By André Hereford
on
November 15, 2025 @here4andre

As director Joe Calarco put it to the press night audience at Signature Theatre’s Fiddler on the Roof, he had a simple pitch for what would become his twentieth Signature production.

For his Fiddler, Calarco — whose 2017 Jesus Christ Superstar at the Northern Virginia theater still ranks as tops among the handful I’ve seen — envisioned a table in the round. The family table, the community table, where so much that matters in life happens, would serve as the center for this telling of the musical composed by Jerry Bock, with lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein.

Realized handsomely in Misha Kachman’s woody scenic design, the table, actually multiple tables in various configurations, also serves as stage and floor and tavern bar, depending on the scene. Meals, meetings, toasts, dances, fateful reckonings all sit down at — or spring from — this earthy center of the tiny village Anatevka, home to dairyman Tevye, his hard-working wife Golde, their five daughters, and community of fellow Jews.

Calarco and Signature nabbed a commanding performer to head the table: Douglas Sills, Broadway staple, Tony nominee, and, of late, a Gilded Age chef gracing the finest tables in 1880s New York. A far cry from Fifth Avenue, Tevye and family endure a life of scarcity in 1905 Russia, and, though Sills looks a bit dashing for a poor milkman, he conveys Tevye’s appreciation for the treasures he does possess: his family and his traditions.

The entire cast of villagers extol those virtues in “Tradition,” the first of the show’s opening trifecta of well-known tunes, and our first chance to take in the smooth staging of this large, active cast, and fetching choreography set for them by Sarah Parker.

“Tradition” also spells out the strict expectations for women in this culture of arranged marriages. The three eldest of Tevye’s daughters — Tzeitel (Beatrice Owens), Hodel (Lily Burka), and Chava (Rosie Jo Neddy) — sing of romance and resistance in “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” a fine showcase for Burka’s lovely voice and Owens’ spunky Tzeitel.

The first of Tevye’s daughters to defy tradition, Tzeitel turns up her nose at a proposed union with wealthy town butcher Lazar Wolf (Jeremy Radin) arranged by the village matchmaker, Yente (Susan Rome, a fast-talking delight). One after the other, Tevye’s children will similarly defy him. He sees the balance of his whole world under threat, from within and without.

In his household, he has to deal with willful daughters, and the men they attract or bring home. Beyond his front door, the village of Anatevka, and the peaceful lives of Jews there, are threatened by the forces of the tsar, expelling Jews from their villages throughout the region.

The production hits its most resonant notes, however, when evoking the joy and celebration rooted in home and community, and religion. From the tender blessing of the Tevye-led “Sabbath Prayer,” to the boisterously danced “To Life,” the cast shines when it’s all hands on deck for uplifting occasions.