The Yiddish staging of Fiddler on the Roof, which continues Off-Broadway at Stage 42, will be brought to life at the Sydney Opera House's Joan Sutherland Theatre September 10–October 31, 2020, and Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre beginning November 15.
With a book by Joseph Stein, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, Fiddler features a Yiddish translation by Shraga Friedman. Directed by Joel Grey, the production also has musical staging and new choreography by Staś Kmieć, musical supervision by Zalmen Mlotek, set design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Ann Hould-Ward, wig and hair design by Tom Watson, lighting design by Peter Kaczorowski, and sound design by Dan Moses Schreier.
The Secret Garden’s return to Australia will reunite the original Broadway creative team of director Susan H. Schulman, choreographer Michael Lichtefeld, and designer Heidi Ettinger. Based on the popular literary classic by Frances Hodgson Burnett—with book and lyrics by Marsha Norman and music by Lucy Simon—the musical will play the Sydney Lyric Theatre August 4–September 6, 2020. The creative team also includes music supervisor Guy Simpson.
Opera Australia Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini said in a statement, “We are very excited to continue Opera Australia’s mission of telling narrative through music and drama next year with these two wonderful classical musicals. I saw Fiddler on the Roof at the Jewish Museum in New York, and know Opera audiences will be fascinated to experience this new version, and to have the opportunity to present an astonishing new production of The Secret Garden is too good to be true.”
Producing the 1995 Australian production of The Secret Garden “was one of the most special experiences of my career, and now to produce it again with the original creative team is a dream come true,” added Frost. “And when I saw this brilliant new version of Fiddler on the Roof in New York, I knew immediately it was a perfect show to follow my other collaborations with Opera Australia.”
The Opera Australia season will also include La Bohème, Carmen, Bran Nue Dae, Don Giovanni, Faust, Attila, La Traviata on Sydney Harbour, Splendour of Venice, Medee, Aida, Roberto Devereaux, La Juive, Eugene Onegin, Purcell & Charpentier, Rembrandt's Wife, Rinaldo, and Tony nominee Renée Fleming in The Light in the Piazza.
