The 7:30 PM evening was presented as a benefit for The National Yiddish Theatre 鈥� Folksbiene and reunites many alumni from various productions of Fiddler since its 1964 Broadway premiere. Original Fiddler producer Harold Prince, along with 2004 Broadway revival star and journalist Frank Rich serve as honorary co-chairs for the event.
Raising the Roof promised performances of the beloved Fiddler songs by their originators and notable successors. , who starred as Tevye in the 1967 London production, the 1971 film and a 1990 Broadway revival, is joined by , , Norman Jewison, Joshua Bell, Frank London, , , , , , Sammy Dallas Bayes, , Pia Zadora, , Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh, Neva Small, , Robert Aberdeen, Maurice Edwards, Tanya Everett-Bagot, Louis Genevrino, Sandra Kazan, Faye Menken-Schneier, , Carolyn Mignini, , Larry Ross, Carol Sawyer, Roberta Senn, Harriet Slaughter, -Marre, Leslie Alexander, Joanne Borts, , , T. Doyle Leverett, Michael J. Farina, Kerry Frances, Deborah Grausman, Rebecca Hoodwin, Lori Ada Jaroslow, Mark Sanders, Donalyn Petrucci-Shreve, and , plus a choir of 36 children.
Also on hand were Fiddler's Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning lyricist , along with Bel Kaufman, the 103-year-old granddaughter of famed Yiddish author and playwright Sholom Aleichem, who wrote Fiddler's source material, "Tevye and His Daughters," and Alisa Solomon, author of "Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof." The evening was co-directed by 1990 Fiddler revival cast member Gary John LaRosa and 2009-10 tour cast member . Fiddler on the Roof premiered on Broadway in 1964, earning ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score. authored the book to the musical that has a score by and Harnick.
