The 7:30 PM evening was presented as a benefit for The National Yiddish Theatre – Folksbiene and reunites many alumni from various productions of Fiddler since its 1964 Broadway premiere. Original Fiddler producer Harold Prince, along with 2004 Broadway revival star Harvey Fierstein and journalist Frank Rich serve as honorary co-chairs for the event.
Raising the Roof promised performances of the beloved Fiddler songs by their originators and notable successors. Topol, who starred as Tevye in the 1967 London production, the 1971 film and a 1990 Broadway revival, is joined by Chita Rivera, Karen Ziemba, Norman Jewison, Joshua Bell, Frank London, Jerry Zaks, Andrea Martin, Adrienne Barbeau, Liz Larsen, Austin Pendleton, Sammy Dallas Bayes, Louis Zorich, Pia Zadora, Fyvush Finkel, Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh, Neva Small, Jackie Hoffman, Robert Aberdeen, Maurice Edwards, Tanya Everett-Bagot, Louis Genevrino, Sandra Kazan, Faye Menken-Schneier, Joanna Merlin, Carolyn Mignini, Joe Ponazecki, Larry Ross, Carol Sawyer, Roberta Senn, Harriet Slaughter, Mimi Turque-Marre, Leslie Alexander, Joanne Borts, Mike Burstyn, Rachel Coloff, T. Doyle Leverett, Michael J. Farina, Kerry Frances, Deborah Grausman, Rebecca Hoodwin, Lori Ada Jaroslow, Mark Sanders, Donalyn Petrucci-Shreve, Cheryl Stern and Lori Wilner, plus a choir of 36 children.
Also on hand were Fiddler's Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning lyricist Sheldon Harnick, along with Bel Kaufman, the 103-year-old granddaughter of famed Yiddish author and playwright Sholom Aleichem, who wrote Fiddler's source material, "Tevye and His Daughters," and Alisa Solomon, author of "Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof." The evening was co-directed by 1990 Fiddler revival cast member Gary John LaRosa and 2009-10 tour cast member Erik Liberman. Fiddler on the Roof premiered on Broadway in 1964, earning ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score. Joseph Stein authored the book to the musical that has a score by Jerry Bock and Harnick.
