This New Year’s Eve on December 31st, 2016, the current revival of Fiddler on the Roof will play it’s final performance on Broadway. I was lucky enough to have seen this production last month at the matinee just before this year’s Tony Awards. While I was still glad about the three nominations it received (Best Revival of a Musical, Best Lead Actor in a Musical for Danny Burstein, and Best Choreography for Hofesh Shechter), I really felt it deserved more nominations than that. If I was a nominator, I would’ve given it nominations for Bartlett Sher’s bold direction, Ted Sperling’s fresh orchestrations (you can hear them on the new cast recording), and the design elements. Perhaps it would’ve done better in another season. I also felt this would’ve won six-time nominee Danny Burstein his long-awaited Tony Award had Hamilton been completely out of the way (or if Leslie Odom, Jr. had been eligible as a Featured Actor). But that really shouldn't take away all the great work he's been doing in it. I thought he was absolutely incredible as Tevye!
Grant it, this was such a superbly acted production with such detailed staging, the whole thing was really great! For those of you who are planning to be in New York before the end of the year, I absolutely recommend seeing this production of Fiddler on the Roof! If not, it is currently listed on The Booking Group website (http://www.thebookinggroup.com/fiddlerontheroof/), so it could go on tour (and I’d be thrilled if that ends up happening).
On a positive note, the Broadway Theatre is definitely now an option for several producers who are looking for the right venue they’d like to put their show into this spring. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cameron Mackintosh ends up bringing the long-awaited Broadway revival of Miss Saigon to that venue (especially since it’s the same one the original production ran in for nearly 10 years).
I’d also like to point out that by the time this production closes, it will end up being the second longest-running Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof (the record for the longest-running revival will still be held by the last revival from 2004, which ran for almost two years). This will also probably be the final Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof that lyricist Sheldon Harnick will be around for. He was lucky enough that at age 92, he had two of his shows revived on Broadway this past season (the other being She Loves Me which recently ended its limited run last week).
And who knows? Maybe we’ll see NBC presenting Fiddler on the Roof as one of their Live Musicals within a few years.
Grant it, this was such a superbly acted production with such detailed staging, the whole thing was really great! For those of you who are planning to be in New York before the end of the year, I absolutely recommend seeing this production of Fiddler on the Roof! If not, it is currently listed on The Booking Group website (http://www.thebookinggroup.com/fiddlerontheroof/), so it could go on tour (and I’d be thrilled if that ends up happening).
On a positive note, the Broadway Theatre is definitely now an option for several producers who are looking for the right venue they’d like to put their show into this spring. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cameron Mackintosh ends up bringing the long-awaited Broadway revival of Miss Saigon to that venue (especially since it’s the same one the original production ran in for nearly 10 years).
I’d also like to point out that by the time this production closes, it will end up being the second longest-running Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof (the record for the longest-running revival will still be held by the last revival from 2004, which ran for almost two years). This will also probably be the final Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof that lyricist Sheldon Harnick will be around for. He was lucky enough that at age 92, he had two of his shows revived on Broadway this past season (the other being She Loves Me which recently ended its limited run last week).
And who knows? Maybe we’ll see NBC presenting Fiddler on the Roof as one of their Live Musicals within a few years.