Yiddish Fiddler at the Museum of Jewish Heritage

Maybe I missed it, but I'm surprised we aren't talking about this more! I'm really looking forward to this...and Joel Grey is directing! Do any of you folks have expectations for the production?

Steven Skybell and Jill Abramovitz star as Tevye and Golde, with Jackie Hoffman (Oh myyyy) signing on as Yente the Matchmaker.

Full press release!

Going August 2nd. Can't wait! It's a show that I (and so many) know so well, so I don't need to be able to understand it. The Yiddish will add more depth.

Thanks for bumping my thread, BWWers. I was beginning to wonder why reports on here had been quiet. Everyone I've heard from echoes that this production is magnificent. Now that I'm thinking about it, I think Skybell was my Dr. Dillamond when I saw Wicked in 2007.

I'm also Facebook friends with Bruce Sabath (Lazar Wolf). He's posted pictures from opening night of Topol, Katrina Lenk, Sheldon Harnick, and many others. Something very special is at the MJH!

I adored this production so much, even if you have seen countless Fiddler revivals before go see this! It has been on TDF a few times but those tickets go fast. My only complaint is the hideous set- basically these beige hangings that looks like paper towels. The word Torah (in Hebrew) is written on one of the hangings, not sure why they didn't go with the Hebrew word for Tradition. I have seen many shows at the Folksbiene and the sets are usually pretty elaborate. It was a real treat seeing the show in such an intimate setting, the theater is small so no bad seats.

I caught this last Friday, and it was the most impactful version of the musical I've seen. Yes the set was kind of drab, and yes I'm sure that's largely a product of budget limitations, but while it's lacking the big set pieces featured in the Danny Burstein starring version that was on Broadway a couple of years ago, given that the story takes place in a very poor village, a sparse, drab set is thematically more appropriate.

More importantly, hearing the story in Yiddish made the story feel far more specific and lived in. Russians said things in Russian, in the rare instance scripture was quoted and it wasn't Tevyah making things up, the actual quote was recited in the original Hebrew. That made the second half of the play, when things get a lot more dark, that much more realistic and heartbreaking.

Additionally, the second half ends with Tevyah leaving for America, and by the happenstance of where the museum is located, you leave the theater and are staring at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. It reminded me even if that story originated from the imagination of Sholem Aleichem, stories like it were 100% real.

I'm assuming they're looking at one of the smaller theaters. And I'd have to imagine it would be a limited run as well. We just had the Burstein revival two years ago. Can't see this running longer than 6 months on Broadway.



Broadway transfer?

Please producers: not everything needs to be on Broadway. Leave this where it is.

Can anyone give any advice on the seating chart and stage height? The premium seats seem to be sporadically placed throughout the house with the first row just $75. I'm inclined to get front row but wanted to know if anyone would recommend opting for rear seats instead.

I was sitting in row F, last seat house right. It was fine (and $75). I did see that the front rows on the sides sorta slope down so it might be difficult to see over the edge of the stage. I didn't really take notice of how the front row center was in relation to the stage height, though - sorry.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show, even though Fiddler isn't really one of my favorites. The cast was great. I teared up in all the right places. My only quibble is the translation of the lyrics - they're not right! I'm guessing they rewrite the lyrics so they rhyme in Yiddish, but the English on the screens was just wrong and it bugged me. My issue, I realize. After a couple of songs, I just stopped looking at the screens while they were singing.

I think this production fits perfectly in the space and Joel Grey did a remarkable directing job. I hope it doesn't transfer.

Esther2 said: "My only quibble is the translation of the lyrics - they're not right! I'm guessing they rewrite the lyrics so they rhyme in Yiddish, but the English on the screens was just wrong and it bugged me."





As you guessed, it's because of the rhyme scheme, as well as the meter (i.e, making sure it's the right number of syllables to fit the melody). If you read the program notes, they explain why they decided to use the literal translation in the supertitles instead of the original English. I also found it a teency bit distracting, but mainly because I was so curious about how the meaning changed that I was paying really close attention to it.

Sounds to me like the design isn't great, so I don't know why they'd transfer that to Broadway. Maybe to Minetta Lane? Or something like that?

But the recent revival wasn't a success, so I don't know why they'd think putting it into a very specific language that most Americans don't know, would somehow make it a hit? It seems to be doing just fine where it is.