Fiddler on the Roof takes place in the Pale of Settlement, where Jews resided in Imperial Russia. It deals with the widespread antisemitism of the period in addition to Jewish traditions and culture.
Though the director, Jack Laufer, is a Jew, he told KSMU he is "the only Jew in the company" for SLT’s Fiddler. Laufer reached out to the choir director of Temple Israel –- the Springfield area’s local synagogue –- but it turned out that Fiddler’s run conflicted with the High Holy Days, making it unlikely that any practicing Jews would audition.
Fiddler on the Roof runs September 8 through September 24. This year, Rosh Hashanah, the first of the two High Holy Days, begins when the sun sets on September 15 and ends when night falls on September 17. Yom Kippur, the second High Holy Day and the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, begins at sunset on September 24 and ends at nightfall the next day. It should be noted that the show on the 24th is a Matinee that starts at 2 p.m., though observance of Yom Kippur is not necessarily limited to just the holiday itself.
Like with most seasons of theatre, the dates were set way in advance – Jack Laufer had no control over the schedule. Ken Burstin, the Temple Israel choir director, said in an email that “I am sure that the folks at Little Theater had no thought to look at a calendar of Jewish holidays in planning their schedule, any more than Springfield schools did when my kids were young. It is merely the product of living in an area where the Jewish presence is even smaller than it is in the general population.”
During an interview, Laufer was pretty candid about how he approached this as a director and as a Jewish man. “It’s hard to direct 36 Ozarkian locals to be shtetl Jews in turn of the century Russia. But they’re doing a great job, they really are," he said. “There’s things that they need to know about. You know, I’m trying to be a technical advisor, but there’s still some stuff that I don’t know that I have to do some research on.”
KSMU attempted to reach representatives of Springfield Little Theatre but were unable to get a response.
Correction: KSMU changed the wording to reflect that Laufer said he is "the only Jew in the company." KSMU could not confirm that.