A new revival of Fiddler on the Roof is heading for Broadway next year and it's about time. We haven't seen Fiddler on the Roof revived for at least a month now.
Okay, so I'm exaggerating but not by much. The last one — with Tevye played by Alfred Molina and later Harvey Fierstein — closed in 2006. The new one is to topline Danny Burstein, who was so splendid in the Lincoln Center revival of South Pacific. I have no doubt it he and it will be fine and I'm not saying this new production of Fiddler won't pack 'em in.
It's a great play but any theatergoer could name you fifty great plays that have not been seen very much, and certainly not on Broadway, in the last nine years. Fiddler is everywhere there's a musical comedy stage.
It's the show that every theater group puts on, even in parts of the countries where there are no Jews. It's not expensive to stage. It's easy to cast. Everyone knows some of the songs. And just about everyone who has any experience directing musicals has done nine productions of it and can stage it in his or her sleep.
Oh, yeah…and it defies rethinking. You can do minor tweaks and tugs here and there, mostly with the art direction and the choreography. But no one is disappointed when they buy a ticket to Fiddler and it looks just like every other production of it. You don't need and probably don't want a visionary director with a new concept for it. You want a guy who can make it look like it always does and a leading man who'll sound (and if possible, look) like Zero Mostel.
I'm not saying they shouldn't revive Fiddler again. I'm saying the folks who bankroll musicals on Broadway oughta check and see if there are any other musicals worth reviving…shows that are perhaps as wonderful and a bit scarcer. Better still, they might look and see what the recent musical successes are on Broadway, particularly the ones that are not clearly star-driven. Lately, it's The Book of Mormon, Jersey Boys and Wicked.
These three shows have two things in common: (1) They're not revivals and (2) Twenty minutes after they close, they will be.