Only 50 days until July 4th, when Fiddler on the Roof premieres (in Yiddish) off-Broadway. And now, we know who will be in it.

If you’ve heard of anyone in the cast, it’s Jackie Hoffman, the Emmy-nominated comedian (for Feud) whose Broadway credits have included scene-stealing in everything from Hairspray to Xanadu to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She is also extremely, very, super Jewish. She has performed musical parodies of pretty much every Jewish holiday you can think of— including Shavuot. Hoffman will be playing Yenta the matchmaker, because of course she will.

Your Tevya is Steven Skybell, who has been on Broadway several times, including in the last revival of Fiddler (he was a replacement Lazar Wolf). He grew up Jewish in Lubbock Texas, which would make shtetl-dwellers’ heads spin.

Jill Abramovitz will play Golda, and, yes, her Broadway credits too include the last run of Fiddler (she replaced Grandma Tzeitel, and understudied both Golda and Yenta). She’s also a songwriter, including contributing lyrics for Broadway intermarriage musical It Shoulda Been You.

Neither of the leads are big names, so it’s exciting to see what could be the big breaks of actors who have been in the business for some time.

The supporting cast is:

Kirk Geritano as Avram, Samantha Hahn as Bielke, Cameron Johnson as Fyedka, Daniel Kahn as Perchik, Ben Liebert as Motel, Stephanie Lynne Mason as Hodel, Rosie Jo Neddy as Chava, Raquel Nobile as Shprintze, Bruce Sabath as Lazar Wolf, Jodi Snyder as Fruma-Sarah, Lauren Jeanne Thomas as The Fiddler, Bobby Underwood as the Constable, Michael Yashinsky as Mordcha, Rachel Zatcoff as Tzeitel.

Also in the production is: Jennifer Babiak, Joanne Borts, Josh Dunn, Michael Einav, Evan Mayer, Nick Raynor, Kayleen Seidl, Adam Shapiro, and James Monroe Stevko.

Of course, the director is the legendary Joel Grey. Some of the cast members have experiences performing in Yiddish, but for some, it’ll be like a mamaloshen boot camp.

See you in July!

Photo by Joan Marcus

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Ugh, what can’t Katrina Lenk do?

Over the last year, Lenk has appeared on Broadway in Indecent, had a small role on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and currently stars in The Band’s Visit (she’s definitely a contender for a Tony nomination). That’s a lot of Jewish art for someone who isn’t actually Jewish, but Lenk wasn’t content to stop there. At MCC’s annual Miscast Gala (actors perform gender-swapped numbers), she took on that granddaddy of all Jewish American culture— Fiddler on the Roof.

Lenk wonders what it would be like if she were a wealthy man. And just to blow our minds all the more, she plays violin while she’s singing. It’s not even fair.

Even without the violin, it’s a hell of a performance, sultry, and full of comedy. She does act a bit cruelly skeptical that Tevye would use his wealth to study Talmud all day, but that is perhaps where the cultural gap between Jews and Gentiles comes in. Also, she’s wearing all white with red pumps, and she looks even more amazing than usual.

I can’t stand it. Watch the video of “If I Were a Rich Man” for yourself:

Image via YouTube

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The National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene gives the people what they want. “Folk” is in the name, after all. And obviously, the people want Fiddler on the Roof performed in the mamaloshen. Naturally. If you don’t, there is something wrong with you.

The time will be July. The place will be the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan. Most other details are still forthcoming, but the musical’s lyricist, Sheldon Harnick, and the great director Jerry Zaks are both signed on as production advisors. Beyond that, we only have this vague, and honestly sort of confusing statement by the Folksbiene’s executive Christopher Massimine to go by. He says the production “will be presented in the context of a historical retrospective hypothetically introducing the idea that Sholem Aleichem has been present at the conception of the adaptation of his work for the musical stage.”

What? So, does that mean a framing device where Sholem Aleichem appears as a character? Is this going to be for Fiddler what Indecent was for God of Vengeance? Do we breathe new life into Tevye and his family by making the actors break the fourth wall or something?

“The idea we are putting forth would be an accurate re-creation of how this musical might look in its native Yiddish tongue,” Massimine continued.

What does re-creation mean? Is the translation new? Is the choreography different, like in the most recent Broadway revival?

WHAT IS GOING ON?

In any case, this production is far from the first performance of Fiddler in Yiddish (to say nothing of other Yiddish adaptations of Aleichem’s work). Back in the 1960s, only a couple of years after the Broadway production premiered, original director/choreographer Jerome Robbins helmed a Yiddish-language version of the show— in Israel (there’s even a cast album, and it’s great).

So we have a ways to wait before seeing Yiddish Fiddler onstage, but ideally more information will come soon. In the meantime, stay strong, and listen to every single cast recording of the show there is (and there are at least a dozen,) over and over to pick your favorite.

