Taking on the role of Tevye is Joe Vincent, who played Big Daddy in PSF’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 2012. “As soon I saw Joe as Big Daddy, I knew I wanted to do Fiddler with him – he has the depth and command of the stage to play the role,” says Director Dennis Razze.
Vincent brings experience to the role: “I’ve played Tevye in three different and wonderful venues. The first time was in the magnificent American Musical Theatre in San Jose, California. The company was famous for staging giant musicals in a 2,700-seat theater with a full orchestra.
“After that I played him again in a beautiful little 300-seat theater in Concord, California. And the last time I visited the role was at the world-famous Chautauqua Opera in western New York. That production included an ensemble of 30 young opera singers. It was spectacular.
“I’m really looking forward to returning to Pennsylvania to play the role again,” he says. “I discovered many things playing Tevye. First, it is probably one of the most emotional journeys that an actor can take with an audience. Unlike, say, LaMancha, who we can really only wish to identify with, Tevye is a beautiful, loving and funny creature that we ALL identify with. He is a very real Everyman. A gem!”
Long-time Festival favorite John Ahlin – Falstaff in Merry Wives and Henry IV, Part 1, Playboy of the Western World, — will play Lazar Wolf. (At press time in late March, more casting is in progress.)
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