FIDDLER Stars, Director Set for CUNY TV's ARTS IN THE CITY This Weekend

With its timeless theme of "tradition," Fiddler on the Roof is a musical that speaks anew to every generation -- now the beloved show, which premiered on Broadway in 1964, is back in an acclaimed new production at the Broadway Theatre starring Danny Burstein and Jessica Hecht, directed by Bartlett Sher.

CUNY TV's arts magazine ARTS IN THE CITY presents Fiddler: Back on Broadway, a comprehensive and lively overview of the show's history and its wonderful new incarnation, beginning Friday, January 8 (2016) at 10am, 3pm and 8:30pm on CUNY TV*. (The program can also be viewed online, beginning on that date, at www.cuny.tv/show/artsinthecity and on Facebook at facebook.com/aitccunytv.) It will be repeated on CUNY TV Sunday 1/10 at 12 noon; Friday 1/22 at 10am, 3pm, and 8:30pm; and Sunday 1/24 at 12 noon.

Correspondent Pat Collins' interviews -- with Burstein and Hecht at Sardi's, Sheldon Harnick and Bartlett Sher at Harnick's apartment, and original producer Hal Prince in his production offices -- cover the gestation of the musical under the original direction of Jerome Robbins; its negative notices on the road before opening in triumph on Broadway; and how its timeless quality perseveres on professional and amateur stages alike.

Collins traces the history of the show in New York and reveals many of the stars of stage, screen and recordings -- like Bette Midler, Bea Arthur, Paul Michael Glaser, and Josh Groban -- who appeared in the original Broadway production, the film, or in school productions. She talks with Sher about the challenges of re-mounting a classic. Burstein and Hecht speak movingly of their characters, Tevye and his long-suffering wife Golde. And Pat shares that neither Burstein nor Hecht has ever seen a Broadway production of "Fiddler"!

Senior Editor & Graphic Designer: Sylvester P. Lukasiewicz. Producer: Alex J. Diamond. Executive Producer: Robert Isaacson. Executives in Charge of Production: Susan Iger and Gail R. Yancosek.

*CUNY TV is broadcast in the New York metropolitan area on digital Ch. 25.3, and is cablecast in THE FIVE boroughs of New York City on Ch. 75 (Time Warner and Cablevision Brooklyn), Ch. 77 (RCN) and Ch. 30 (Verizon FiOS).

Pictured: Danny Burstein, Broadway Playbill, lyricist Sheldon Harnick and director Bartlett Sher, and Jessica Hecht. (All images courtesy Arts in the City/CUNY TV).