Heartwood & Lincoln Academy to Present "Fiddler on the Roof"

The 8^th annual collaboration between Heartwood Regional Theater Company and Lincoln Academy is well underway, as 7^th-12^th grade Midcoast students delve into the beloved Broadway musical, Fiddler on the Roof.  Performances will open on Nov 1^st, under a winning leadership-trio: Griff Braley (Director), Beth Preston (Vocal Director) and Sean Fleming (Music Director and Accompanist). 

It’s a perfect collaboration, between two organizations of excellence, dedicated to challenging and nurturing youth - making a difference in our culture.  And clearly, community businesses, too, are eager to collaborate, with funding support.  Chesterfield Associates, Supplies Unlimited and Colby and Gale are Show Sponsors; Damariscotta Hardware is the Youth Programming Season Sponsor; Granite Hill Estates is on board as the Season Productions Sponsor, and Bath Savings Institution once again anchors Heartwood, as the Season Sponsor. 

The original Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof, opened in 1964.  It was the first musical theatre run in history to surpass 3,000 performances, and it held the record for the longest-running Broadway musical for almost 10, winning nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, score, book, direction and choreography. Four Broadway revivals have ensued, along with the famous 1971 film adaptation. 

Set in Tsarist Russia in 1905, the story centers on Tevye, the father of five daughters, and his attempts to maintain his family and Jewish religious traditions, while outside influences encroach upon their lives. He must react not only to the strong-willed romantic choices of his three older daughters—each one sliding further away from the customs of their faith—but to the edict of the Tsar, evicting the Jews from their village.

It’s a difficult story, but one worth telling, again.  And the fiddler, a metaphor for survival in a world of uncertainty, symbolizes the joys of faith and tradition – roots we never outgrow.

Forty Midcoast students from Great Salt Bay School, home-schoolers and Lincoln Academy are finding this epic musical a rigorous and creative experience, embedded with unsurpassable rewards of individual and mutual growth and achievement. 

It’s another don’t miss, for audiences.  A story worth telling, with themes transcending time, geography and culture.  A musical score that lingers in the air, in our heads and in our hearts, long after the final curtain.

Six performances will be given in the Poe Theater at Lincoln Academy, during the first two weekends of November: a 3:00 matinee on Sunday, Nov 3^rd and five 7:30pm evening performances on Nov 1-2, 7-9.  Tickets are $8 for students thru high school, $16 for adults.  Seating is unreserved, unless specially requested in advance.  Reservations very strongly recommended: 563-1373 or info@heartwoodtheater.org (please do not contact Lincoln Academy for reservations).  For more details, visit www.heartwoodtheater.org. 

Fiddler on the Roof is presented through special arrangement with Music Theater International (MTI). Based on the Sholem Aleichem stories, by special permission of Arnold Perl.  Book by Joseph Stein, Music by Jerry Bock, Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, produced on the New York Stage by Harold Prince.