City Springs Theatre Company will begin its 2023-24 season with a production of “Fiddler on the Roof.”
The production – which runs from Oct. 6-22 – stars Jacob Fishel as Tevye, Liza Jaine as Golde, and Courtenay Collins as Yente. Fishel previously appeared in the 2004 revival of “Fiddler on the Roof,” which starred Alfred Molina and later Harvey Fierstein. Collins appeared in both the Alliance Theatre and Broadway production of the musical “The Prom.”
“Fiddler on the Roof,” which won nine Tony Awards when it debuted in 1964, is set in the early 20th century in the small village of Anatevka and tells the story of Tevye, a milkman with five daughters. Tickets for the show can be purchased online.
This production is directed by Shuler Hensley, the artistic director at City Springs Theatre Company. Hensley is a Georgia native, and an actor whose Broadway credits include Javert in “Les Misérables,” Marcellus Washburn in “The Music Man,” and as Jud Fry in “Oklahoma.” Hensley also appeared as Jud Fry in the 1998 West End production of “Oklahoma,” and won both an Olivier and a Tony for performing that role.
Rough Draft Atlanta spoke with Hensley about the new production ahead of its opening. This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
To get started, I would love to hear a little bit about your history with “Fiddler on the Roof,” and why City Springs chose it to start off the season.
Shuler Hensley: Well, it’s interesting. In terms of my personal history with “Fiddler,” until I started working on this production, I had never even seen a production of “Fiddler.” Obviously, I knew about it because it’s such a classic, quintessential – I say American, but it’s sort of a universal themed musical. I actually knew Sheldon Harnick, who wrote the lyrics. He was a good friend of my manager, and I would have dinner with him. So I knew the show through one of the creators of it, which was very interesting.
I worked with Hal Prince, who was the producer, and there were stories about this show, really when it first came out out of town … they really had to work on it. You know, people thought – they didn’t know if it was going to be a success or not. I think, like so many stories of classic musicals, they sort of found the key to what the show’s about. The story goes that Jerome Robbins, the original director, was asking the creative team – they just couldn’t figure out the first song in the show. It was like, well what is this show about? And Sheldon finally said, well it’s about tradition! And that was how they came to write the first song.
Just working on it, and seeing the themes that run through it – you know, a father/daughter relationship, the breakdown and the evolution that happens between generations – all the things that everyone deals with are in this show, and I think that’s what really makes it sort of a timeless show, even though it’s set in 1905. It’s just a setting, but the themes are as modern as if it was written today.
It’s interesting you say that they weren’t sure if it would be a hit or not. I don’t know if this is what they meant, but I did the show in college or high school, and I hadn’t had too much contact with it at that point. I remember being struck by how it ends on such a somber note, which is not something I had really experienced before, with musicals in particular. It’s interesting to think about.
Hensley: Yeah, it is interesting too because it’s a somber note, but it’s also a note of how people persevere, and how they’re able to pivot and move on and try to find their way in life … You know, I did a lot of research when I said I would direct this, and another story that struck me was the fact that one of the first countries it went to was Japan. The producer and director, they were worried about how it would be received. After opening, one of the Japanese producers came to I think it was Sheldon, and said, how have people received this show in America? And [Sheldon’s] like, well it is an American musical. And the Japanese man said, well, it’s amazing because it’s so Japanese. You know, the idea of tradition and family, and honor and community, and all those elements. Everyone is able to relate to this story. I think that’s another thing that is sort of a happy coincidence.
We’ve always wanted to do this show at City Springs … We just hadn’t been able to do it because they had a revival, and then that was on tour. When shows like that are on tour, they don’t really give the rights to regional. It just sort of feels like it’s come at the perfect time, where we’ve all been through such an ordeal with the pandemic, and the idea of family and of trying to get back on track and find some sort of sense of maybe tradition, or some sense of identity. I think that’s something that really resonates today as well.
You mentioned Jerome Robbins, who directed this, and obviously there have been a lot of versions of this show over the years. When you signed on to direct this, how did you approach the show? What does your directorial vision look like?
Hensley: When I said we’d do it, I was sort of just googling “Fiddler.” And what was interesting is one of the first things that came up was a TikTok of this kid named J Teddy, who is a designer. He sort of created these images of “if I was to design a show, this is what I would do.” He just had a real passion about it, and it was like no other set that had been done for this show. It’s actually Jacob Olson, who we hired from this TikTok. What’s funny is our production manager had seen the same TikTok, and we didn’t even know we had both done that.
That alone I think makes this feel like it’s sort of a brand new production. It’s our first time as a company, too, that we’re building our own sets. So from a directorial perspective, the story sort of – I learned this a long time ago, when I worked with Trevor Nunn in “Oklahoma.” I asked him, what is the real key to being an amazing director? And he said that the majority of it is casting – is getting the right people to tell the story, and then just allowing them to find it. I feel like that’s what we’ve really done. It just makes it an easier time … and that I’m a working actor as well, so I know the process. The idea would be for people to come in knowing “Fiddler,” but leaving this production feeling like they’ve seen it for the first time.
I’m so glad you brought up that “Oklahoma” production with Trevor Nunn. That’s one of my favorite productions.
Hensley: Yeah, it’s great.
It’s really great. Could you talk a little bit about the casting process? And speaking of that, considering you are an actor, I wonder how that shapes how you approach directing?
Hensley: I think it does. What’s been challenging coming out of something like COVID is a lot of the in-person auditions have sort of been non-existent. So you’ve had to hire a lot off of tape. I have a real background in film and television as well. I hired our Tevye, Jacob Fishel, off of his tape, and it was really something about being truthful and honest on camera without the temptation to sort of project, you know? I think in theater – you know, the old adage of we’ve got to project to the back row! I feel like that may be an ultimate goal, but in terms of the process, just connecting with people in a real way and being able to be honest and truthful in a realistic way makes a show like this so amazingly effective.
And the use of nonverbal communication – something that’s not been said, but is clearly in the air – and there are so many moments of that in this show. Especially being a dad myself and having a daughter, there’s all this energy in communicating where you would like to say something, or for whatever reason it wasn’t said. Those are those magic moments, I think, that really give depth to a production. I think those are the ones that I really, as a director, am interested in helping the actors find. It’s been a real journey and wonderful experience, because it’s literally me discovering the show for the first time.
