Crabtree, Irvin star in Fiddler on the Roof

When Fiddler on the Roof opened on Broadway, it was seen as a remarkable combination of cultures. The Russian Jewish culture celebrated in the writings of Sholem Aleichem, and the American cultural form of musical theater. Interestingly this most “American” of art forms, the musical theater, has been created and developed in large part by Jewish-American artists like Rodgers and Hammerstein, Gershwin, Sondheim, Bernstein and Fiddler’s Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick.

Fiddler on the Roof returns to the Cumberland County Playhouse Feb. 28 through March 22, bringing with it a story rich in tradition, that has found its way into the hearts of audiences everywhere. Set in the small Jewish village of Anatevka in pre-Revolutionary Russia, Fiddler on the Roof finds dairyman Tevye struggling to preserve his family’s traditions in the face of a changing world. The people of Anatevka are simple and live close to the earth. For generations, their lives have been governed strictly by the age-old laws of tradition. They now find their way of life disrupted not only by Russian anti-Semitism but also by new ideas on politics, courtship and love.

“Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof,” Tevye declares in the show’s opening number.

Jim Crabtree and Carol Irvin return as Tevye and Golde, while Rachel Berry will reprise the role of Tevye’s younger daughter, Chava. Other castings include Jason Ross as Motel the Tailor and Weslie Webster as daughter Tzeitel. Audiences have loved Ross as Ellard in 2002’s The Foreigner, and as Preacher Oglethorpe in Smoke on the Mountain and A Sanders Family Christmas. Webster has played leads in Oklahoma, The Secret Garden and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Tickets for this show range from $22 for adults to $11 for children and students. Group rates and senior discounts are available.

For reservations please call the Playhouse box office at 931-484-5000. For more information on Cumberland County Playhouse, visit Web site www.ccplayhouse.com.