The original 1964 Fiddler on the Roof garnered nine Tony Awards. The popular show leaned on universal themes of changing times and a household torn by young love. But reality was not so simple. Behind the scenes, there were bitter disagreements between the lead actor, Zero Mostel, and director and choreographer Jerome Robbins, divided, in part, by their opposing views on the House Un-American Activities Committee. The production was also criticized for being whitewashed, too far a departure from the original short stories written by Sholem Aleichem about the persecution of Jews in Eastern Europe.

In 2018, New York-based National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene reclaimed Fiddler as a piece of Jewish culture, translating the script and lyrics into Yiddish, with English supertitles. They engaged a top-notch Broadway cast led by Steven Skybell as Tevye. The results were historic, praised as fresh, authentic, personal, and highly emotional. New York Times critic Jesse Green exclaimed, “Even the jokes were making me cry.”

The pandemic interrupted touring plans, but now The Soraya partners with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene to bring it to the West Coast for the first time in a special concert version with Skybell reprising his leading role.