The Peterborough Theatre Guild’s annual musical returns to Showplace Performance Centre this winter with a production of the beloved musical Fiddler on the Roof for eight performances from February 16 to 25.
With music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, the classic musical — which turns 60 years old in 2024 — tells the story of a Jewish family living in the small village of Anatevka in pre-revolutionary Russia whose patriarch struggles to maintain cultural traditions against a rising tide of modern values and a backdrop of antisemitism.
Poor milkman Tevye and his sharp-tongued wife Golde have five daughters (Tzeitel, Hodel, Chava, Shprintze, and Bielke), the oldest three of whom are of marrying age. Tevye agrees to an arranged marriage, proposed by local matchmaker Yente, between his eldest daughter Tzeitel and an old widowed and rich butcher named Lazar Wolf. However, Tzeitel is in love with a poor tailor named Motel Kamzoil and convinces her father to approve that marriage instead. Then Tevye’s second oldest daughter Hodel decides to marry a revolutionary student named Perchik, and he reluctantly agrees to that marriage as well.
However, when Tevye’s third oldest daughter Chava decides to marry a Christian man named Fyedka, the idea of his daughter marrying a non-Jew is too much for Tevye and he disowns her. The story concludes with Tevye’s family, along with all other Jewish families in the village, being forced to leave Anatevka by Russian soldiers. The play’s name comes from the character of the fiddler, appearing throughout the musical perched on a rooftop while playing the fiddle, who symbolizes the precarious balance of maintaining tradition in the face of change.
Fiddler on the Roof is based on a collection of short stories about Tevye the milkman by the late 19th-century Yiddish author and playwright Sholem Aleichem, who lived in the Russian Empire before immigrating to the U.S. in 1906 to escape the antisemitic riots that swept across Russia in the early 20th century.
The original production of Fiddler on the Roof, which opened on September 22, 1964 at the Imperial Theatre in New York City, featured Zero Mostel as Tevye, Maria Karnilova as Golde, Beatrice Arthur as Yente, Austin Pendleton as Motel, Bert Convy as Perchik, Gino Conforti as the fiddler, and Julia Migenes as Hodel. It was a commercial and critical success, winning nine Tony Awards including best musical, score, book, direction, and choreography. Mostel’s performance has been called one of the greatest in the history of American musical theatre.
Fiddler on the Roof was the first musical theatre production in history to surpass 3,000 performances, and held the record for the longest-running Broadway musical for almost 10 years until Grease surpassed its run.
It spawned five Broadway revivals and a highly successful 1971 film adaptation written by Stein and produced and directed by Canadian Norman Jewison, which was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won three and is considered to be one of the greatest musical films of all time.
With its memorable songs including “Tradition,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Do you Love Me,” and “Sunrise, Sunset,” Fiddler on the Roof has been performed in dozens of countries around the world, with more than 20 major productions and revivals. It has influenced musical theatre songwriters from multiple generations.
The Peterborough Theatre Guild production of Fiddler on the Roof is directed by Jerry Allen and produced by Pat Hooper, with musical director Janina Krauss and choreographer Laura Lawson. It stars Donnell MacKenzie as Tevye, Lyndele Gauci as Golde, Hilary Evans as Tzeitel, Christine Helferty as Hodel, Laura Lawson as Chava, Bruno Merz as Motel, Eddy Sweeney as Perchik, Simon Banderob as Feydka, Alex Hodson as Sprintze, Poppy Alderson as Bielke, Nicole Grady as Yente, and Matt Kraft as Lazar Wolf.
With all performances taking place at Showplace Performance Centre in downtown Peterborough, Fiddler on the Roof opens on Friday, February 16th at 7:30 p.m., with other evening performances on Saturday, February 17th and from Wednesday, February 21st through Saturday, February 24th. There will also be 2 p.m. matinee performances on Sunday, February 18th and Sunday, February 25th.
Tickets are $37 for adults, $33 for seniors, and $25 for students and are available online at peterboroughtheatreguild.com or by calling the box office at any time at 705-745-4211 (if the box office is not open when you call, leave a message and they will call you back).
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a media sponsor of the Peterborough Theatre Guild’s 2023-24 season.
