Fiddler on the Roof, Signature Theatre, Arlington, VA

 

Douglas Sills (Center) as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, with his daughters: Hodel (Lily Burka), Tzeitel (Beatrice Owens), Mia Goodman (Shprintze), Rosie Jo Neddy (Chava), and Allison Mintz (Bielke). Photo credit: Daniel Rader.

“A little musical about Jews in Russia. I don’t know if it will turn into something or not,” or something to that effect, is how legendary director/choreographer Jerome Robbins described Fiddler on the Roof to Richard Altman, who became his assistant on the original production and would go on to recreate Robbins’s staging all over the world, including London, Tokyo, and Tel Aviv. That’s how Altman told his story to me, when I had the great good fortune of meeting and being taught and directed by him as a visiting artist when I was a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro almost 50 years ago. As I recall, he was introduced to Robbins at a party by Carol Burnett, who had been his classmate at the University of Southern California. Altman wrote a book with Mervyn D. Kaufman about his experiences with the show, The Making of a Musical: Fiddler on the Roof, published in 1971.

Conventional wisdom was that the show was too ethnic and depressing, that it would run long enough for the Jewish audience to see it, then it would fade away. Conventional wisdom could hardly have been more wrong. Fiddler became a worldwide smash hit, which was turned into an Academy Award-winning film. It ran on Broadway from 1964 to 1972, a total of 3242 performances, a record that stood for more than ten years. Since then, it has been revived on Broadway five times, most recently in 2015.

Such is the history of the current offering at Arlington’s Signature Theatre, where it brings audiences a story that on the surface is just as Robbins described it, a little musical about Jews in Russia in the very early years of the 20^th century. But it delivers universally understood and shared themes of family, coping with changing attitudes and times, resilience in overcoming one’s circumstances, the importance of community, and perhaps most of all, “Tradition,” as described in the play’s opening number.

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Douglas Sills as Tevye and Amie Bermowitz as Golde in Fiddler on the Roof. Photo credit: Daniel Rader.

We are in Anatevka, a village somewhere in tsarist Russia, where the Jewish community keeps to itself, co-existing with the Russian authorities uncomfortably. The community honors its traditions, which have gone unchallenged for generations. The papas have their obligations, the mamas, sons, and daughters all have theirs. Tevye is a poor dairyman who often ends up pulling his own cart when his horse is unwell. He and his wife Golde have five daughters, but so little money for a dowry that their only hope is that matchmaker Yente will be able to arrange something for them. The three oldest daughters lament their fate, hoping that Yente will bring them good matches (“Matchmaker, Matchmaker”). Tevye accepts his lot in life but asks God if He could have perhaps given him a little more. He can only imagine what his life could be like under different circumstances (“If I Were a Rich Man”). We see Tevye’s family and other villagers saying their “Sabbath Prayer,” as night falls and the sabbath begins.

Yente brings word to Golde that she has arranged a match for eldest daughter Tzeitel, with Lazar Wolf, a prosperous butcher and widower many years older than she. Tzeitel, however, has her eye on the poor tailor Motel (pronounced “mottle,” not like a sleeping place for travelers). After Tevye and Lazar have come to an agreement and toasted it (“To Life”), Tzeitel confesses to her father that she loves Motel and wants to marry him, not Lazar. This is against tradition, but Tzeitel and Motel assert themselves and reluctantly, Tevye gives his consent. Motel expresses his jubilation (“Miracle of Miracles”).

Jake Lowenthal (Motel), Douglas Sills (Tevye), Christopher Bloch (Rabbi), and Beatrice Owens (Tzeitel) in Fiddler on the Roof. Photo credit: Daniel Rader.

Now, however, Tevye must come up with a way of to convince Golde that he must get out of the deal with Lazar, so he concocts (and brings to life) a dream in which the ghosts of Golde’s grandmother Tzeitel and Lazar’s late wife Fruma Sarah appear, foretelling woe if Tzeitel marries Lazar, and deeming Motel the proper choice. Golde is taken in by the dream and agrees, Tevye comes to uncomfortable terms with Lazar, and Tzeitel and Motel are married in a traditional ceremony, under the Chupa, as Tevye and Golde reflect on how their children have grown (“Sunrise, Sunset”). The jubilant wedding includes much music and dancing (including a famous sequence in which men dance balancing bottles on their heads). Perchik, a young man with radical ideas who has recently come to the village (and who has been teaching the daughters), questions why women are dancing with women and men with men. Daringly, he takes the hand of Hodel, Tevye’s second daughter and the object of Perchik’s affections, and they dance; another tradition smashed. Other villagers join the dance, but the proceedings come to an abrupt halt as the Russian constable and his man literally break up the celebration, smashing tables and plates, ripping apart feather-filled pillows, and creating general havoc.

The iconic Bottle Dance: the company of Fiddler on the Roof. Photo credit: Daniel Rader.

Tevye’s eldest having married someone who was not arranged by her parents was one thing. Perchik’s romance with Hodel results in their engagement (“Now I Have Everything”). Tevye says No, but the rebellious couple explain to him that they are not asking for his approval, only for his blessing. They are in love, something not considered when Tevye and Golde married. Still, he is intrigued with the idea and he is curious about Golde’s feelings (“Do You Love Me?”).

Young revolutionary Perchik leaves for Kyiv where he is arrested and sent to Siberia. Hodel is determined to join him there and assures Tevye that she is certain there will be a rabbi who was also arrested and who will marry them. Tevye and Hodel know that they will never see each other again, but she must go (“Far from the Home I Love”).

