Yiddish "Fiddler" is returning to theaters. Here's How It Changed One Actor's Life
Any Jew with thespian tendencies must have been in a production of "Fiddler on the Roof" at some point.
My stint came in my freshman year of college, when I played Chava, the middle daughter of Tewi, the main character of the show.
I will never forget working on the show's climactic scene, when Chava tells Tevi that she intends to marry Feydka, a Russian Gentile.
Tevy turns his back on Chava, rejects him, and in one final plea, she pleads: "Dad!!!" It's a moment that could easily have smacked of college melodrama.
I was privileged to be on stage with an exceptionally talented college senior named Steven Skybell.
"Fiddler" would become a major part of Skybell's career.
Now a veteran Broadway actor, Skybell starred as Tevy in New York theater Folksbean's all-Yiddish "Fiddler" production, which opened to rave reviews in 2018 and closed abruptly at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
As pandemic restrictions ease and theaters reopen, the musical is set to reopen Off-Broadway on New World Stages on November 13 - Skybell back in his trademark role.