UPDATE, AS OF MARCH 16: JOEL GREY IS DIRECTING THIS PRODUCTION. GET. HYPE.

Photo of  the 2015 revival of Fiddler on the Roof by Joan Marcus

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You may not heard of Rags, but perhaps you should have. It may not be a mega-hit like Fiddler on the Roof, but in some ways it holds a similar appeal.

And, no, this isn’t Ragtime—Rags predates that more famous musical by over a decade. Think of it a bit like a spiritual sequel to Fiddler. It’s the story of Jewish immigrants struggling in the Lower East Side in the early 20th century (for example, one rather tragic plot line involves the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire). And it had a heck of a writing team—score by Charles Strouse (Annie), lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked and like half of your favorite Disney movies), and book by Joseph Stein (Fiddler on the Roof!).

Jewcy is on a summer residency! To read this piece, and our others for July and August 2017, go to our big sister site, Tablet Magazine!

The post Get Ready for the Revival of a Musical You’ve Probably Never Heard of From the Author of ‘Fiddler’ appeared first on Jewcy.

Bad news, kinderlakh: The current revival of Fiddler on the Roof has announced its closure, for the last day of 2016. At the time of its final performance, it will have been on Broadway slightly more than a year, earning three Tony nominations (no wins, but literally only three musicals got any this year).

This production did well critically and decently commercially; it is closing at a loss, but because Broadway is a scary, weird place, this isn’t unusual. Fiddler is going to be fine; don’t you fret.

So to look on the bright side, I decided to gather some numbers about Fiddler on the Roof to figure out just how OK it is:

—This was its sixth outing on Broadway— that’s more productions than Tevye has daughters (in the musical; not in the original stories). This makes it tied for the fourth-most revived musical on Broadway of all time (and the three shows ahead of it on the list are older, and have had more time for productions).

—In fact, if you divide the years by number of Broadway productions from the list of the twenty most revived shows, Fiddler has the lowest number; it averages a new production every 8 years and 8 months. (This doesn’t factor shows with long-running productions that haven’t had a chance for revivals; it’s why Cats, say, only has one.)

—Between all six productions, Fiddler has garnered 21 Tony Award nominations, winning a total of 9 of those. This isn’t counting the honorary award it took home in 1972 for becoming then the longest-running musical in Broadway history (it’s currently at #16 for that first run).

—The mean duration of these six productions is 726.5 days, and exactly half of them have run more than a year.

—For the big question: Since its first Broadway performance in 1964, what percentage of the time is it playing on Broadway? Time for some math:

When this production closes December 31st, how many days will it have been since its first performance (previews count), September 17, 1964?  19,099.

How long did the first production play? 2,846 days (shows tend to average more than one a day, and here it passed 3,200 performances).

The second production lasted 146 days.

The third lasted 46 days.

The fourth: 226 days (and there was probably a performance the day I was born! How nice!).

The fifth: 717 days.

This production (assuming it closes on the date promised, but these things are subject to change):  378 days.

This means that since 19,099 days ago, Fiddler on the Roof has been open on Broadway for 4,359 days.

Well, we do some quick division, and discover, that if you took a time machine to any day after September 16th, 1964, the odds that you would land on a date during a run of Fiddler on Broadway is 22.82%. That’s right, higher than the percentage of Tevye’s daughters that move to Siberia.

I leave you with that figure as a sign of hope that within the next decade we’ll have Fiddler back, and that it will stick around for a bit. Also, be cheered that you still have time to see this production; it’s a shame it’s running about half as long as the one before it when it’s easily twice as good.

*Insert joke that Fiddler playing Broadway is a “Tradition!” here.*

Image credit: Alexandra Silber, Samantha Massell, Melanie Moore, Danny Burstein, Jessica Hecht, Jenny Rose Baker, and Hayley Feinstein in Fiddler on the Roof. Photo by Joan Marcus.

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As is Broadway law, Fiddler on the Roof is back on the Great White Way this year, for its sixth production total, and less than a decade since the previous one closed. The latest incarnation recently released a new cast recording prompting the question, why?

Lord knows there are enough Broadway recordings of Fiddler out there anyway, including the 2004 production, to say nothing of the film soundtrack and recordings from around the world in a multitude of languages (including, of course, both Hebrew and Yiddish).

Well, if you’re sure you don’t want any more Fiddler CDs scattered throughout your home, then you can pass by this one. But if you have it in your heart, or shelf space, for one more recording, then you’re in a pile of luck.

This album is, for the most part, unafraid of the competition from what came before it. It’s not a carbon copy of any of its predecessors, but it’s not different for the sake of standing out, either; it lets the music and performances speak for themselves.

And boy, are there some performances. Most notably, Danny Burstein is a brilliant Tevye, conveying in the album the same nuances he does onstage of a man of great compassion, humor, and at times, anguish. Plus, the man knows his way around a niggun.

