“Fiddler” Star Hopes This Isn’t His Farewell Tour After All
Written by: Josh Green
DURHAM, NC – You could perform “Fiddler on the Roof” every single day for six years and Chaim Topol would still have a few up on you.
“I first started when I was 30 playing the part,” he said at the Durham Performing Arts Center Wednesday. “My most difficult task was to make sure that I looked old enough to be the father of five daughters. For me then – 50 was old.”
“The task was that I [didn’t] break the image of an old man, so I trained myself to close certain muscles and not to do any movement that may disclose that I’m not 50. Today – I’m totally relaxed about it. I have no inhibitions of breaking the image of a man of 50.”
Now the veteran actor is in his 70s. It means he’s performed in Fiddler more than 2,500 times. He’s adding more to that list this week as the show hits the stage at the Durham Performing Arts Center. It runs through Sunday. The headlines say it’s Topol’s “farewell tour.” For ticket information, click here.
“I didn’t decide it,” he said. “The producers like to call it a farewell tour. But I hope that I’ll have another two or three farewell tours.”
Letting go of the character Tevye would be letting go of part of his life.
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“In a way, it’s the story of my family,” he said. “Most important I had, bless their souls, parents who brought me up. I can tell you there isn’t a single night that I play this part that I don’t think of them.”
“There are lines in the play that sound as if my father just said them … or my mother.”
Topol, who still lives in Israel, believes Fiddler can teach a lot about tradition. And 42 years after he first performed Fiddler on the Roof on London’s West End in 1967, the message still gets to him.
“It’s a very funny show and a very sad show,” Topol said. “People cry. I cry every night.”
Yet the role of Tevye hasn’t consumed Topol.
Scroll down for a slideshow of Fiddler On The Roof
“I don’t want you to think this is the most important thing in my life,” he said. “The most important thing in my life – at least now – is a project that I’m working on. It’s a village that I’m building for children who suffer from life-threatening illnesses.”
The Jordon Village in the lower Galilee in Israel should open within the next couple of months. Forty years ago, Topol founded the largest children’s charity in the world, the Variety club. He’s been dealing with sick children ever since.
“I think that a society that doesn’t take care of those who can’t help themselves … especially children is not worthy to exist … can’t call themselves a society,” he said. “It’s a bunch of nothing.”
When he’s on tour, his wife still travels with him.
“She spoils me,” he said laughing.
Before each show, he has a tradition: an hour and a half warm-up that includes singing, push-ups and sit-ups.
“I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I try to keep fit,” he said. “I hope this farewell tour or tours will go on forever.”
He was pleased to see that a song from the show made it to the mainstream when Gwen Stefani recorded “Rich Girl,” an adaptation of “If I Were a Rich Man” from “Fiddler on the Roof.”
“I though it was very nice … very entertaining. I was surprised that no one else did it before,” he said. “I was surprised it came so late. But she did it very well; she did it very nicely.”
Topol said, as far as the show goes, it regenerates itself each year he takes part.
“You must remember that a job of an actor – whatever part he plays is to go on stage and whatever he says, whatever he sees, whatever he feels, whatever he hears is for the first time,” he said. “When you do it 2,500 times – you have a variation of nuisances that you can choose. Luckily, for me, I’m not playing with the same actors all those 2,500 times.”
“Every new actor who comes to play with me brings his own qualities which I have to relate to: his height, his smell, his eyes, his voice … and I have to react to what he brings. It keeps you fresh. Life keeps you fresh.”
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Comments
This is probably too late, but I fell in love wiht Topol when the movie came out and he and I were both much younger…however, he has always been the personification of that role and everytime he plays the part it comes from his heart. I saw the play on Tuesday and took my Mom (94) on Saturday, sent friends and bought tickets for 2 others and volunteered on Thursday. We are priviledged to have had him in Durham! What a total joy he is, and the entire cast as well. DPAC rocks! K
I’ve seen the movie and wanted to be Jewish and live in Anatevka. Topol is a consumate performer. I feel he can do for Tevye and Fiddler what Yul Brynner did for the King and I. My 7yr old grand daughter had the opportunity to portray a villiager in the local hugh school production of Fiddler this past March. She fell in love with the music. While listening to “if I Were A Rich Man” in the car, I said that I couldn’t believe someone her age liked this music. Her reply was, “How can you not like it”. Unfortunately for us, Topol’s tour was playing near our home the same weekend and show times that she was performing so we couldn’t go. I do hope that Topol will reconsider touring again in the Philadelphia/South Jersey areas.
I saw Fiddler with Chaim Topol last night (July 19, 09) in San Diego. I felt 44 years younger, as he took me back to 1965, when I saw him in this role in the Alhambra in Yaffo.(if I remember correctly…)
What a performance he gave last night! The audience stood up and cheered out of love, respect and pure joy, to have witnessed his magnifficent work.
Chaim, KOL HAVOD! AD ME’AH VE’ESRIM!
I saw Topol in Orlando and it was unforgettable! He was the best ever!! I didn’t want to leave the theater; I could have sat through it again immediately.
