Broadway-caliber theater is coming to Lower Manhattan in July, with a groundbreaking Yiddish-language production of “Fiddler on the Roof,”which will be directed by Oscar- and Tony-winner Joel Grey.
 |
 |
|
Steven Skybell will play Tevye in the upcoming production of “Fiddler on the Roof.”
|
Casting for the eight-week run was completed in the first week of May, with three distinguished theater veterans heading the bill. Tevye will be played by Steven Skybell, who has been seen on Broadway in recent years in the 2015 production of “Fiddler,” as well as “Wicked” and “The Full Monty.” Jackie Hoffman — from recent New York stagings of “Hairspray,” “The Addams Family,” “On the Town,” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” — will bring to life the role of Yente. And Golde will be played by Jill Abramovitz, who has appeared in recent Broadway productions of “Fiddler On The Roof,” “Cinderella,” and “9 to 5.”
The show will be staged at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, in Battery Park City, which is the new home of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene(NYTF). Now celebrating its 104th season, NYTF is the world’s oldest continuously operating Yiddish theater company, and the longest consecutively producing theater troupe of any kind in the United States.
 |
|
|
NYTF’s chief executive officer and executive producer, Christopher Massimine: “This is how “Fiddler” was meant to be told. It’s like a homecoming. This production will be a safe place for the audience to consider and learn what it means to be Jewish, and what it means to have these values. And it will resonate for people who are appalled at current state of society.”
|
|
The new production of “Fiddler on the Roof” will be overseen by Christopher Massimine, who serves as NYTF’s chief executive officer and executive producer. “This is a historic moment for NYTF,” says Mr. Massimine. “With the completion of the casting, and commencement of rehearsals, we begin to visibly breathe life into this vibrant Yiddish translation that has not graced the stage in over 50 years.”
The NYTF production will be the American premiere of “Fiddler on the Roof” in Yiddish. “The original show was based on stories of Sholem Aleichem,” Mr. Massimine recalls, which were written in Yiddish. “This translation was created by notable actor/director, Shraga Friedman,” who after surviving the Holocaust, translated many Broadway shows into Hebrew in the 1960s, for productions in Israel. “But this was the only one he translated into Yiddish,” relates Mr. Massimine. “He did it about a year after the original Broadway debut, just after he finished translating the show into Hebrew. His Hebrew version was wildly successful, but the Yiddish version met with resistance, because of anti-Yiddish sentiment in Israel.”
This was a reference to strong cultural preference of Israel’s founding political establishment, which strove to encourage the adoption of Hebrew as the national language of the Jewish people, and thus tried to curb the use of Yiddish. During the 1950s, this policy took the form of banning Yiddish in theaters and movies. By the 1960s, these prohibitions had been relaxed, but the policy had its intended effect: Yiddish largely disappeared from Israeli life for more than a generation.
|
 |
|
Golde will be played by
Jill Abramovitz.
|
“Friedman’s translation is more cultural than literal,” Mr. Massimine reflects. “In his rendering, ‘If I Were a Rich Man’ becomes ‘If I Were a Rothschild’ and ‘Tradition’ becomes ‘The Torah.’ This sets up the theme of Tevye grappling with the religious law.”
He adds that Friedman worked closely with the Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, and Joseph Stein (the composer, lyricist, and librettist, respectively, of “Fiddler on the Roof”), “to make sure that what he was doing was appropriate for their work. And even though ‘Fiddler’ has moments of joy and levity, it can also be a dark show. These themes are brought to the surface in the text as translated by a Holocaust survivor, with humor becoming a psychological defense mechanism for dealing with tragedy.”
Mr. Massimine adds that, “this turns out to appeal to people who are gravely concerned by the uncertainty of the world today. These doubts and confusion about leadership add to authenticity of Friedman’s work.”
 |
|
|
Jackie Hoffman will bring to life the role of Yente.
|
|
“This is how ‘Fiddler’ was meant to be told,” he reflects. “It’s like a homecoming. This production will be a safe place for the audience to consider and learn what it means to be Jewish, and what it means to have these values. And it will resonate for people who are appalled at current state of society.”
“NYTF’s mission and responsibility is to use the power of storytelling and cultural legacy to connect identity and heritage for all walks of life,” he observes. “After all, ‘folksbiene’ translates to ‘people’s stage,’ and for more than 104 years, it’s been a place where the specific becomes universal.”
“Fiddler on The Roof” performances run from July 4 to August 26, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage (36 Battery Place, near First Place). The show will be presented in Yiddish with English and Russian supertitles. Preview tickets start at $52, and performance tickets at $58. For tickets or for more information, please browse www.NYTF.org or call 866-811-4111.