Dazzling new take on a classic musical

REVIEW: 'Fiddler on the Roof' at New Theatre, Cardiff

A packed audience responded with a standing ovation for the opening performance of the classic musical Fiddler on the Roof's Cardiff run last night (Tuesday).

After a sold-out season at the Barbican in London, this Olivier Award-winning production is now nearing the end of a hugely successful UK and Ireland tour. And what a treat it is.

The show, which won the Oliviers for Best Musical Revival, Best Set Design, and Best Sound Design, really is outstanding in all departments. No wonder it received a further ten Olivier nominations!

Like many great musicals, it's an unlikely story to create such a hugely entertaining show: everyday life in an impoverished Jewish community in rural tsarist Russia (now in Ukraine) in 1905, against the backdrop of approaching pogroms - violent, officially sanctioned attacks on Jews and their property to drive them out.

The show has an illustrious history - the original 1964 hit musical starring Zero Mostel, based on short stories by Sholem Aleichem, led to an Oscar-winning 1971 film with Topol in the lead role.

Now, more than half a century later, South Wales's own Matthew Woodyatt takes on the part of Tevye and makes it his own - a powerful, but not overbearing performance as the village milkman, wanting the best for his daughters, but keen to uphold tradition. Which means there's no place for love in deciding their husbands. Or is there?

Jodie Jacobs also deserves special mention as his long-suffering wife, Golde, and Olivier Award nominee Beverley Klein is highly memorable as Yente, the local matchmaker and gossip.

But the whole cast is outstanding, and that goes for the talent off the stage too.

Hats off to director Jordan Fein, choreographer Julia Cheng, designer Tom Scutt, and the rest of the creative team.

This really is a dazzling show - a feast for the eyes and the ears, a truly superb production of one of the all-time greatest musicals, featuring much-loved songs including If I Were A Rich Man, Tradition, Matchmaker, and Sunrise, Sunset.

It's often uplifting and joyful - a celebration of the bonds of community and love. But it's also about the conflict between tradition and change, the struggle of choosing what's best for one's children, and the horrors of racist violence.

Fiddler on the Roof continues at the New Theatre until Saturday (22 November). You can find out more and order tickets online here or from the box office on 0343 310 0041.

Review by Andy Weltch

Photos by Marc Brenner and Johan Persson

We received free tickets for this performance in exchange for an honest review