Paper Mill Playhouse’s revival of Fiddler on the Roof has been 40 years in the making. We should wait 40 years for a revival, why? When Producing Artistic Director Mark Hoebee takes the director’s chair and uses the original Jerome Robbins choreography that won the Tony, you’ll find the wait is worth it! Buy your tickets now, I’ll wait. Good – now that you’re back, here’s the WHY.
Fiddler on the Roof with Sheldon Harnick’s lyrics and Jerry Bock’s music with the book by Joseph Stein is a show for the ages. The show first debuted in 1964 and was based on a series of stories by Sholem Aleichem in Yiddish from the turn of the 19th century. Set in the Pale of Settlement, during the time of Imperial Russia, Aleichem’s original stories did not have a happy ending, yet the show we know and love is brighter. At the time it was in the conception stage, there were questions whether it was too-ethnic, not-ethnic-enough, how do we portray people on both sides of a conflict? Questions we are still asking today, nearly 60 years later.
This cast gives us a feel of the harsh living conditions and how people cope to remain civilized. “Tradition” at the top of the show is thrilling and well and truly sets the stage for what’s to come. Jordan Gelber’s Tevye is the heart of it, the soul of a people. We see a man with 5 daughters, the three eldest are of marriageable age and he’s concerned with making advantageous matches. Marrying for love was not part of the contract – Tevye and Golde, Jersey Girl Jill Abramovitz, had an arranged marriage and they would make the matches for their daughters. So they thought. Their daughters have other ideas…
Tevye and Golde duet on “Do You Love Me…”, and the magic is palpable.
When you have an amazingly talented cast, a brilliant director in Mark Hoebee, Parker Esse recreating Jerome Robbins’ choreography, what could be bad?! The answer is NOTHING! This is the perfect storm where the talent and the creative team unite to something even larger than its estimable parts. You’ll be singing along with the songs you know by heart and breathless with the choreography (Cossack Dance, Bottle Dance? MUST SEE!) Do yourself a favor, people will be talking about this show for years to come
Fiddler runs now through January 7, 2024 and good seats are going quickly. You’ve got your tickets, send your friends the link to www.papermill.org so your dear ones can get theirs too – there’s no greater gift than a memorable time with those you love.