About the Show

The classic musical is presented in a new way – in Yiddish with English and Russian supertitles.

Directed by Oscar and Tony Award®-winner Joel Grey, this production has been called "a richer, deeper interpretation” of Fiddler on the Roof, being entirely in Yiddish- the language Tevye and his family would have spoken.

Steven Skybell reprises his role as Tevye, a jolly and honest milkman balancing family, faith, and tradition in the small Russian shtetl of Anatevka.

Old-world traditions clash against new-world thought as Tevye’s daughters fall in love of their own volition in increasingly untraditional ways.

Critic Reviews (50)

"Like the production itself, his [Tevye] portrayal is unquestionably beautiful, thoroughly devastating, and completely satisfying."
Read more

Director Joel Grey’s beautifully simple Off-Broadway revival exuberantly embraces the show’sJewishness via this lingual device of the dialogue and songs being performed in Yiddish. Visually arresting and emotionally stirring, this presentation is cause for kvelling and plotzing.
Read more

"Sheldon Harnick’s lyrics and Joseph Stein’s dialogue appear simultaneously as English supertitles: although not verbatim translations, they convey the plot and the characters’ actions and emotions."
Read more

For a previous production

“Though it features a Broadway-quality Tevye...and, for Off Broadway, a high level of professionalism throughout, the Folksbiene production cannot achieve the status and polish of mass entertainment. Rather, it offers a kind of authenticity no other American ‘Fiddler’ ever has: It’s in Yiddish...Couldn’t sound more right...Outside of the big numbers, it is not as suave as it might be...But when the production hitches a ride on the astonishing craft of the original, it is often thrilling."
Read more

For a previous production

"The show has arrived with its stripped-down aesthetic and emotionally lucid production intact. In fact, it feels even more resonant... This may not be the most spectacularly sung, danced or designed 'Fiddler' ever to hit the stage, but it's likely the most authentic thanks to the use of Yiddish and the focus on genuine feelings. At times it's more like a séance than a show. The turn-of-the-20th-century village of Anatevka may be fictional, but its denizens feel wonderfully, vibrantly alive."
Read more

For a previous production

“Thrilling...So virtuosic is Steven Skybell in that role that he often needs no language at all for us to feel his character swerve from ironic mockery to righteous anger to heartbreak...Illes is engaging and steely and Hoffman is comic and a bit over-the-top...The production’s polish and verve make for an exuberant and touching celebration..But there are also crucial complications. The show’s attitude to the observantly Jewish culture of the shtetl...is itself quite ambivalent."
Read more

For a previous production

"Delivering raw emotionality, boisterous humor and cultural authenticity that will stir you whether you're experiencing the show for the first time or the 15th...Steven Skybell brings exuberant charm, warmth, flinty intelligence and even a bearish sexiness...Grey navigates the show's many shifts from comedy to pathos, from elation to fear and desolation, with a supple hand, and the heartfelt investment in the story and characters is evident throughout."
Read more

For a previous production

"Aside from being performed in Yiddish, this is not so different from a well-acted regional theater production of 'Fiddler'...The production values are minimal, with no scenery except for a few hanging banners and basic props. A 12-piece orchestra sits at the back of the stage. Even though the space is rather cramped, the original Jerome Robbins dance choreography is efficiently reproduced."
Read more

Trailer

Creative team

National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene