Bill Nolte Stars in Westchester Broadway Theatre's FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, Now thru 2/3

Westchester Broadway Theatre presents Fiddler On The Roof, with Music by Jerry Bock, Lyrics Sheldon Harnick and Book by Joseph Stein. This production will be directed and choreographed by Richard Stafford with musical direction by Leo P. Carusone. The show runs tonight, October 11 – November 25, 2012, and returns January 3 – February 3, 2013, starring Bill Nolte as Tevye.

Fiddler On The Roof is thought by many to be the quintessential musical of our time. Composer, Jerry Bock and lyricist, Sheldon Harnick teamed up with librettist, Joseph Stein to create this timeless classic, magically woven with universal themes, music, dance, poignancy and laughter.

Fiddler on the Roof is based on Tevye and his Daughters and other tales by Sholem Aleichem that he wrote in Yiddish and published in 1894. Set in 1905, the musical takes place in Anatevka, a small Jewish village in Russia. The story revolves around the dairyman, Tevye, and his attempts to preserve his family's traditions in the face of a changing world. When his eldest daughter, Tzeitel, begs him to let her marry a poor tailor rather than the middle-aged butcher that he has already chosen for her, Tevye must choose between his own daughter's happiness and those beloved traditions that keep the outside world at bay. Meanwhile, there are other forces at work in Anatevka, dangerous forces which threaten to destroy the very life he is trying to preserve. The score includes such favorite songs as: "If I Were a Rich Man", "Matchmaker, Matchmaker", "Tradition" and "Sunrise Sunset".

The original Broadway production opened on September 22, 1964 and ran for a record-setting total of 3,242 performances. Fiddler held the record for the longest-running Broadway musical for almost 10 years until Grease surpassed its run. It remains Broadway's fifteenth longest-running show in history. The Cast included Zero Mostel as Tevye the milkman, Maria Karnilova as his wife and Beatrice Arthur as Yente, the matchmaker. It won nine of the ten Tony Awards for which it received nominations, including Best Musical, Best Actor (Mostel), Featured Actress (Karnilova), Author (Stein), Composer (Bock), Lyricist (Harnick), Director and Choreographer (Jerome Robbins). The show was made into a 1971 film starring Topol in the Tevye role.

In our production, Tevye the Dairyman is brought vividly to life by Bill Nolte. His wife Golde will be played by Emily Zacharias. The Daughters are Rachel Prather (Tzeitel), Sarah Rolleston (Hodel), Dana Glaus (Chava), and local children, Gianna Florio and Julia Gold who will alternate as Bielke, and Samantha Robins and Shannon Stout who will alternate as Shprintze. Terry Palasz is the meddling Matchmaker, Yente. The girls' suitors are Andrew Boza, as Motel the tailor, Eric Johnson as the butcher, Lazar Wolfe, Joe Longthorne as the student revolutionary, Perchik, and Chris Giordano as Fyedka, the Russian Cossack.

The Cast also features Michael J. Farina as Mordcha the Innkeeper, Drew Martin as the Rabbi, Benjamin Dean as Mendel, Stephen Tewksbury as the constable, Lucas Thompson as Nachum and Stephen Valenti as Avram.

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