Comedian Omid Djalili will make his Chichester Festival Theatre debut alongside former EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman in Fiddler on the Roof.
Djalili, whose stage credits include Oliver! in the West End and, on film, The Infidel, Shaun the Sheep, Casanova and Disney’s forthcoming The Nutcracker, will play Tevye.
Oberman plays Golde; her stage credits include Boeing-Boeing and Stepping Out in the West End, while her extensive TV work includes New Tricks, EastEnders and Friday Night Dinner.
The full company has been announced today for the much-loved musical, to be directed by Daniel Evans, running from 10 July – 26 August: Simbi Akande (Tzeitel), Ryan Anderson, Leo Andrew, Andrew Boyer, Greg Castiglioni, Stephen John Davis, Omid Djalili (Tevye), Nicholas Duncan, Luke Fetherston, Rosie Fletcher, Harry Francis, Victoria Hinde, Chris Jarman (Lazar Wolf), Abigail Jaye, Emma Kingston (Hodel).
Lucinda Lawrence, Louis Maskell (Perchik), Tracy-Ann Oberman (Golde), Megan O’Hanlon, Sephora Parish, Pierce Rogan, Liza Sadovy (Yente), Rose Shalloo (Chava), Jos Slovick (Motel), Mia Soteriou (Grandma Tzeitel), Laura Tebbutt (Fruma Sarah) and Matthew Woodyatt.
It’s 1905 in a small village in Imperial Russia. Tevye, a poor dairyman, and his wife, Golde, are blessed with five witty and beautiful daughters. The matchmaker Yente, who believes any husband is better than no husband, is busy making sensible marriage plans for them all.
But Tevye’s bold daughters have their own ideas about who to marry. And as change and new ideas roll in from the big cities, dissolving the old ways of life, the sisters are not alone in their lust for something new.
This celebrated and much loved musical is packed with show-stopping songs including If I Were A Rich Man, Tradition and Matchmaker. The original record-breaking Broadway production won nine Tony Awards including Best Musical.
This new staging is directed by Chichester’s Artistic Director Daniel Evans, whose hit productions at Sheffield Theatres included Show Boat, My Fair Lady and Flowers for Mrs Harris. His outstanding creative team includes designer Lez Brotherston (Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, Sister Act) and choreographer Alistair David (Show Boat, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers).
The musical supervisor and orchestrator will be David White, the co-orchestrator will be Andy Massey and the musical director, Tom Brady; with lighting by David Hersey, sound by Carolyn Downing and video by Nina Dunn.