The
latest revival of Fiddler on the Roof, currently playing at the Broadway
Theatre, opens with Danny Burnstein in modern dress, standing beneath a train
station sign announcing “Anatevka” in Russian. He takes out a book and reads
the opening lines of the show out loud as if from a diary, before taking off
the 21st Century clothes and assuming the role of Tevye the Milkman.
At the very end, as the villagers are heading out after having been evicted,
Burnstein returns wearing his present day outfit, picks up the handles of the
cart Tevye was previously dragging, and moves on with the rest of them.
Passover is next month. One of the edicts to celebrate by
reading the familiar story of the Jewish exodus is for every participant to
feel “as if you personally had come out of Egypt.” That’s what this new opening
and closing made me think of.
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