Fiddler On The Roof at Leeds Grand Theatre Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Jenny Bray

This musical tells the tale of Tevye, a poor Jewish milkman following tradition and culture and of his five daughters as they grow up in changing times in a small village in Russia in 1905. As the man of the family he is responsible for agreeing suitable men for them to marry via the matchmaker of the village. As they have no wealth, he is keen for his daughters to marry into wealth so that they can have better lives.

The storyline for this musical is based on real life stories between 1895 and 1915 by a famous Jewish writer, Solomon Yakov Rabinowitz (pen name Sholem Aleichem, meaning ‘peace unto you’). It was Broadway’s longest running show, running for 8 years from opening in 1964. It has won 3 Olivier awards.

The story is not a particularly glamorous one and shows some of the struggles the lower classes faced, especially in religious, small, traditional villages. However, it intertwines some happier elements and lots of funny moments.

Tevye is played by Matthew Woodyatt, who did an excellent job of portraying an anguished man struggling between following tradition and wanting not to upset his daughters, also bringing lots of laughs to the audience when misquoting the bible, portraying his ongoing internal struggles with situations and regularly holding dialogues with God about his circumstances.

There are several catchy songs throughout the show; ‘Tradition’ is a strong song that features as a full song at the start but then has partial repeats in several places, especially when Tevye is struggling with other people’s new ways of thinking.

Probably the most well known song of the whole musical; ‘If I were a rich man’, features near the start of the first act and is well executed by Matthew Woodyatt as Tevye.

‘Do you love me’ is a poignant song, where Tevye asks Golde (Jodie Jacobs), his wife of 25 years, who he met for the first time on their wedding day, whether she actually loves him. She runs through a whole load of things before answering him.

The older daughters, Tzeitel (Natasha Jules Bernard), Yente (Beverley Klein) and Hodel (Ashleigh Schuman) all featured some sisterly similarities due to growing up in the environment that they did but also managed to successfully highlight their differences in their scenes. This was especially true during ‘Matchmaker’ where they start off wanting to be married, then collectively decide they are too young and wouldn’t mind waiting a while. They highlighted their will to please their father but to also break with some traditions to marry for love, which was unheard of at the time in the village they lived in as they had always followed the tradition of arranged marriages.

The fiddler (Roman Lytwyniw) weaves between many of the scenes on stage, fitting in with the setting at that time.

The appearance of an ‘outsider’ to the village, Perchik (Greg Bernstein), helps highlight how behind the times the village is in comparison to other villages and larger cities. He comes across as a bit wild and radical to the villagers as a socialist who wants to stand up for change and Greg Bernstein showed a quirkiness that stood out from others to portray this.

By far the most comedic part of the show is the point where Tevye needs to convince Golde to allow Tzeitel to marry her long term friend, a poor tailor (Motel; Dan Wolff) not the rich butcher (Lazar Wolf; Michael S. Siegel) who she is due to marry. This involves a very elaborate dream whereby her long dead grandma and the butcher’s first wife show up to tell Golde!

The set was kept fairly plain, which was fitting for this show. However, the initial crop field rising to become the roof of the stage setting was impressive, with the name of the village (Anatevka) etched in the soil above their heads. The remainder of the set had some crops around the edges and remained simple.

The costumes were also kept simple, with mainly neutral, natural colours which fitted well with the setting and the story.

Leeds Grand Theatre is in central Leeds, with plenty of parking nearby.

The content of the show shouldn’t really work as being a musical theatre performance as the content is about poor Jewish villagers facing antisemitism and is fairly bleak, but this musical provides the right mix of depicting the traditional ways at the time, with people’s hopes and uplifting songs. Surprisingly, the content remains just as valid today and an important reminder of issues still being faced in some other countries. It’s therefore more thought provoking than many theatrical performances but manages it with uplifting songs intertwined with the plot.

Rating: 4/5

Tickets cost from £27 to £59

Fiddler on the Roof is on at the Leeds Grand between 29th July and 2nd August 2025. For more information or to book tickets, visit leedsheritagetheatres.com or call the Box Office on 0113 2430808

Leeds Grand Theatre box office; 46 New Briggate, Leeds, LS1 6NU