Theatre and Dance

Fiddler on the Roof is one the best loved musicals, with songs such as ‘Tradition’, ‘Sunrise, Sunset’ and ‘If I were a Rich Man’. In 1964, it won nine Tony awards including Best Musical, Best Choreography and Best Score and is one of the longest running shows that Broadway has seen.

It tells the story of Tevye and his family from a Jewish community in Tsarist Russia and eke out a living in their village.

With five daughters, Tevye has a lot to contend with, including the pressing issue of trying to find husbands for the eldest three, who are all very strong-willed. But while he strives to keep up the traditions of his faith, race and culture, outside influences seek to encroach upon this world.

And this is where all the trouble begins ….

Soap

Director Linda Dyne told us that while the show might be set in 1905, it is still as relevant today as it’s always been because of its similarity to the TV serial dramas watched by millions!

Fiddler on the Roof in rehearsal

“A guy who played opposite Topol in the West End came to see it a couple of weeks ago at rehearsal to give us a few tips and he loved it, but he also said it was a bit like a soap and we should think of it like it was a soap opera” she said.

“It’s got all the ingredients, there’s a family and there are arguments within the family. It’s a family of seven with five girls who are fighting against the traditional Jewish religion and picking boyfriends that their parents don’t approve of. Dad goes to the pub and gets drunk and arranges a marriage for his daughter to a man twice his age. And so you get all the family rifts [just like a soap].”

She also explained how it’s a show that has everything, laughter, sadness and moments where she hopes that the audience will just get goosebumps.

“It’s a very, very beautiful show in that musically it’s got so many classics” she said.

“It’s also one of those shows that has very much got the Jewish sense of humour and there’s a lot of humour in the dialogue.”

Humour

Together with the humour, it’s a hard-hitting story and not necessarily a show where audiences will leave the theatre beaming. However, what Linda does hope is that they won’t leave looking gloomy, but uplifted and hopeful for the future.

“What we’re saying [at the end] is that there is a lot of hope” she explained, “and you should finish up with a very hopeful feeling towards the future, that they are going to make it and they’re going to be fine.”

As well as the story and the music, it seems that there will be a lot more to this production than meets the eye, as Linda also revealed.

“What we’ve done, is that it’s not a traditional Fiddler on the Roof” she said, “we’ve got lots of technical firsts at the Gordon Craig.

“We’ve already filmed the ghost which isn’t going to be a real person – it is going to be a ghost in smoke on the stage singing. So it will be very different!”