To Life! Fiddler on the Roof opens on Broadway for the sixth time

The sun never seems to set on Fiddler on the Roof. The musical directed by Bartlett Sher is opening on Broadway for the sixth time tonight, an accomplishment that few productions can claim. Its first run, which ended after more than 7 years and 3,242 performances, was at one point the longest running musical on Broadway. Combined, the show has been played on Broadway 4,484 times (4,485 times after tonight), according to data from PlayBill Vault.

In recent years, Bartlett Sher has become somewhat known for staging musical revivals and updating them for today's audiences. He directed a revival of South Pacific in 2008 and last season's The King and I, which both won Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Musical.

According to an article in the New York Times, Sher has updated the opening and closing scenes of the current Fiddler production to reflect the global refugee crisis in hopes that families might leave the theater thinking about it.

If the current production follows tradition, Fiddler on the Roof might be around for awhile.

For more information about other Broadway-related data projects, check out my Tumblr blog. If you would like to collaborate on future projects, let me know at joannaskao at gmail dot com.

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