 |
|
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, the Tony Award® winning musical that has captured the hearts of people all over the world with its universal appeal, embarks on its North American Tour. Based on the stories of Sholom Aleichem, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF has been lauded by critics again and again, and won the hearts of people all around the world. Filled with a rousing, heartwarming score, which includes “Tradition,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” “If I Were A Rich Man” and “Sunrise, Sunset,” FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is a timeless classic. No other musical has so magically woven music, dance, poignancy and laughter into such an electrifying and unforgettable experience. Relive a glorious tradition of the musical theatre with FIDDLER ON THE ROOF.
|
|
Creative Team
Click on name to read their bio.
Joseph Stein Writer
Jerome Robbins Broadway Director and Choreographer Sammy Dallas Bayes Director and Choreographer Joseph Stein
Writer
Joseph Stein (1912-2010) was born in New York City, the son of Charles and Emma (Rosenblum) Stein, Polish immigrants who immigrated to the United States.
Growing up in the Bronx, Stein's father read him the stories of Sholom Aleichem, a noted author of Jewish folk tales. Stein would
remember these stories when he was called upon to develop the musical that became Fiddler on the Roof. Stein did not immediately turn
to the theater; he attended City College, earning his B.S.S. in 1935, then his Master of Social Work from Columbia in 1937. Stein then
spent six years employed as a psychiatric social worker, from 1939 until 1945. In 1946, Stein began writing for radio. He wrote for
such shows as the Henry Morgan Show and Kraft Music Hall. In 1948, he and writing partner Will Glickman began writing for
the stage, contributing sketches to Broadway revues as well as whole plays and the books for musicals. Through 1958, every theatrical
production Stein wrote was a collaboration with Glickman. In 1955, the duo had their biggest success with their first musical play,
Plain and Fancy. Stein also wrote for television from 1950 to 1962, primarily for variety shows such as Your Show of Shows
and The Sid Caesar Show and specials for stars like Phil Silvers and Debbie Reynolds. Adaptations of other people's material proved
to be the highpoint of Stein's career. In 1959, he had his first solo success with an adaptation of Sean O'Casey's Juno. An even bigger
hit was Stein's adaptation of Carl Reiner's autobiography Enter Laughing in 1963. The apex of Stein's stage career, however, was
writing the book for the musical Fiddler on the Roof. Though backers were originally reluctant to produce the musical fearing it
might have limited appeal, Fiddler went on to become a smash hit. Stein won three major awards for his effort, including the Antoinette
"Tony" Perry Award for best musical. Stein continued to do well with adaptations. His next hit was the book for the 1968 musical Zorba,
based on the novel Zorba the Greek. However, Stein's career was not as successful after that point, hitting a low in 1986. Stein wrote
the book for the musical Rags, which was a continuation of the story told in Fiddler on the Roof. Unlike the original,
Rags failed to catch on immediately and was a box office failure in its original five-day Broadway run. The musical did have some
success Off-Broadway and in regional productions; it received a Tony Award nomination in 1987. Stein was married to Sadie Singer until
her death in 1974. The couple had three sons, Daniel, Harry, and Joshua. Stein remarried in 1976 to Elisa Loti, a former
actress and psychotherapist.
