Harvey Fierstein Sheds New Light on Iconic FIDDLER Role

MercuryNews.com spoke with Tony Award-winning actor Harvey Fierstein about his take on Tevye, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF's legendary leading man. Fierstein recently replaced Chaim Topol in the role in the show's current North American Tour.

Fierstein, who played Tevye on Broadway in 2005, "brings a new relevance, not to mention his famously raspy voice, to old Anatevka" on tour according to MercuryNews.com.

Fierstein admits that he feared that the meaning of the show was beginning to get lost in its iconic score. He tells MercuryNews.com that "everyone knows this score. The audience knows the songs practically better than we do, and because it's so beloved it's become a museum piece," he says. "You're so busy humming along you're not even watching the play anymore, and that's death! It sucks the life out of the experience. The theater has to be alive." The website reports that Fierstein is now adamant about re-infusing FIDDLER with some political meaning throughout his time on tour.

To read more about Fierstein's take on Tevye on MurcuryNews.com, click here.

Mr. Fierstein starred as the iconic milkman, Tevye in the recent critically acclaimed Broadway production. Audiences now have the rare opportunity to see the TONY award winner embrace one of his favorite roles in this Jerome Robbins inspired production. Mr. Fierstein has won four TONY awards including Best Book of a Play and Best Actor in a Play for Torch Song Trilogy. His most recent win was the 2003 TONY for Best Actor in a Musical for the Broadway production of Hairspray. In addition to his TONY Award winning role in the Torch Song Trilogy, Mr. Fierstein recreated the role in the film adaptation thus winning him an Independent Spirit Award nomination as Best Male Lead. Other film work includes, Mrs. Doubtfire, Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway and Independence Day.

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF has captured the hearts of people all over the world with its universal appeal and timeless message. The North American Tour continues the tradition of the 1964 Jerome Robbins TONY Award-winning production. Mr. Robbins won twin TONY awards for his direction and choreography of Broadway's FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. In this National Tour, both are faithfully recreated by Director Sammy Dallas Bayes, choreographer of the Broadway Revival.

When FIDDLER ON THE ROOF opened in the United States in 1964, it was a time of change and crumbling traditions in our own country. Perhaps the explanation for its world-wide success in the ‘60's and ‘70's was because the play illustrated the universality of such problems as the "generation gap," youthful dissent, revolutionary doctrine, and the oppression of minorities. Students of the time identified with the rebellious student, Perchik, and strongly related to the breaking of hallowed traditions. Tevye and others of his time struggled with these problems in 1905, and emerged triumphant, offering the hope and promise of reconciliation to a turbulent society. Today, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is as relevant as ever.

Now, in the midst of a new millennia, in a world fraught with anxiety and fear, the one constant humanity can rely on is the strength of family and of its traditions that will ultimately sustain it through its own trials and tribulations. Forty five years and a generation later, new audiences can identify and take heart as they experience the tradition in great musical theatre that is FIDDLER ON THE ROOF.

 

---

Join Team BroadwayWorld

Are you an avid theatergoer? We're looking for people like you to share your thoughts and insights with our readers. Team BroadwayWorld members get access to shows to review, conduct interviews with artists, and the opportunity to meet and network with fellow theatre lovers and arts workers.

Interested? Learn more here.

---

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!