Tevye’s third daughter, Chava, has been seen with a young Russian, Fyedka. Tevye forbids her from seeing Fyedka and remembers what she was like as a child (“Chavaleh”). Marrying for love and marrying without his approval he can ultimately accept, but marrying outside the faith is a bridge too far. He considers her dead and will not look at or speak to her again. The Russian constable comes to the town and says that the residents must leave. Their futures are uncertain – Tevye, Golde, and their two youngest will go to America, Tzeitel and Motel to Poland, hoping to join her parents in America later. Chava and Fyedka will also go to Poland, some to other places in Europe, maybe even the Holy Land. Taking meager possessions, they reflect on the lives they will leave behind (“Anatevka”).

Breaking tradition: Perchik (Ariel Neydavoud) dares to dance with Hodel (Beatrice Owens) at the wedding. With the company of Fiddler on the Roof. Photo credit: Daniel Rader.

Joseph Stein based his libretto on stories and characters created by Sholem Aleichem (1859-1916), who was sometimes referred to as “the Jewish Mark Twain.” The plot and characters could stand on their own, without the music. Arguably, though, the music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick “make” the show, exemplifying a variety of styles, from exuberance to reverence to introspection to broad comedy, and several have found lives outside the show.

Douglas Sills, a Tony-nominated musical theatre star who is currently appearing in HBO’s “The Gilded Age,” seems made for the role of Tevye. Sills deftly handles every aspect and nuance of the character, from his break-the-fourth-wall comments to and interactions with the audience to his conversations with God to the farcical, whimsical, and comic contents of his songs. He brings great tenderness to scenes with his daughters and shares a brittle but familiar sarcasm in scenes with Golde. Several years ago, Sills impressed me in Kiss Me, Kate at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, and I was fortunate to see him on Broadway in War Paint. I hope he will be back for another run on a DC area stage.

Amie Bermowitz is physically slight in stature, but as Golde she is a force to be reckoned with as she commands her household, matches wits with her husband, and even insists on sweeping the floor in the house that her family is forced to abandon.

The entire cast is on point. Beatrice Owens is a sly and practical Tzeitel, working well with Jake Lowenstein as the mensch Motel. Lily Burka and Ariel Neydavoud as Hodel and Perchik have a nice chemistry as the defiant daughter and the firebrand tutor; Burka also delivers an achingly beautiful “Far from the Home I Love,” probably the most operatic of the songs. Rosie Jo Neddy as Chava and Alex Stone as Fyedka don’t get much stage time, but they make strong impressions in the time they have, especially Neddy’s balletic work as Tevye sings “Chavaleh.”

Susan Rome, who has impressed me in other productions, has two opportunities to impress here: as the cynically practical matchmaker Yente and as Grandma Tzeitel in “Tevye’s Dream.” I didn’t realize both roles are played by the same actress until scouring the program afterward. Jeremy Radin manages to be somewhat repulsive while also pitiable as Lazar Wolf, a role he has played on numerous occasions. The always-dependable Christopher Bloch is solid as the Rabbi. (Having played the Rabbi myself in 1978, I paid special attention to him.) The remaining cast members, Davis Wood as the Constable, Sarah Corey as Fruma-Sarah and Shaindel, Stephen Russell Murray as Mendel, Reagan Pender as Avram, Joseph Fierberg as Mordcha, and Hank von Kolnitz as Sasha, deliver solid performances.

Director Joe Calarco does amazingly creative work, focusing us always on moving the play forward and beautifully integrating the contributions of designers and musicians working at the top of their game.

Scene designer Misha Kachman has ingeniously designed a set that we see, entering the theatre, as apparently interlocking tables pushed together. As the play progresses, these set pieces are pulled apart or rearranged, functioning as a platform for staging, as Tevye’s cart, and creating other locations. Suggestive rather than realistic, the concept worked perfectly in Signature’s intimate space. The costumes, designed by Charlotte Sandor, stay true to the period and accentuate the characters aptly. Lighting designer Tyler Micoleau, sound designer Eric Norris, and wig designer Anne Nesmith each contribute their expertise, with Calarco ensuring that their contributions work together toward his unified vision.

Douglas Sills as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. Photo credit: Daniel Rader.

Jerome Robbins is contractually always recognized as the original production’s director and choreographer in any Fiddler production’s credits. I am not sure just how much of the Robbins choreography is recreated here; since this is staged in the round, certainly adjustments had to be made if the attempt was to recreate the Robbins original work. All that matters, though, is that several iconic elements of the original (the dance/movement in “Tradition” and at the wedding, including the bottle dance) work beautifully and pay homage to the original, thanks to choreographer Sarah Parker.

Fight choreographer Casey Kaleba stages extremely realistic situations for maximum impact. And I must recognize Jon Kalbfleisch’s work as music director and conductor, who makes his 10 musicians sound like many more. Special kudos to violinist Jennifer Rickard, who makes no small contribution standing in as the titular fiddler.

This is a great show for families during this holiday season that reminds us of what we often take for granted, even as we, like the Anatevkans, must cope with difficult and changing circumstances with resolve and hope. If you have never seen Fiddler on the Roof, don’t miss this opportunity. If you have seen it before, you will appreciate the intimacy and immediacy of this production, which reminds us of what a great musical can be. Fiddler continues through January 25, 2026.