Fiddler on the Roof

Adult $43, Junior (0-18) $33 Presented by Steamboat Springs Actor’s Studio, in partnership with Undiscovered Earth Fiddler on the Roof, a musical with a score by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and a libretto by Joseph Stein, opened on Broadway in 1964. The musical takes place in a fictional Russian Jewish village, called Anatevka during the reign of Tsar Nicholas II. Tevye, a poor dairy farmer, has raised his five daughters with his wife, Golde, according to Jewish tradition. His three eldest daughters resist tradition by wanting to choose their own husbands, rather than by a matchmaker, and Tevye accepts this if it aligns with Jewish law. But the Tsar’s increasing persecution of Russian Jews leads to the violent disruption of the villagers’ lives, culminating in the forced removal of the Jewish people from the town. Although they lose their homes and land, Tevye and his fellow villagers persist, preparing to restart their lives in new more welcoming countries. One of the most popular musicals in American musical theatre, Fiddler on the Roof has appealed to cultures all over the world. The themes speak to subjugated and oppressed minorities, both Jewish and otherwise. In the 1960s, the musical connected to those who were waging the battle for Civil Rights. Since it opened on Broadway, Fiddler has seen five Broadway revivals and many U.S. national tours. It was the first Broadway musical to play more than 3,000 performances. Even in countries without a prominent Jewish population, the musical expresses and reassures the anxieties of intergenerational conflict over tradition and the fear of cultural erasure through persecution. All ages!