Over the last 34 years, Theodore Bikel has played Tevye, the heart of The Fiddler on the Roof more than 1,650 times. San Francisco has a chance to witness his next 32 performances when Bikel and company pull into the Golden Gate Theatre Feb. 6-March 4.

Bikel is most heavily associated with Tevye, but he also created the role of Baron von Trapp in The Sound of Music. Other New York credits include The Lark, My Fair Lady, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, Threepenny Opera and Zorba. An Academy Award nominee for "The Defiant Ones," Bikel has appeared in over 35 films including "The African Queen," "My Fair Lady" and "The Russians are Coming."

Co-starring as Golde is Susan Cella. Her Broadway credits include Me and My Girl, Evita, On the Twentieth Century and Crazy He Calls Me. She has traveled the nation in the companies of La Cage aux Folles, 42nd Street, Me and My Girl, Can-Can and The 1940's Radio Hour.

Also in the cast are Fiddler die hard John Preece (this is his fifth tour of the show as he nears his 2,000 Fiddler performance) as Lazar Wolf and the understudy Tevye; regular Bay Area performer Miriam Babin as Yente; Mike O'Carroll (Ragtime, Show Boat) as Constable and Understudy Lazar Wolf; Dana Lynn Caruso (Annie Get Your Gun); Daniel Cooney (Les Miserables) as Perchik; Brad Drummer as Fyedka; Tamra Hayden (Les Miserables) as Hodel; Michael Iannucci as Motel; Eileen Tepper as Tzeitel; Arthur Atkison as the Fiddler; Chet Carlin (An Evening With Richard Nixon) as the Rabbi; Chris Dell'Armo as Mendel; Darin de Paul as Avram; Jennifer Beth Glick as Bielke; Karen Katz as Shprintze and Grandma Tzeitel; and another long-time Fiddler, David Masters (he appeared in the show with Zero Mostel, Topol and Bikel), as Mordcha.

Tony Award nominee Sammy Dallas Bayes (Canterbury Tales, Fiddler on the Roof) directs. The design team features Boris Aronson (sets), Michael Bottari and Ronald Case (costumes), 1997 Tony Award winner Ken Billington (lighting) and Peter J. Fitzgerald (sound). Based on the popular Yiddish tales of Sholom Aleichem, Fiddler on the Roof tells the story of Tevye the dairyman, his strong wife Golde and his five daughters as they try to adjust to the changing world around them. The Jerry Bock-Sheldon Harnick score includes the beloved tunes "Tradition," "Miracle of Miracles," "Matchmaker, Matchmaker," "If I Were a Rich Man" and "Sunrise, Sunset."

Tickets are $75-$30. The Golden Gate Theatre is located at One Golden Gate Avenue at Taylor. For reservations, call (415) 512-7770.