Casting is set for The Axelrod Performing Arts Center's upcoming production of the classic, Tony-winning musical Fiddler on the Roof, which will play the Deal Park, New Jersey, venue November 1-24.
Daniel Kutner, a protégé of original Fiddler producer Harold Prince and his longtime artistic associate, will direct.
Bruce Sabath will lead the cast as Tevye, a role he played many times in the Yiddish production directed by Joel Grey, with Joy Hermalyn as Golde and their daughters played by Mariia Ivaschenki, Ksana Sergienko, Sarah Coleman, Victoria Bahary, and Carly Dagilis.
The cast will also feature James C. Harris as Perchik, Henry Gardner as Fyedka, Sammy Pignalosa as Motel, Yelena Shmulensen as Yente, Allen Louis Rickman as Lazar Wolf, Rabbi Nathan Langer as the Rabbi, Michael Daly Jr., Markos Andrew Eugenis, Evan Isabella, Benjamin Jessop, Ruth Levy, Michael Mossucco, Stanislav Raskachaev, Kitani Samme Sultan, Luke Swaller, and Valeriya Voranova.
“It’s hard to imagine Fiddler on the Roof not having a special place in any theatre lovers’ heart, and I am no exception,” says Kutner in a statement. “Having worked alongside Hal Prince for the better part of two decades—the show’s original producer and (not-so) arguably the greatest mind in the American musical theatre—the show resonates with me even more than it did during my tenure with him. And five years after his passing, we are now faced with both political and religious oppression in Russia, Ukraine, and the Middle East.
“Hal used to tell me that whichever country Fiddler played, it also seemed to transcend Jewish culture and became instantly universal,” continues Kutner. “Who can’t relate to cultural and nationalistic oppression, the values of tradition, and the tricky exercise of honoring the past while embracing the future of new voices and a new generation? We’re all immigrants here in the good ole US of A. If my grandparents didn’t have the courage to risk everything and escape Czarist Russia, I might be speaking a different language from my home in Moldova or Siberia. We have cast members and creative team members who are Russian immigrants, Ukrainian immigrants, Jews, and Gentiles alike.”
Based on the stories of Sholom Aleichem, Fiddler on the Roof
has a book by Joseph Stein, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon
Harnick. The classic musical tells the story of Tevye the milkman, who
clings to the Jewish customs of Anatevka, his hometown in
pre-Revolutionary Russia. As his daughters question these traditions and
the world changes around them, Tevye is challenged to find a new way
to learn and to love.
The original 1964 Broadway production, which played seven previews and 3,242 regular performances, won nine Tony Awards, including those for Best Musical and star Zero Mostel.
Produced by Executive Artistic Director Andrew DePrisco, Fiddler on the Roof will also feature choreography by Cindy Mora Reiser, conducting by music director Dan Sander-Wells, lighting design by Joel E. Silver, sound design by Pat Alapa, scenic design by Zoe Hurwitz, costume design by David “DW” Withrow, and prop design by Anna Dorodnykh. Suzanne Apicella and Jackie Robinson serve as production stage managers. Casting is by Michael Cassara.
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