Fiddler on the Roof (In Yiddish) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (1,152)
See it if Even though it was in Yiddish, it was still pretty easy to follow. The music, dancing and the entire vibe was joyful and uplifting.
Don't see it if You don't like reading subtitles.
See it if You love the original or somehow have never seen a production! ...you speak or can read English, Russian or Yiddish. ...you love theatre.
Don't see it if You don't understand why actors would ever sing when they can speak, your soul has no romance or you root for the Klan in PARADE.
See it if I always wonder what reasons people give for wanting to see and then loving this show if they don’t have a relative who lived this story
Don't see it if You’re not up for reading supertitles or if you need a show to have detailed sets. Read more
See it if You like or dislike Fiddler on the Roof. I think even those who normally hate Fiddler will be moved by this production.
Don't see it if If you are unfamiliar with the show and hate reading subtitles, this may not be the show for you. Read more
See it if You like stories with meaning. Great dancing and amazing singing
Don't see it if You don’t like shows with subtitles
See it if You love classic musical theater
Don't see it if You don't know story or are Nnoyed with reading English captions
See it if you like a well-done classic musical with great acting, singing, and dancing. Digital rush tix are easy to get, go see it!
Don't see it if you are not familiar with the source material and do not like reading subtitles while watching a play (and do not speak Yiddish)
See it if U are a Fiddler fan - get a new perspective; classic show of family, love, faith, traditions kept and traditions broken, beautiful & joyous
Don't see it if You don’t care for the classic show, don’t like shows in other languages or to rely on supertitle translations, you prefer bigger production Read more
Critic Reviews (50)
"You don't have to understand Yiddish to thrill to this production. Though most adult theater goers will know the songs and story and have probably seen it more than once, they'll come away feeling they've seen it for the first time— and that this is how it was meant to be...Fortunately the downtown cast is again on board. And the jewel in the crown of legendary performer Joel Grey's directing career shines more brightly than ever."
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"Despite a large cast and an ample auditorium at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Grey's take on this musical theater treasure is more intimate than recent productions, starting with a stage set that consists mainly of several large, wrinkled cloths hanging from the rafters, dividing the downstage area from the reduced-force orchestra playing Jerry Bock's music with panache and understanding ethnic color as conducted by Zalmen Mlotek."
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"NYTF's excellent Yiddish production as directed by Joel Grey and performed by his fine cast cast gives us no major revelations about the musical. However, it does make us fall in love with Tevye, his wife, Golde, and his three daughters all over again...This staging brilliantly emphasizes the sorrow that colors the lives of the people...Skybell is warm and funny and philosophical and...well... everything we want this long-suffering milkman to be. What's more, Hoffman is priceless as Yente."
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"The property is now more than a half-century old. But this production makes it seem as though the 1964 iteration were merely an English-language version of a classic from even longer ago. There's a greater feeling of immediacy than perhaps ever before. Hearing the characters speak and sing in the tongue that their real-life 1905 contemporaries would have used is deeply moving."
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"Masterpiece-revival...crackles with warmth, authenticity, and a call for tradition in this timeless tale of a changing shtetl....The use of Yiddish here also allows the play to be removed from Americanisms so much that it becomes that much more universal...Sitting in the audience, a swell of pride bursts from the stage into the house; decades after its debut, 'Fiddler on the Roof' remains essential for audiences...Regardless of language, it is a triumph of courage in the face of opposition."
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“While this production lacks snap-crackle and pop, there is a foundation of purity, of truth...By giving us the tale in Yiddish, Grey and this company make us listen in ways for which we are unprepared. The sound of language opens more than the ears. It opens the heart...Ultimately this production works for mysterious reasons. The language is the loom on which the tapestry is created. We are lured in without knowing it.”
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“The fascinating new staging from The National Yiddish Theatre is a time-bending musical. Spoken and sung in Yiddish, this 'Fiddler'...feels like an ancient version newly unearthed...The language, stagecraft and Grey’s smooth direction all conspire to transform the work into a bible story...The changes Friedman fiddles with, to accommodate the musicality of Yiddish...are sometimes charming and at other times mind blowing."
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"With the beautifully nuanced performance of Steven Skybell as the father, Tevye, grappling with a changing world within his family, his community, and his country, it was easy to be pulled in...His Tevya is the heart of this less grand production, but it beats strong...The pain and moral acceptance echoes in the musical sound, which is gorgeously rich...The grandness of the last Broadway revival is easily set aside, with grace, for this off-Broadway intimate portrayal."
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