By Sheryl Flatow
27 Feb 2010

	Harvey Fierstein in Fiddler on the Roof
	photo by Joan Marcus

"I think it's the best-written musical ever," says Fierstein. "Its themes are universal. There's not a person who's untouched by what Tevye goes through with his daughters. It's a show about prejudice, it's a show about bringing up children, it's a show about whether or not to have faith. It's got so much to talk about and it does so beautifully, mostly through comedy. And then there are the serious moments, and suddenly you're laughing and crying at the same time."

Despite — or maybe because of — his Tony Award–winning performance as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, Fierstein probably seemed an unlikely choice to play Tevye, who sings all or part of nine songs. Even he was unsure how people would feel about his famous gravelly voice singing "Sunrise, Sunset." "When they came to me, I said I would not consider the role unless Joe Stein, [lyricist] Sheldon Harnick and [composer] Jerry Bock heard me sing the entire score, and approved," he says. "I love those three guys, and I'm grateful for them every day."

Fierstein approaches Tevye with a different mindset than his predecessors. "I play Tevye as much more obviously prejudiced," he says, citing as an example a scene with the non-Jewish Fyedka, who marries his daughter Chava. "He goes to shake hands with me, and after we do, I wipe off my hand. I also play Tevye's relationship with God different than I'd ever seen it played before. The show opens with Tevye and God being best friends. He talks to God as you'd talk to your neighbor. This is not a relationship that needs formal prayer, though formal prayer is in his life. This is a one-on-one relationship with God. By the end of the first act, he's questioning God. When Act II opens, he hasn't spoken to God for two months. By the end of the show, he's not speaking to God anymore. He has to get his things packed up, he has to get his family out of town. He doesn't have time for the luxury of speaking to God. He still stops to pray. He still has that formal relationship with God. But God as his best friend is gone. It's a very interesting thing to play."

Fierstein has now starred in three Broadway musicals (the short-lived A Catered Affair is the third), something he never dreamed of when he began writing and acting in plays. "I never set out to be in theatre," he says. "I have a degree in painting. Being on Broadway never occurred to me. I have so outlived any of my dreams, and my real life is so much better than anything I could dream up, that I don't bother dreaming anymore."