By Kenneth Jones
09 Nov 2004

Harvey Fierstein

Harvey Fierstein has been in discussions with the producers of Fiddler on the Roof to possibly take over the role of Tevye in the Tony Award-nominated revival of the show, sources in the theatre community told Playbill On-Line.

A spokesman for the show said Nov. 8 that "no casting information is available at this time" and that director David Leveaux would be in town this week to make a decision about the recasting of the lead role, which Alfred Molina vacates in early January 2005, when his contract ends.

Tevye is the Russian-Jewish dairyman whose three eldest daughters are married to varied suitors. Each union challenges the long-held and cherished traditions of the community, in early-20th century rural Russia.

The role (based on a character created by Sholom Aleichem) was created in the musical in 1964 by Zero Mostel. Famous Tevyes have included Topol (who played the role on London, on Broadway and in the film), Jason Alexander (in excerpts from Fiddler within Jerome Robbins' Broadway), Herschel Bernardi, Theodore Bikel, Luther Adler, Paul Lipson, Harry Goz and others. Mostel won a Tony Award for playing the exasperated and hopeful patriarch who has a total of five daughters.

Molina was also Tony-nommed for his performance in this latest revival. Fierstein, 50, is no stranger to Tonys, having won the prize for Best Actor (Play) and Best Play for his three-act Torch Song Trilogy, for Best Book of a Musical for the libretto of La Cage aux Folles and for Best Actor (Musical) starring in the drag role of Edna Turnblad in the smash musical Hairspray.

His voice is harsh as gravel, and his association with gay roles and gay causes is strong, but Fierstein is said to want a crack at what is considered one of the greatest "traditional" roles in American musical theatre. If he steps into the shtetl, he'll sing such classics as "Sunrise, Sunset," "Tradition" and "If I Were a Rich Man."

In MCC Theatre's Miscast concert in April 2002, Fierstein and Kristin Chenoweth sang the Fiddler duet, "Do You Love Me?," with Fierstein singing the role of Golde and Chenoweth singing Tevye.

Performances of Fiddler on the Roof continue at the Minskoff Theatre.