64 | OCTOBER 13 • 2022 

I

n 1964, Fiddler on the Roof made its 
world premiere at the Fisher Theatre 
and starred Zero Mostel as Tevye, Maria 
Karnilova as Golde, Tevye’s wife; and Bea 
Arthur as Yente the matchmaker. The next 
year, the show won the Tony Award for Best 
Musical in addition to eight other Tony 
Awards. Now, almost 60 years later, Detroit’s 
Fisher Theatre is once again the official 
kick-off site for the Fiddler on the Roof tour, 
which runs through Oct. 16.
This revival production is directed by 
Tony Award-winner Bartlett Sher and 
choreographed by Tony nominee and 
renowned Israeli choreographer Hofesh 
Shechter. Fiddler on the Roof stars fellow 
Israel native Jonathan Hashmonay.
Born in Jerusalem in 1975, Shechter 
started studying piano at age 6 and folk 
dancing at age 12. When he was drafted 
into the Israel Defense Forces at age 18, 
Shechter continued his dance training 
simultaneously. His journey took him 
to Paris to study music and play drums 
and, when Shechter was 27, he moved to 
London to be a dancer and composer. Six 

years later, in 2008, he founded the Hofesh 
Shechter Company (HSC) in London where 
he still lives and serves as HSC artistic 
director.
We caught up with Shechter in France 
where he spent Rosh Hashanah and Yom 
Kippur on tour with his younger dance 
company, Shechter 2 (18- to 25-year-olds). 
Here is our interview:

A CONVERSATION WITH SHECHTER
JN: Along with everyone in the world, 
Americans have been following the Queen 
and her legacy. In 2018, the Queen awarded 
you an honorary OBE (Officer of the British 
Empire) for Services to Dance. What are 
your memories of her?
HOFESH SHECHTER: The Queen 
attended one of my rehearsals about 14 
years ago. She saw a little run of Uprising, 
one of my earlier works. Even though we 
were not given the time to speak, I could 
see that twinkle in her eye that everyone 
is talking about. She seemed to have had a 
great sense of humor.
JN: For the revival production of Fiddler 

on the Roof that opened on Broadway Dec. 
20, 2015, did director Bartlett Sher hire 
you directly to be the choreographer on his 
production team?
HS: Bart, indeed, was the one to invite 
me. He had seen my work, and then he told 
me about his vision for the piece, which 
I loved. We worked on Two Boys for the 
Metropolitan Opera a year before as a “test 
run” and enjoyed working together very 
much. 
As a little anecdote, I was required to 
have a meeting with the Jerome Robbins 
Foundation as they had to approve me as 
a choreographer. [Jerome Robbins was 
the original choreographer of Fiddler on 
the Roof in 1964]. The meeting was set in 
NYC the morning after my arrival from 

continued on page XX

TRADITION: 
A New Take 
On A Classic

Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter combines 
old with new In Fiddler On The Roof revival.

JULIE SMITH YOLLES CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ARTS&LIFE
THEATER

HUGO GLENDINNING

Hofesh 
Shechter

JOAN MARCUS

