themes.

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“He wanted me to be a lawyer, and I became a lawyer against my wishes. ... Obedient for 27 years of my life, I rebelled and moved to the United States to pursue my passion, which wasn’t a man but a (theater) career. ... I was Chavah,” Uzal said.

“Like Tevye, after a rough period of disagreement, my father in the end did come to terms with my acting career, giving me great advice and encouragement during the last months of his life,” she said.

That “Fiddler” continues to connect with Jews and non-Jews alike, generation after generation, is no surprise to Allan Finkelstein, former executive director of Columbus’ Jewish Community Center and former president/CEO of the JCC Association of North America.

“It’s one of the most universal musicals ever because it’s about family, faith, ethnic identity and history,” Finkelstein said.

“Every father would love to have Tevye’s wisdom and love for his kids. His ability to bend, but only so far, speaks to parents,” he said.

The story and themes continue to resonate with many families, he said, noting that some parents still don’t want their kids marrying “that one.”

Yet, “Fiddler” may touch Jews most deeply.

“It’s in my DNA, and easily could have been any of my grandparents’ stories. Many Jews have ancestors who grew up very poor in shantytowns like Anatevka,” Finkelstein said.

As music director of Gallery Players’ musicals at the JCC, Finkelstein knows “Fiddler” well. Of five productions he’s done over six decades, three were with Gallery Players.

“Almost every musical I’ve done has a bad song or two, but there isn’t a bad song in this show,” he said. “How many other classic musicals have that quality and depth? Not many.”

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At a glance

Broadway in Columbus and the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts will present “Fiddler on the Roof” at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 14-16; 8 p.m. Dec. 17; 2 and 8 p.m. Dec. 18; and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Dec. 19 at the Palace Theatre, 34 W. Broad St. Tickets cost $36 to $114 at CBUSArts Ticket Center (614-469-0939, www.cbusarts.com)

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Broadway in Columbus to present 'Fiddler on the Roof'