Israeli-born actress to play Tevye's daughter in 'Fiddler on the Roof' at IU Auditorium

She's fluent in Hebrew (she was born in Israel), reads books by the shelf-load, is a "cat whisperer" and has perfect pitch. The cat part notwithstanding, the other three attributes may render New York City's Yarden Barr perfect not just in hearing the right notes but in playing Chava in "Fiddler on the Roof." Of the several unmanageable daughters in "Fiddler," Chava is the bespectacled brainiac. This production of the musical, based on Broadway's' 2015 revival, comes to the Indiana University Auditorium Feb. 8-9.

"Fiddler" was the first financially successful English-language stage production about Eastern European Jewish people. Yiddish author and playwright Sholem Aleichem (1859–1916) lived in the Russian Empire and in the U.S. His stories were the basis of the original 1964 "Fiddler on the Roof," which accentuates Aleichem's irresistible character Tevye the Dairyman.

Barr's first national tour brings her one of her dream roles in Chava. Barr has played Belle in "Beauty and the Beast," so she's getting good at portraying bookish, driven young brunettes.

"I didn't get to see the 'Fiddler' revival on Broadway," she said over the phone. "But I watched it on a Broadway blog (and other places) over and over."

Tevye, like Aleichem's "Dairy Man," is a Jewish milkman. He lives — and argues — with his Jewish wife and daughters in a little Russian village, Boyberik (renamed Anatevka for the musical). It's somewhere around 1905, and the Russian Revolution of 1917 hasn't yet begun. (Interestingly, because of what's going on today, Boyberik, is based on the actual town of Boyarka (near Kyiv), Ukraine, which belonged then to the Russian Empire. Tevye, religious yet curious, questions God about life's injustices, many of which exist nearly everywhere, in 2023.

"You made many, many poor people," Tevye asks God. "I realize, of course, it's no shame to be poor, but it's no great honor either. Now what would be so terrible if I had a small fortune?"

So, as Tevye might say: What would be so terrible about seeing a great musical comedy?

This revival is worth sliding across the parking lot on February black ice.

Pulitzer Prize winners Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick and Tony Award victor Joseph Stein rang bells with the 1964 "Fiddler" production. Later, Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher took charge. Known for his sensitivity, and with work by staff from "South Pacific" and "The King & I," new light shines on this revamped standby.

But whether you grew up with "Fiddler" or have never heard of this history-laden show, you'll still see and hear what generations have raved about.

Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter consulted Jerome Robbins' 1964 staging and provides current audiences a bevy of frisky earth-tone-hued dances. You'll still sing along to “Tradition,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” and “To Life (L’Chaim!),” as you watch this tale of dads and daughters, wives and husbands, despair, love, disquietude and laughs.

If you go

WHAT: "Fiddler on the Roof," a musical about Eastern European Jewish life, from the 2015 Broadway revival

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 8-9

WHERE: Indiana University Auditorium, 1211 E. Seventh St., iuauditorium.com/

TICKETS: $17-$79 at https://am.ticketmaster.com/iuarts/buy

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Israeli-born actress in "Fiddler on the Roof" at IU Auditorium