Interview: Chatting With Adam Heller, Star of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF At The Muny

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF premiered on Broadway on September 22, 1964. For the past 60-years it has been part of the fabric of the American musical theater. This Friday evening, when FIDDLER ON THE ROOF opens at The Muny, the fiddler will be perched high upon a rooftop in Forest Park and play those familiar iconic notes. Adam Heller, as Tevye, and the rest of the cast will take the stage and sing about the importance of tradition in their village of Anatevka.  

 It’s becoming tradition for Heller to return to St. Louis in the summer and perform at The Muny. He shared The Muny stage with his wife Beth Leavel in GYPSY in 2018. He wanted to return, so he worked to earn the role of Benjamin Franklin in the 2019 Muny production of 1776. In March of 2022 he won a St. Louis Theater Circle Award for his work as Amos Hart in the covid-shortened run of CHICAGO and returned that same summer to reprise his role as Amos.  

Heller’s co-star in The Muny Production of CHICAGO was the reigning Lead Actor Tony winner J. Harrison Ghee. The two of them starred in the recent Broadway production of SOME LIKE IT HOT. He said, “When we left St. Louis following CHICAGO, we went back to New York and immediately into rehearsals for that show.” He was acquainted with Ghee prior to coming to work with them at The Muny. Heller calls Ghee an incredible talent with a kind and generous soul. 

 When ask about coming back to play Tevye, Heller said, “I am so lucky to get the chance to work with this extraordinary Muny team again.” He calls the experience of working at The Muny dreamy. Heller gives credit to all the artists at The Muny and is grateful for their detail-oriented work. He says, “everything here is so well managed, and every second is precious when you are staging show with just 12-days of rehearsal time.”  

Heller says when he’s working at The Muny there is little downtime to get out in the city. “There are no days off,” he sighed, “It comes at you fast and furious.” The he recanted and laughed, “Well, who can do without Ted Drewes? Ice cream is important to me!” He calls himself a villager of Forest Park and thinks the museums in the park are extravagant. “I also must make a pilgrimage to the part of the Central West End that inspired Tennessee William’s “The Glass Menagerie,” he said, “That place vibrates!”  

Heller has worked frequently with Rob Ruggerio the director for this production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Ruggerio directed GYPSY and 1776 here at The Muny. He also directed a small chamber production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at Goodspeed Opera House about 10 years ago. Heller played Tevye in that production. He said, “some of us who did the Goodspeed version have reassembled 10-years later for this Muny production and we are having the time of our lives.” Heller is talking about actors David Perlman and Barrie Kreinik, Choreographer Parker Esse, Costume Designer Alejo Vietti, and Lighting Designer John Lasiter who all worked on the 50th anniversary production at Goodspeed Opera House.  

“This show just speaks to me,” Heller says of Fiddler, “it resonates because it's my family’s story.” He said he appreciates how Tevye uses humor as a survival and coping mechanism, and talked about how every song is the show is so well known.  

“FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is an extraordinary show that has universal appeal,” he opined. Everyone understands the tensions that arise between parents and their children.   He knows that ultimately parents must make peace with their children’s decisions even if their choices fly in the face of tradition. He says, “Traditions help us hold things together and this show undermines and challenges Tevye’s traditions in every scene.” 

He recalled a story about the premiere of Fiddler in Japan. Someone working in the theater approached book writer Jospeh Stein and asked how this show made it in New York because the themes are ‘so Japanese.’ That is the evidence of the universal appeal that Heller talked about earlier. “There is a reason that this show has lasted 60-years and is constantly revisited, because it speaks to all of us,” Heller remarked. “It’s the perfect musical,” he said.  

Adam Heller’s vision of the perfect musical, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, opens at The Muny on Friday, July 19th. Click the link below to purchase tickets.  

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