Theatre News

Starsky‘s Glaser stars in Fiddler on the Roof tour, Lowry – 29 Oct

Paul Michael Glaser, still best remembered by TV fans as Starsky in the seminal 1970s American cop series Starsky and Hutch, will star as Tevye in a new touring production of classic Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof.
Directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood in his trademark
actor-musician style, it will launching on 10 September 2013 (previews
from 5 September) from the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton. The Lowry has recently been added as another of the touring venues.

The revival is the third offering from Music and Lyrics, a consortium
of the UK’s largest independent No. 1 presenting theatres which was
founded last year with the aim of mounting and touring new musical
theatre productions. Fiddler on the Roof follows last year’s revival of The King and I (originally seen at Leicester Curve) and the current tour of High Society.

In Tsarist Russia in 1905, poor dairyman Tevye is doing his best
to preserve tradition in the face of a changing world by marrying his
daughters off in the traditional Jewish way. But revolution is in the
air and the young are guided by their hearts, not their elders. When his
daughters refuse the matchmaker’s advice and marry for love instead,
Tevye must choose between their happiness and his beloved traditions.

The musical, based on the stories of Sholom Aleichem with a book by
Joseph Stein and score by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, originally
opened on Broadway in 1964 and includes now-classic songs such as
“Tradition”, “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” and “If I Were a Rich Man”.

Fiddler on the Roof was last seen in the West
End (transferred from Sheffield Crucible) in 2008, starring Henry
Goodman
as Tevye. This is the first major UK production since book
writer Joseph Stein and Jerry Bock died within days of each other in
late 2010.


Paul Michael Glaser

Paul Michael Glaser appeared in the 1974 film of Fiddler on the Roof,
playing the young Bolshevik revolutionary Perchik who falls in love
with Tevye’s second daughter. On stage, he has appeared in over 50 roles
in regional, repertory, off-Broadway and Broadway theatre in the US. He
has appeared on the UK stage before in pantomime at the Churchill
Theatre, Bromley and Sunderland Empire. This is his UK musical debut.

In this new production of Fiddler on the Roof,
Craig Revel Horwood will reproduce the original direction and
choreographer of the its Broadway creator Jerome Robbins. Revel
Horwood will be joined on the creative team by his long-time
collaborator, musical director Sarah Travis.

Fiddler on the Roof is at the Lowry from 29 October – 2 November.