Fiddler on the Roof (In Yiddish) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (1,152)
See it if You want a different take on a classic which is excellent in every single aspect.
Don't see it if There is no reason not to see this production.
See it if you want to see a timeless show masterfully and authentically retold. The cast beautifully carries audience through emotional rollercoaster.
Don't see it if you don't speak Yiddish, aren't familiar with the show, AND wouldn't be able to follow along with translated supertitles. Even so , go see!
See it if You have or haven't seen Fiddler before. It takes on an deeper significance it Yiddish not less.
Don't see it if You can't get past having to read the show, although the titles are well displayed and easy to follow (in english or russian)
See it if You love authentic, joyous, moving theatre. Show is sensational. Moving, funny, thrilling. I had chills and cried the entire show.
Don't see it if Subtitles annoy you. It was a little cumbersome reading subtitles on the sides, but it was still a fantastic production. Recommend 1,000%!
See it if You love a great revival of a classic show done to perfection!!! Singing/dancing/acting was top notch and reading the subtitles was a breeze
Don't see it if Your not somewhat familiar with the content. I watched the movie the night before so I didn't need to read every word and enjoy the actors.
See it if Steven Skybell is not doing Zero Mostel or Theodore Bikel, but he is no less affecting. If anything, he's as funny and more grounded.
Don't see it if You're in the first two rows and have a bad neck. (Otherwise, there's no bad seat in the house.)
See it if Love music, love family dynamics and live stories It's a fantastic story and show
Don't see it if No reason not to see this. It's always a wonderful experience
See it if you want a more authentic take on the classic.
Don't see it if you don't want to read subtitles. Read more
Critic Reviews (50)
"Like the production itself, his [Tevye] portrayal is unquestionably beautiful, thoroughly devastating, and completely satisfying."
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Director Joel Grey’s beautifully simple Off-Broadway revival exuberantly embraces the show’sJewishness via this lingual device of the dialogue and songs being performed in Yiddish. Visually arresting and emotionally stirring, this presentation is cause for kvelling and plotzing.
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"Sheldon Harnick’s lyrics and Joseph Stein’s dialogue appear simultaneously as English supertitles: although not verbatim translations, they convey the plot and the characters’ actions and emotions."
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“Though it features a Broadway-quality Tevye...and, for Off Broadway, a high level of professionalism throughout, the Folksbiene production cannot achieve the status and polish of mass entertainment. Rather, it offers a kind of authenticity no other American ‘Fiddler’ ever has: It’s in Yiddish...Couldn’t sound more right...Outside of the big numbers, it is not as suave as it might be...But when the production hitches a ride on the astonishing craft of the original, it is often thrilling."
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"The show has arrived with its stripped-down aesthetic and emotionally lucid production intact. In fact, it feels even more resonant... This may not be the most spectacularly sung, danced or designed 'Fiddler' ever to hit the stage, but it's likely the most authentic thanks to the use of Yiddish and the focus on genuine feelings. At times it's more like a séance than a show. The turn-of-the-20th-century village of Anatevka may be fictional, but its denizens feel wonderfully, vibrantly alive."
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“Thrilling...So virtuosic is Steven Skybell in that role that he often needs no language at all for us to feel his character swerve from ironic mockery to righteous anger to heartbreak...Illes is engaging and steely and Hoffman is comic and a bit over-the-top...The production’s polish and verve make for an exuberant and touching celebration..But there are also crucial complications. The show’s attitude to the observantly Jewish culture of the shtetl...is itself quite ambivalent."
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"Delivering raw emotionality, boisterous humor and cultural authenticity that will stir you whether you're experiencing the show for the first time or the 15th...Steven Skybell brings exuberant charm, warmth, flinty intelligence and even a bearish sexiness...Grey navigates the show's many shifts from comedy to pathos, from elation to fear and desolation, with a supple hand, and the heartfelt investment in the story and characters is evident throughout."
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"Aside from being performed in Yiddish, this is not so different from a well-acted regional theater production of 'Fiddler'...The production values are minimal, with no scenery except for a few hanging banners and basic props. A 12-piece orchestra sits at the back of the stage. Even though the space is rather cramped, the original Jerome Robbins dance choreography is efficiently reproduced."
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