As a child in Spain, Maite Uzal sang along to the soundtrack of “Fiddler on the Roof” with her father. Although the two Spanish-speakers didn’t know the lyrics, they would invent their own, adding a new spin to the classic melodies.

This fall, Uzal will again add her own flair to “Fiddler on the Roof” as one of the leads in the new Broadway tour.  The show will open its 11-month tour across the country at the Landmark Theatre on Oct. 17.

Uzal, who plays Golde, said this will be her first national tour. She moved to the United States from Madrid in 2011 and has lived in New York City ever since. Uzal, who hasn’t been to many of the cities on the show’s schedule, said the 11-month stretch will give the chance for the performance to grow and change.

“I imagine that switching places, inevitably the show makes itself fresh, because you’re in a new place,” Uzal said. “There’s new marks you have to hit, and the city has a new vibe. I anticipate that is going to be very helpful.”

“Fiddler on the Roof,” which first opened on Broadway in 1964, has become an internationally successful standard of musical theater. The show follows Tevye, a Jewish milkman, and his family as they navigate life in a rural Russian village during the Tsarist regime. In order to prepare for her role as Tevye’s stubborn wife, Uzal tapped into her own experiences. Although Uzal is not a mother or a wife, she said there are still many ways in which she relates to the character.

“I have been through the struggles of trying to balance tradition and change,” Uzal said. “In that aspect, I can relate to what she’s going through.”

The story deals heavily with the relationship between tradition and change, both within Tevye and Golde’s family unit and the country of Russia itself. This theme is something that Landmark Theatre Executive Director Mike Intaglietta said has kept the show relevant for more than 50 years.

“These are things that are omnipresent no matter what era you’re living in,” Intaglietta said. “That balance is one that people are always trying to navigate.”

In Ingliatella’s three years as director of the Landmark, the theater has hosted seven Broadway tours. Intaglietta said only a few theaters in New York state can accommodate the elaborate technical design of a Broadway production like “Fiddler” — the Landmark is one of them. Local stagehands prepare the space for the traveling tech crew, often bringing in special equipment when needed. But all of that is done in advance, Intaglietta said, so that when the production arrives the theater can hit the ground running.

For Olivia Gjurich, a member of the ensemble, performing in Syracuse will be a return to her old stomping grounds.  Gjurich graduated from Syracuse University’s Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting program in 2013.

“[SU] told me there wasn’t anything I shouldn’t be trying,” Gjurich said.  “It wasn’t like ‘you can’t do that role because you’re too young right now,’ or this or that. We just explored everything.”

“Fiddler on the Roof,” however, has long been one of Gjurich’s favorites. Citing the use of language in the lyrics and the script as a favorite aspect, Gjurich also said she thinks the story is such a classic because of the deep love between Tevye, Golde and their daughters.

“I think it’s just a completely universal message of growing and loving and having to soldier on,” she said.

Uzal agrees, saying that the central themes of the show — the contrast between old and new and the relationship between a father and his daughters — are themes that everyone has been touched by.

“I think that is something that anybody who walks into the theater can relate to,” Uzal said.

“Fiddler on the Roof” also stars Yehezkel Lazarov as Tevye and is directed by Tony award-winner Bartlett Sher.

Published on October 16, 2018 at 8:24 pm