The real star, however, is not any actor, but Ted Sperling, the music director. Sperling is one of the greatest conductors and arrangers in musical theatre today, particularly adept at bringing new life to old shows, and here he doesn’t disappoint. From, the opening strains of, well, fiddling, that feel a bit like drugs to a Fiddler fan, the score is lush and celebratory, without losing its folksy, down-to-earth quality. After decades of Fiddlers and their recordings, there has never been anything like the joyous, klezmer-infused “Wedding Dance” on this album.

This production of Fiddler has been noted for its new choreography by Israeli artist Hofesh Shechter, which doesn’t fully depart from the Jerome Robbins version, but brings in a modern edge that uses the original dancing as a reference point. The same can be said for the score, which is loyal to the original incarnation without being a slave to it, even sometimes adding references of one number into another. Its occasional risks, like a slowed-down, more pensive “Matchmaker,” usually pay off. It’s a recording of Fiddler that’s also a love letter to the musical.

Since this album is also as completist as possible, the producers have erred on the side of including dialogue from the show, which is largely well-performed and adds texture to the recording, if you don’t mind waiting a few extra seconds to get to a particular song.

The album also attempts new content at its end with two additional tracks: one number is a medley conducted by John Williams, featuring a cadenza by Itzhak Perlman (always a joy), so it’s a star-studded affair.

The other addition is a song cut from Fiddler‘s original production, and never quite put back: a duet between Motel and Tzeitel called “Dear Sweet Sewing Machine.” There’s also an adorable, if slightly saccharine music video. Is it necessary? No, but neither is this album, and an official recording of this song is a gem for any Fiddler completist (But nu? No “When Messiah Comes?”).

These additions are indulgent, sure, and definitely not indispensable, when the rest of the album speaks for itself as a celebration of one of the greatest American musicals of all time. But since they are there, at least they’re good, and once again, while the medley may seem a bit pandering, “Sewing Machine” is further proof of this album as a labor of love.

If you’re convinced but your shelf of Fiddler recordings is absolutely full, trade this one out for the 2004 recording. It’s better in virtually every way. But why not be a hoarder? Tevye has five daughters. Surely you can have at least five recordings of Fiddler on the Roof at your disposal.

Photo credit: Joan Marcus

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The news that “Fiddler on the Roof” is returning to Broadway has been greeted with joy in many quarters. To celebrate/procrastinate from doing real work, check out some of our favorite adaptations, from Lego to Josh Groban!

Hindi:

Italian:

Lego stop-motion:

Japanese:

Tradición!

Josh Groban:

Topol. Classic.

Bonus track: Zero Mostel singing “If I Were Rich Man.” The original, and—some say—the best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahAOU1HZXlc

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Last May, when I set out to find a venue for my exhibit of propaganda paintings marking the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl, I thought it would be cute if the East Village KGB Bar hosted it. Once I pitched the project to bar owner Denis Woychuk, however, I realized his passion for Soviet icons goes beyond semantics. His family—and the building itself—have roots in Jewish Ukraine and Soviet dissidence that precede the literary bar’s existence.

The building, a speak-easy in the 1920s, was bought by the Ukrainian Labor Home—a social fraternal organization—in 1948, complete with a closet full of authentic Socialist propaganda. As building’s owners aged, Woychuk began renting the downstairs space as a gallery and hoped to eventually take over the building.

“It became an international headquarters for the Ukrainian American community,” Woychuk told me:

They ran a Ukrainian American paper out of that building for many years; my father worked for the printing press, where the comedy club is now. He used to take me, in diapers, sit me on a barstool, and would drink at the bar. I remember I had my first drink at [age] five.

He opened the Kraine Gallery downstairs in 1983, when the building was struggling. “They still had the bar at the time, and for $5, my artist friends could get a drink, a soup, a salad, meat, potatoes, and a vegetable,” Woychuk explained. “Even back then, that was super cheap.”

In 1986, he accompanied a group of the building’s owners on a trip to the Soviet Union, hoping to get their blessing to take over the space. It worked, and in 1992 Woychuk applied for a corporation license as KGB Bar Inc, which initially got turned down. “The Department of State says you can’t name your business KGB Bar,” Woychuk said. “But I got it through as an acronym for ‘Kraine Gallery Bar.’”

Woychuk’s latest project, 20 years after the christening of KGB Bar, is a Soviet-themed musical currently on stage at the theater below the bar. Isaac Babel and the Gangster King, promoted as The Godfather meets Fiddler on the Roof, is set in 1936 Odessa and based on the stories and real-life exploits of Isaac Babel, the Soviet-era Russian Jewish master literati.

Isaac Babel and the Gangster King runs Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 pm until November 25 at the Kraine Theater.

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