Tony Award winning actor Shuler Hensley and Sophia Gunterrehearsing for “Fiddler on the Roof in Concert.” The play is a collaboration between Theatre Aspen and the Aspen Music Festival and School. The one-time-only performance occurs on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Michael Klein Music Tent.
The songs “If I Were a Rich Man” and “Matchmaker” from “Fiddler on the Roof” are two of the most iconic in the history of Broadway and a big reason that the play won nine Tony Awards and had one of the longest runs ever on The Great White Way.
Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Michael Klein Music Tent, theater and music lovers will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to see Theatre Aspen and the Aspen Music Festival and School collaborate on one of the most storied musicals of all time.
The one-night-only performance of “Fiddler on the Roof in Concert” marks the 60th anniversary since the play’s debut on Broadway.
Andy Einhorn (“Carousel,” “Cinderella,” “Hello, Dolly!”) will conduct the 60-plus piece Aspen Music Festival and School’s student orchestra as they perform John Williams’ Oscar-winning score of the 1971 feature film version.
The production is a star-studded affair with Broadway’s Shuler Hensley both starring and directing. Hensley won a Tony Award for “Oklahoma!” and most recently appeared in “The Music Man” on Broadway. He is reprising his role as Tevye from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s production in February.
“‘Fiddler on the Roof” is universally relatable,” Hensley said. “The joys and difficulties of family, the challenges of generational divides, the struggles of maintaining traditions and the effects of prejudice and forced assimilation are all themes in life that everyone can relate to no matter where you are from or what religious beliefs you have. This play beautifully depicts all of those themes while also celebrating the special relationship of a father and his daughters.”
Anne L. Nathan co-stars alongside Hensley as Golde. Nathanhas appeared on Broadway in “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “Sunday in the Park with George” and “Once.” The cast is rounded out by supporting actors David Benoit (“Les Misérables”) as Lazar Wolf, Danny Kornfeld (“Harmony”) as Motel, and Sydney Borchers(“The Sound of Music In Concert”) as Hodel.
“Fiddler on the Roof in Concert” is the fifth collaboration between Theatre Aspen and AMFS. Past productions include “South Pacific” in 2019, “The Music of Richard Rodgers” in 2021, “The Sound of Music in Concert” in 2022 and “Master Class” in 2023.
“We’re thrilled to celebrate this fifth anniversary with ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ an age-old classic, now more significant than we could imagine,” Jed Bernstein, producing director of Theatre Aspen, said. “One thing we’re especially excited about is that the principal company of Broadway luminaries will be joined by a cast of local performers.”
Aspen actors in “Fiddler on the Roof in Concert” include Nina Gabianelli (Theatre Aspen’s “Beautiful”) as Yente, Sally Maxwell as Fruma-Sarah, Franz Alderfer as Constable, and Theatre Aspen Education youth actors Anna Riley and Siena Winter as Shprintze and Bielke. In addition, a chorus made up of local residents of the Roaring Fork Valley will accompany the production.
“Each season we look forward to collaborating with our esteemed colleagues at Theatre Aspen to present the great musical theater works of our time,” said Alan Fletcher, president and CEO of AMFS, in a news release. “‘Fiddler on the Roof’ has long been on our list. Its universal themes and iconic melodies touch something in all of us, and John Williams’ brilliant score is an ideal vehicle to showcase the talents of our young orchestral players as they share the stage with world-class Broadway talent.”
Tony Award winning actor Shuler Hensley rehearsing for “Fiddler on the Roof in Concert.” Shuler, an AMFS graduate, is reprising his role as Tevye from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s production.
Three years ago, Einhorn helped resurrect Williams’ score which had not been performed since the film’s release. In a collaboration between The Philadelphia Orchestra and the University of Michigan, a new version of the score was crafted. Einhorn then integrated parts of the original Broadway score and a brand new production of “Fiddler on the Roof” was performed in Philadelphia and Ann Arbor in 2022, and then again in Pittsburgh in February with Hensley starring.
“The songs sometimes feel different from the Broadway album,” Einhorn said in a story in the AMFS’ weekly music guide, Festival Focus. “It gives people a new sonic landscape to hear a score they know and love in a slightly different arrangement.”
Tuesday’s performance will be only the fourth time the John Williams score has ever been performed. Shuler will have performed it two of the four times.
Shuler is returning to perform in Aspen for the first time since he was a student at AMFS in the early ‘90s. He said he was thrilled to be returning to the valley all these years later, saying “I can’t think of a more glorious setting to hear this story and its awe inspiring music than the Michael Klein Music Tent in Aspen.”
A limited number of tickets are available at the AMFS box office at aspenmusicfestival.com/events/calendar/special-event-fiddler-on-the-roof.