I saw the performance of Fiddler in San Diego and it so captured my heart that even the memory of it takes my breath away. All the performers were very good and did honor to the story, but Chaim Topol’s performance of Tevye was… transcendent. It broke the limits of what a human can be expected to do on stage, with a part. It’s as if he became Tevye, or that he is Tevye, if that makes any kind of sense.
I hope this is not his farewell tour. I would pay whatever was asked to see him perform again.
I was hoping to see Topol in Toronto, Canada, so I bought tickets for three shows to guarantee seeing him (and not an understudy)! He cancelled due to a shoulder injury. I wish I followed him to one of the US cities rather than waiting for him to come to Toronto! I’m very sad!
I have never had the blessing of seeing the live performance, and have only seen the film in theaters with my parents when I was 8 years old, (now 41 years old). Yesterday, I saw the DVD in the video store and had to buy it, went home and watched it straight through. I consider it the best film in my entire collection. The only reason I’m leaving a comment is not to shower anyone with yet more accolades as all the performers (especially Chaim Topol for his great love and dedication to his craft and life in general) are so richly deserving. I just wanted to let Chaim know that I see this work as a beautiful vessel of peace and diplomacy in relating cultural struggles that everyone can relate to in this world. It is ironic that the message (set back in pre-revolutionary Russia) is truly timeless, for as we have witnessed the incredible changes that the world has underwent in just the last 92 years, and yet this story melts the heart of any generation who sees it. Keep it up Chaim, and may the God who created all men, someday unite all men in peace. It is a truly worthy cause what you are doing with the children, and your purpose is what will give you a long and happy life. Bless you, a sincere fan, Steve Werenicz
I took my 12 year old daughter to see “Fiddler” in Baltimore. So involved in the performance, she sat on the edge of her seat as if she was being drawn into the story. It was the same reaction I had to the play when I first saw it 30+ years ago. She said to me afterward that Topol “made the show.” And he truly did. Not only does he have a tremendous voice, but impeccable comedic timing and the ability to convey meaning and emotion with just the tiniest inflection of his voice. His top-notch performance was appreciated and applauded by mother and daughter alike. Thanks for creating a meaningful memory for us.
I saw Topol in Costa Mesa, California with my husband and now Adult son. We laughed, cried and loved every minute of it. This past weekend, I drove to Tuscon, Arizona (over 600 miles) to see Topol…it was not Topol. I was SO disappointed!
Mr. Bikel did a good job to be sure-but it was not my beloved Topol. I have the movie, my children grew up watching it and it is amazing all that Topol brings to his performance. I too hope it is not his farewell performance. I did not appreciate the advertisement of Bikel performing it over 2000 times(more than any other actor) when clearly Topol has performed it over 2500 times!
Nothing personal Mr. Bikel- I know they are big shoes to fill… but I want my Topol! He brings home the relationship with God in a way that is so convincing…it is lovely, intelligent and so encompassing of humanity. I so appreciate his gift! Thank you for your performance it truly transcends generations.
It is a beautiful, loving portrayal of all that makes life worth living! Thank you so much! I hope to see it at least one more time. God Bless!
i saw this movie in 1971 back in bombay,india, with my father when i was 14.i remember crying towards the end of the movie when chava came to bid goodbye to her father ,but he would respond to her pleas n’ she had to go without is blessing(though he did wish her well, when she left).
seen it later on television once or twice. watched the movie again yesterday on dvd- boy, i cried throughout the movie ,thinking of my father who’s no more.i am 53 now. it still has suchan effect on me. wat a movie .. topol was just brilliant( can’t believe he played this part when he was only 36. love you topol . cast was amazing.loved them all.
should also say thanks to the writer who wrote such a wonderful story, that moves anybody who sees the film.
The first time I watched “Fiddler on Roof” was on stage in our school back in 1969. The performers were all well-known Filipino stage actors, with Subas Herrero as Teyve. When the movie version came out with Zero Mostel as Teyve, I watched it with my brother and just fell in love with it even more. Last year, I made it point to watch the play again with a friend at the Orange County Performing Arts Center…this time it’s Chaim Topol as Teyve. Wow! Isn’t it amazing that I watched Fiddler 3 times with 3 different well-known actors playing as Teyve?!!
To top it all, the song “Sunrise, Sunset” is the ‘national anthem’ of our clan…The Tengco Family Clan. A family reunion, wedding or a simple gathering will never be complete without singing the family’s national anthem! It’s a TRADITION!!!
I saw him in Fayetteville, AR, and cried the whole first half of the show. I had grown up watching the movie & it evoked such fond memories of my younger years and my grandmother.
Seeing Topol perform live was like seeing the real Santa Claus at Christmas time. It was just so magical. Afterwards, I wished I had bought tickets to each performance. I hope I get a chance to see him again.
There are three roles an actor should not touch apart from
the originals
Chaim Topol as Teyve
Sean Connery as Bond
Ron Moody as Fagin
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He is really perfect for this part….I love it!