Fiddler On The Roof

IN YIDDISH

by Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, and Joseph Stein

Stage 42

also National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene

Directed by Joel Grey, Musical Staging by Stas Kmiec

Costumes by Ann Hould-Ward, Lighting by Peter Kaczorowski, Sound by Dan Moses Schreier

2019

Lauren Jeanne Thomas, Steven Skybell & Company

Steven Skybell, Bruce Sabath, & Company

Steven Skybell, Ben Liebert, Jennifer Babiak, Rachel Zatcoff, & Company

At National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene

Lauren Jeanne Thomas, Steven Skybell & Company

Cameron Johnson, Ben Liebert & Rosie Jo Neddy

Mary Illes, Steven Skybell, & Company

Steven Skybell, Ben Liebert, Rachel Zatcoff, Samantha Hahn, Raquel Nobile, & Mary Illes

Stephanie Mason Lynne & Daniel Kahn

“I admit I’m an easy crier, especially at musicals. More specifically, “Fiddler” and I have a long, wet history… Supertitles in English and Russian are helpfully projected on Beowulf Boritt’s simple set, a collage of paper and fabric panels. It was one of those panels that got me going. Printed in big black Hebrew characters on a rectangle of brown paper was the Yiddish word “toyre” (Torah), which is used almost interchangeably in this translation with the word “traditsye” (tradition).” ~Jesse Green, New York Times

“In Beowulf Boritt’s stage design a few basic props are moved by actors; the stage’s space is simply framed by enormous hanging paper sheets that look like aged parchment. In this production, the Hebrew word “Torah”—the first five books of the Hebrew Bible as well as an allusion to law and teaching—is inscribed on one of the hanging mock-parchments. That sheet is later torn in two and only jaggedly repaired.” ~ Edward Rothstein, The Wall Street Journal

“This simple, sentimental production isn’t about spectacle. The bare-bones design is dominated by a sheet emblazoned with the word TORAH in Hebrew lettering, which is torn apart and sewn back together in a powerful evocation of what the Jewish people have endured.” ~Raven Snook, Time Out

“The design is calibrated to the production's smaller scale. Beowulf Boritt's set is defined by a series of paper drops that look like undone scrolls; the one in the center, which has "Torah" written on it, features prominently in the Act I finale, in which the wedding of Tzeitel and Motel is destroyed in an act of police brutality.“ ~ David Barbour, Lighting & Sound America

“The stage isn’t over-decorated by Beowulf Borrit; the most significant piece of decoration is a drape with the word “Torah” written on it in Hebrew, torn at a particularly charged moment to gasps from the audience.” ~ Tim Teeman, Daily Beast

"a simple but honorable set, designed with a strong sense of purpose by Beowulf Boritt." ~ Ross, Time Square Chronicles

"Beowulf Boritt's spare but effective set of parchment." ~David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

"This “Fiddler” unfolds against a backdrop of parchment-like scrolls, on one of which is inscribed the Hebrew word for “Torah.’’ When that scroll is torn by a Russian policeman in the Act One finale, it’s a terribly jolting moment." ~Dan Aucoin, Boston Globe