The new Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof
is a hit with critics and audiences alike.Since it’s a story about holding onto traditions in an ever-changing world (and ya know, that vibrant opening number “Tradition”), when BroadwayBox caught up with the cast, we asked them to tell us about a traditional that is really important to you and your family.
Danny Burstein (Tevye)
Being together at Thanksgiving. That is actually my favorite holiday because there are no responsibilities except to get together and have a good time and eat great food. We all go out to Queens and my mom cooks and my wife brings a dish.
Jessica Hecht (Golde)
Me making breakfast is important. I make breakfast almost every day. My husband yells at me asking why I indulge these kids in a three-course-breakfast; but there are so few things that are constant and they'll always remember that I asked them every day what they wanted for breakfast. The signature dish is chocolate chip pancakes and turkey sausage.
Alexandra Silber (Tzeitel)
Hanukkah is important. It holds a deep significance to my family. My father passed away when I was 18, and there was a lot of illness and difficulty and strife—and a lot of joy, which is a very Jewish state I think. We grasp joy from any kind of difficulty or adversity. So for our family, Hanukkah wasn't about the food or the lights exactly, it was more about the concept, which really holds true for me today too: when you think you have nothing left there’s always more.
Adam Kantor (Motel)
Eating. Eating is very important. If we do nothing else on a Jewish holiday, we will get together and eat. My mom cooks and I am learning—I make this awesome Moroccan salmon dish that I learned from Blue Apron, and I’ve added my own twist to it.
Samantha Massell (Hodel)
I grew up in the city, so every year my mom and I traverse the park and watch them blow up the balloons on the night before Thanksgiving. I think we’ve done that every year I’m in town.
Ben Rappaport (Perchik)
For us it’s Thanksgiving. It’s pretty typical but it’s about being all-together. My family was scattered around the country for a while but this year everyone came to us (my sister now lives a block away from me here in the city). It’s the first time me and my sister are hosting Thanksgiving.
Melanie Moore (Chava)
I’m from the South so we have a lot of interesting traditions. One fun one is that I’m allergic to Christmas trees—I’m the only one of the Fiddler family unit that isn’t Jewish so I have a Christmas tree—and in my family we make a big to do of putting up the tree because it’s artificial. It’s a whole thing in our family.
Nick Rehberger (Fyedka)
We don’t make a big deal about a lot but every year we always have Thanksgiving dinner together and do something on Christmas. This year my parents are coming to see the show on Christmas day so that’s a fun addition to the tradition.
Adam Dannheisser (Lazar Wolf)
I have two young boys—they are 10 and six—and our family tradition has become having a weekly family meeting and discussing what we feel we can do better as a family. It’s not just parents telling their kids ‘you need to do this and this’, but here everyone has a voice and everyone has a say. They get to take an active part in their own raising.
Alix Korey (Yente)
A tradition of service. My dad was a human rights activist and my grandfather, who came over from the pale right around the time period of this show, got off the boat and joined the picket line for the ladies’ garment union. It’s sort of in the family to do more than just for your own life. This show is about that too—these people created a new universe for all of their children. What else is there to live for? You can’t get buried with all the toys.
See this phenomenal gang in ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ at the Broadway Theatre.
