Fiddler on the Roof is based on Tevye and his Daughters, which was a series of folk stories by Sholem Aleichem, the pen name for Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich. He wrote the stories in the Yiddish language between 1894 and 1914.  The stories are about Jewish life in a village in the “Pale of Settlement” of Imperial Russia at the turn of the 20th century.  A “pale of settlement” was known as a territory where Jews were allowed to live during the Czarist regime.  The musical authors created the fictional village name of Anatevka, located in central Ukraine, because it was more singable than many of the other Russian villages of the time.  However, in 2015, a present day Anatevka was established in Ukraine as a refugee village to provide food, housing, education, and medical support for refugees resulting from the current Russian invasion. 

This production will mark my second time directing this classic musical, which debuted on Broadway in the fall of 1964 and went on to win 9 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, led by actor Zero Mostel as Tevye. Fiddler became a major motion picture in 1971, winning 8 Academy Awards, including the best picture of 1972.  For the original movie, the cast was led by Israeli actor Chaim Topol, who won both the Academy award for best actor and then won the Tony Award for Best Actor in the 1991 Broadway stage revival. My 2005 Westfield HS production was nominated for 13 Cappie Awards and won 3, including Best Musical, Lead Actor, and Choreography.  Suffice it to say, this current production is standing on the shoulders of giants, with a lot of expectations to live up to - at least in my mind as the staging director.  I’m excited to produce this dramatic and storied musical once again as our Herndon HS Cappie entry for the 2024 Gala, and to successfully close out our theatre “season of curses”. 

Without a doubt, this musical is in my top 10 favorite shows of all time - which is saying something in my 30th year of teaching and directing educational theatre.  I have directed over 100 productions and seen more than 60 shows on Broadway, and still, this production ranks in my top 10 percent.  Perhaps it is because the show is essentially about family and community, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, and small-town relations.  I hold these concepts dear to my heart, and I love exploring these real-world dynamics on stage.  It could also be that I once married into an Israeli Jewish family, where all three of my children have claimed their Jewish heritage rightfully from their mother’s side.  Though I grew up Protestant, I have a deep love and respect for the Jewish culture, traditions, and the people.  In bringing this play to the Herndon community, I endeavor to honor a heritage that is over three thousand years old in the making.  Lastly, celebrating Jewish heritage and culture seems very timely right now while antisemitism is on the rise around the world.  I hope that through my leadership at the helm of this latest production, we can serve it the justice it so respectfully deserves.

Most certainly, I cannot create this magic, or “Kesem” alone.  I am bringing in one of our local community rabbis to help teach and define the cultural traditions inherent to this play.  I once again have assembled a fantastic adult team of music directors and choreographers, rounding out the production leadership with my senior students in the roles of stage management and assistant director.  Through proper dramaturgical research and due diligence to the authentic nature of this cultural story, we aim to produce something we can all be proud of.  Lastly, and most definitely not the least, our performing arts student talent found in the acting ensemble, orchestra, and design crew will enthusiastically bring this iconic production “to life - L’chaim”!