Jerome Robbins
Broadway Director and Choreographer
Jerome Robbins (1918-1998) received world renown as a choreographer of ballets created for the New York City Ballet, Ballets U.S.A., American Ballet Theatre,
and other international companies. He received equal acclaim for his work as a director of musicals and plays for Broadway and as
director of movies and television programs. His career as a gifted ballet dancer developed with Ballet Theatre where he danced with
special distinction the role of Petrouchk, and character roles in the works of Fokine, Tudor, Massine, Lichine, and de Mille; his first
choreographic sensation was Fancy Free (1944). Fancy Free was followed by Interplay (1945) and Facsimile (1946), all of which were
performed by Ballet Theatre. He then embarked on an enormously successful career as a choreographer and later as a director of
Broadway musicals and plays. Robbins' first musical, On the Town (1945), was followed by Billion Dollar Baby (1946), High Button
Shoes (1947), Look, Ma, I'm Dancing (1948, co-directed with George Abbott), Miss Liberty (1949), Call Me Madam (1950), and the
ballet "Small House of Uncle Thomas" in The King and I (1951). His work continued with Two's Company (1952), Pajama Game (1954,
co-directed with Mr. Abbott), and Peter Pan (1954), which he directed and choreographed. In the same year, he also directed the opera
The Tender Land by Aaron Copland. Two years after that, he directed and choreographed Bells Are Ringing (1956), followed by the
historic West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959), and Fiddler on the Roof (1964). In 1988, he staged Jerome Robbins's Broadway. In 1949,
he joined New York City Ballet as Associate Artistic Director. Among his outstanding works for the Company are The Guests (1949),
Age of Anxiety(1951), The Cage (1951), The Pied Piper (1951), Afternoon of a Faun (1953), Fanfare (1953),
The Concert (1956), Dances at a Gathering (1969), The Goldberg Variations (1971), Watermill (1972),
Requiem Canticles (1972), In G Major (1975), Mother Goose (1975), The Four Seasons (1979),
Opus 19/The Dreamer (1979), Glass Pieces (1983), I'm Old Fashioned (1983), Antique Epigraphs (1984);
Brahms/Handel (1984, with Twyla Tharp), In Memory of ... (1985), Ives, Songs (1988), 2 & 3 Part Inventions (1994),
West Side Story Suite (1995), and Brandenburg (1997). For his own company, Ballets U.S.A. (1958 - 1962), he created N.Y.
Export: Opus Jazz (1958), Moves (1959), and Events (1961). For American Ballet Theatre's 25th anniversary in 1965,
he staged Stravinsky's dance cantata, Les Noces, a work of shattering and immense impact. During this extraordinary career,
Mr. Robbins served on the National Council on
the Arts from 1974 to 1980 and the New York State Council on the Arts/Dance Panel from 1973 to 1988. He established and partially
endowed the Jerome Robbins Film Archive of the Dance Collection of the New York City Public Library at Lincoln Center. His numerous
awards and academic honors included the Handel Medallion of the City of New York (1976), the Kennedy Center Honors (1981), three
Honorary Doctorates, an honorary membership in the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (1985), and the National Medal
of the Arts (1988).
Sammy Dallas Bayes
Director and Choreographer
Mr. Bayes has staged and directed successful productions of numerous musicals in London's West End,
Sydney and Melbourne Australia, the Far East, as well as Europe. Credits at home and abroad include:
Fiddler on the Roof starring Topol (Tony Award Best Revival), West Side Story, Chicago, Pippin, Annie,
Two Gentlemen of Verona, Nunsense, Man of La Mancha, Canterbury Tales (Tony Nomination), Lend
Me A Tenor, I hate Hamlet, Broadway Bound, Sister Mary Ignatious Explains It All For You, and Last
of The Red Hot Lovers. He has been recognized for his contributions to theater at home and abroad,
receiving numerous awards for outstanding work. Mr. Bayes has written three theatre pieces, two
musicals and one dramatic play. One Man's War, the dramatic play based on the true life story of
one of the first Marines to go into combat in Vietnam in 1965, was mounted at the New Play Festival
at The University of Hartford in May of 2003 and subsequently received a two-month engagement at
the Triad Theater in NYC. The musical Two Ladies on Stage which received a top Drama Critic's Award
in Tokyo, was based on the lives of two Japanese female film stars and was produced for the KOMA
Theater in Tokyo Japan. His most recent project, now in the process of finding the appropriate venue,
is a musical extravaganza centered around music, true stories and events of the 1950's and 60's. Titled
"Radio U.S.of A." Countdown, it features hit songs of the two decades laced with powerful and dramatic
episodes of the human experience. Mr. Bayes dedicates his work on this production to the memory and
life of a dear friend and actor who he knew for more than 40 years, David Masters. This one's for you
David. You're missed.
“If tradition tells us anything, it's that the good stuff sticks around for a long time,
like tradition.” “…this "Fiddler" is a toast "To Life." “…Fiddler offers a rare blend of artistic merit, entertainment and sheer humanity.” “It's wide-reaching and broadly appealing because it's so personal.” “… It's richly satisfying and surprisingly touching.” |
Gallery Click on an image to enlarge.
Photos by © Carol Rosegg.
|
