Fiddler on the Roof

Meaning that we weren't going to make some, we weren't going to rewrite the whole thing, we weren't going to recast it, just we were going to try six things to improve the show every night.

And by the time they got to New York, it was Fiddler on the Roof.

And that's where previews came from.

There's out-of-town tryouts, but previews are more critical because then you have an audience.

And now he's taking on one of musical theater's most beloved characters.

Troy Sussman is currently starring as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof at Sydney's Theatre Royal, a role that demands enormous heart, humor, humanity and, of course, a magnificent voice.

I'm delighted that he's our featured guest today on Stages.

[upbeat music] As one relaxes into the run, I think, "Gee, why couldn't it have been like this on opening night?"

Les Miserables in Australia and London, The Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins, Aladdin, Guys and Dolls, Oliver!, The Pirates of Penzance, The Drowsy Chaperone, and The Witches of Eastwick, to name just a few.

But beyond the credits, Troy is a true theater animal, passionate about the art form, about storytelling, and about sharing his experience with the next generation of performers.

He's presently at a new pinnacle, delivering one of the most iconic roles for a musical theater actor, the poor but warm-hearted milkman and patriarch of Bock and Harnick's Fiddler on the Roof.

So as Fiddler fills the Theatre Royal Sydney with music and tradition, let's welcome Troy Sussman to Stages to traverse the theater journey that has led him to this mighty role.

I think you could

I, I have to tell you, I watched Fiddler on the Roof a while back-

[laughs]

... and I was a little horrified [laughs] in My Fair Lady, you know, where the guy's like, "I can fix this girl," you know? I'm like, "What?"

It's just a fun, fun show.

Fun.

But they did do Fiddler on the Roof [laughs] this year, and I, I actually had a friend in Fiddler on the Roof-

[laughs]

And then I'm going to say, uh, so I probably cliche of me, but, um, You know what? Actually, I'm going to change it.

I just did the show Fiddler on the Roof.

And it's funny because like, it's such a classic show

and I

And now I'm obsessed with it.

I get why people are obsessed with that show.

So I'm going to say Fiddler on the Roof as my third.

Never thought I'd answer that, but yeah.

The back catalogue of what makes London's West End great from Mr. Andrew Lloyd Webber to Stephen Sondheim to Lionel Bart.

Indeed, to my fair lady, the great my fair lady, which is coming to Melbourne as his fiddler on the roof later in the year.

And we did a whole thing to Les Miserables.

Didn't quite get my story about the fact that when I actually first moved across to London, Hal Shaper, quite a significant lyricist, wrote for Michel Legrand, South African, a young man that he was, passed away many years ago.

But he confessed to everything.

Any time there was a murder, he confessed to it, just to add notches, as he saw it, to his bragging rights.

But who would have thought? Now then, be aware that in Melbourne, My Fair Lady and Fiddler on the Roof set sail for, well, what will soon be sunny Melbourne, which is good.

I also mentioned it was great to see that Meta, wow, what a punch, what a blow Mark Zuckerberg, hubris, arrogance, whatever you want to call it.

Well, I'm a sucker for some of the oldies.

And my favorite one, aside from the Disney ones, of course, is Fiddler on the Roof.

I played Tevye twice when I was in school.

And he became such a special character for

Awesome.

You know, it was so much fun and I got paid the highest compliment.

I was in college and we, like I said, we did fiddler on the roof and I was Tevye and I had to like grow my beard out and I grew my hair out and I did all that.

And so to a lot of people, I looked almost unrecognizable on the stage because they weren't used to all that.

We're talking about musicals.

When I mentioned that I played model, the Taylor and Fiddler on the roof, he almost punched me.

Good.

I know.