Fiddler on the Roof coming to SIC April 26-28

Southeastern Illinois College Theatre’s spring musical, Fiddler on the Roof, will hit the stage April 26 and 27 at 7 p.m. and April 28 at 2p.m. in the George T. Dennis Visual & Performing Arts Center Theatre.  

Winner of nine Tony Awards, Fiddler on the Roof features such famous songs as Tradition; Sun Rise, Sun Set; and If I Were a Rich Man.  The cast includes more than 30 actors from within the college and the surrounding community, plus 15 area children. 

“I am so excited to finally get to do this show!  We have tried to get the rights for the last three years but it has not been available.  It was worth the wait.  Wow — what a cast!  This is going to be one of those ‘don’t miss’ shows,” said Allan Kimball, theatre director.

The musical is set in 1905 in the little Russian village of Anatevka.  It centers on Tevye, a poor milkman (played by Nathan Burns of Marion) trying to keep his family’s Jewish traditions in place. Yet, times are changing. And when Tevye’s daughters want to make their own matches, he must choose between his own daughters’ happiness and those beloved traditions that keep the outside world at bay. Yet it is Tevye’s love of his family, pride and faith that help him face the dangerous forces in Anatevka which threaten to destroy the very life he and his fellow villagers are trying to preserve. 

“This show is on a bigger scale than some of the other shows we’ve done lately,” said Burns, a student at SIC.  “Fiddler is a show everyone knows and has seen, so we have a higher standard to live up to for the audience, and we are going to do our best impress them.”

Directing the music and lyrics for the performance will be Kurt Miyashiro, director of music at Southeastern. Costumes are the creations of Janet Hart’s fashion design class at Harrisburg High School, while John Hart of Hart’s Music in Harrisburg is providing sound for the show. The show’s set design and lighting are the products of Kimball’s stagecraft and technical theater class at SIC.

Tickets are $8 for the general public, $6 for students, staff and seniors. For reserved seating (recommended), contact the box office at 618-252-5400, ext. 2486 or 2487 or email boxoffice@sic.edu.

Next year’s lineup of theatrical performances will include Godspell, Madrigal Feaste, Harvey and Brigadoon.

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