Three foreign Tevyes and a non-Jewish mystery guest will highlight the festivities at the Broadway Theater Saturday night when “Fiddler on the Roof” plays its 3225th performance and surpasses “Life With Father” as the longest-running show in Broadway history. The three Tevyes are Shmuel Rudensky, a Ukrainian who played the role in Hebrew, Yiddish and German in Israel, Germany and Switzerland; Lex Goudsmit of the Dutch and London casts, and Manolo Fabregas of the Mexico City troupe. Mayor John V. Lindsay and the show’s creators–author Joseph Stein, composer Jerry Bock, lyricist Sheldon Harnick and others–will also be on hand.
“Fiddler” which opened in Sept. 1964 to downbeat reviews–one critic said it needed a good second half–has returned 987 percent profit to its investors, who originally paid $375,000 to mount it, according to producer Harold Prince. Paul Lipson, who will be Tevye at the record-breaking show, has been in the show–in various parts, here and elsewhere–for the same number of performances as the Broadway version–3225.
The Women’s International Zionist Organization pledged at a meeting in Montreal last night to support programs in Israel to close the gap between rich and poor.
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