Interesting time to be presenting a play about Jewish tradition.

In Fiddler on the Roof  it’s 1905 in the tiny Russian village of Anatevka, where Tevye, a Jewish milkman, lives his life by their proud traditions. For his five daughters, that means a visit from the matchmaker. As each daughter challenges his beliefs, against the backdrop of a changing world, can Tevye hold on to his roots, or must he bend to the will of his children and learn to embrace the unfamiliar?

Fiddler on the Roof is based on the Tevye the Dairyman (also known as Tevye and His Daughters) series of Yiddish short stories by Sholem Aleichem, who gives us a fascinating insight into Jewish life in Russia at a very volatile time.

It would be interesting to revisit these stories and those of another writer who chronicles life in a shtetl (Yiddish for village), Issac Bashevis Singer, whose stories and novels also chronicle what is a lost world. This Nobel Prize winner’s short stories are amazing.

The poignant thing about all this is that in the musical Fiddler on the Roof we are looking at a lost world, and it reminds us of the travails of Russian and European Jews and the vicious pogroms that culminated in the Holocaust. The musical is uplifting but I couldn’t help reflecting, at times, on the darker undertones.

Which made the experience all the richer. I flew down to see the production at Theatre Royal Sydney where it is playing until October 3. After that it is Brisbane bound and opens at QPAC’s Glasshouse Theatre on October 9 for a short season before heading to Melbourne and then Perth.

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This production, which opened at London’s Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, continued its five-star reviews and standing ovations every night when it transferred to London’s Barbican Theatre, where it broke the record for the best-selling musical of all time. It then went onto tour the UK and Ireland, again breaking box-office records. It won the best musical award twice for Best Revival at the prestigious Olivier Awards, and Best Musical at the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards.

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Having seen posters up for the musical at Brissie’s Glasshouse Theatre, I must admit I did wonder whether this blast from the past might be a bit dated. I mean, we all saw the film back in the day (it came out in 1971). Would the musical, which debuted on Broadway in 1964, still scan?

The answer is a resounding yes. It’s an entertaining and heartwarming musical that is all the better for really being as much a play with great music performed by a hot band. I’m not a fan of relentless singing and dancing, but this is a theatrical experience with songs – and I love that.

The score is impressive and includes nuggets like If I Were a Rich Man, Tradition, Matchmaker and Sunrise, Sunset. Fiddler on the Roof is a classic musical of joy and community and an exuberant celebration of love and life.

And the traditional Jewish music is terrific. I went to see it with my son, who commented that he at times felt like he was watching an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. If you know that show you will appreciate that because Larry David really leans into that traditional music.

Leading the cast as Tevye is Australian and West end star Troy Sussman, whose illustrious career has spanned more than 40 years with shows including Back to the Future, Sunset Boulevard, Les Misérables and Disney’s Aladdin.

Much-loved Australian stage and screen icon Sigrid Thornton plays matchmaker  Yente, although the night I attended she was covered by Danielle Barnes.

Fresh off an award-winning new production tour of Anne Being Frank, Alexis Fishman is Golde, while John Waters is Lazar Wolf the butcher (yes, that John Waters!). The show introduces rising stars Freya Boltman (Yiddish Divas) as Tzeitel, Ellen Ebbs (Head Over Heels) as Hodel and Caity Plummer (Sunset Boulevard) as Chava.

Acclaimed violinist Ben Adler is the Fiddler and, man, can he fiddle! (The fiddler is on the roof as the curtain goes up, signifying the delicate, precarious balance of maintaining tradition, faith and joy in a life that is constantly on the edge of danger.)

The cast is completed by Daniel Lopez, Maxwell Simon, Felix Star, Jacob Steen, Danielle Barnes, Nina Carmen, Romy Juliette Glass, Ksenia Teliatnikova, Andrew Dunne, Damien Bermingham, Mark Doggett, Rubin Matters, Anthony Sheppard, Curtis Kossart, Patrick Whitbread, Alex Mulcahy, Nick Brown, Samantha Stewart, Hanlon Innocent and Christopher Tendai.

This acclaimed production has been powerfully brought to life by visionary and award-winning director Jordan Fein, whose bold contemporary interpretation has been critically acclaimed for its emotional depth, inventive staging and striking theatrical detail. Under Fein’s direction, the production became one of the most talked-about musical theatre events of the year on London’s West End.

The production reunites designer Tom Scutt and choreographer Julia Cheng, who previously collaborated on the long-running and widely acclaimed Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club on the West End and Broadway.

It’s a totally engaging production, a very human story with never a dull moment. There’s no glitz or glamour involved here – this is an earthy story steeped in history and tradition.

Sussman is brilliant as Tevye, and he really is Tevye for a couple of hours. The characters are all so believable and it’s very easy in this instance to suspend disbelief and enter their world for a little while. You feel for them and revel in the music and those classic songs.

This show has been around a while and I’m so glad it’s back. I didn’t think I would be, but there you have it. Fiddler on the Roof has still got it, more so than ever.

Fiddler on the Roof plays QPAC’s Glasshouse Theatre, October 9-25.

qpac.com.au/whats-on/2026/fiddler-on-the-roof