Imagine how magical it would be if you could relive the experience that helped you discover what you wanted to do with your life. Tom Alan Robbins, who stars as Tevya in the Theater of the Stars production of Fiddler on the Roof, is doing just that.
Robbins first played Tevye in a 1971 Canton, Ohio, high school production, and it inspired him to become a professional actor. Since then, he has played a variety of characters, ranging from Pumbaa in the Broadway production of The Lion King to Thenarier in the First National Tour of Les Misèrables. But this is the first time in 40 years that he’s been able to step back into Tevye’s shoes.
“I’ve been waiting for this to come around again,” says Robbins. “This is one of the greatest scores ever produced.”
With memorable songs such as “If I Were A Rich Man,” the exuberant “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” and triumphant “Tradition,” audiences can’t help but tap their feet to Fiddler on the Roof‘s tale of love and laughter, devotion and defiance, and changing traditions.
A humble milkman from the Russian village of Anatevka, Tevye acts as the show’s narrator, engaging the audience with a story about daily Jewish country life in czarist Russia. The exuberance with which his family and friends meet life’s little and extreme challenges is thought-provoking, touching and at times hilarious, leaving audiences on the edge of their seats throughout.
“It’s a demanding role,” says Robbins. “Tevya never leaves the stage. This show is jam-packed.”
Fiddler finds Tevya wrestling with the new ideas presented by a younger generation. When his daughters choose suitors who defy his idea of a proper match, Tevye comes to realize, through a series of incidents that are at once comic and bittersweet, that his children need to be free to establish traditions of their own.
The show also stars Susan Cella, who returns to the role of Golde after appearing opposite Theodore Bikel and Harvey Fierstein in the Broadway production. Cella and Robbins create one of the most poignant moments in the show as their characters struggle with the question, “Do You Love Me?” as the world around them rapidly changes.
Since 1953, Theater of the Stars (TOTS) has produced or presented more than 700 productions in Atlanta, across the country, and around the world. Its stated mission is to produce and present the best of Broadway musicals. But TOTS Producer Christopher B. Manos and President Nicholas F. Manos have another mission they fulfill whenever possible: to introduce the love of musical theater to new generations of Atlantans. The cast of this Fiddler includes professional actors performing alongside 16 talented local children — one of whom may grow up and play Tevye or Golde someday.
Fiddler on the Roof will celebrate life at the Fox Theatre from July 19 through July 24.
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Jeff Al-Mashat is a writer, speaker and fundraiser who has worked in Atlanta’s non-profit community for the past 17 years.
