Director Thomas Kail revealed the current status of his Fiddler on the Roof remake six years after it was first announced.
Over the years, Kail has directed movies, TV shows and stage musicals, including In the Heights and the pop culture phenomenon Hamilton, both of which were created by Lin-Manuel Miranda, with the latter having celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Broadway debut last year. Kail won Best Direction of a Musical at the Tonys for Hamilton.
In 2020, MGM announced that the award-winning director had signed on to create a new adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof, but there hasn’t been much development since then. During an interview with Variety, Kail expressed his “hope that it can find a home” and praised Steven Levenson’s “gorgeous script.”
It appears that the COVID-19 pandemic might have played a role in the slow movement to get this project off the ground.
Now that musical adaptations like Wicked have proven to be successful at the box office, “people are reminded there’s a huge appetite for musicals,” according to Kail, who added that “if someone wants to talk about making [Fiddler on the Roof], I certainly would be proud to engage in any conversation.”
“My hope is that it can find a home. Steven Levenson wrote a gorgeous script. It was right before the pandemic, and then the world changed. Musical storytelling seems to go in phases, but my hope is with this and Wicked, people are reminded there’s a huge appetite for musicals. If someone wants to talk about making it, I certainly would be proud to engage in any conversation.”
After Hamilton, Kail directed Freestyle Love Supreme, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Proof on Broadway; and Grease Live!, Fosse/Verdon, Up Here and We Were the Lucky Ones on TV.
His most recent directorial project is the live-action Moana, which reunites him with Miranda after working on Hamilton together. Moana is now in theaters and is expected to earn $130 million on opening weekend.
At the time that Kail signed on to the new Fiddler on the Roof as director and producer, Dan Jinks and Aaron Harnick were also on board as producers, with Levenson writing the script, as Kail mentioned.
It’s unclear if any of them are still attached to the project, or if MGM is the company that will bring it to life after all these years.
Fiddler on the Roof first debuted on Broadway in 1964 and the West End in 1967. There have been multiple revivals over the years, as well as tours in the United States and United Kingdom.
The original Broadway production won 10 Tonys, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (Zero Mostel), Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (Maria Karnilova) and Best Director.
In 1971, Norman Jewison directed a big-screen adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof, with a script by Joseph Stein, who also wrote the book for the original Broadway musical.
With a Certified Fresh score of 81% on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie was a hit and went on to win Best Cinematography, Best Music: Scoring Adaptation and Original Song Score, and Best Sound at the Oscars.
With songs like “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” and “If I Were a Rich Man,” Fiddler on the Roof is about a Jewish milkman named Tevye in early 1900s Russia who deals with obstacles and worries from all sides, including his daughters’ marriage plans that don’t align with his own and a possible eviction from his village.
It’s been 55 years since Fiddler on the Roof was first adapted for the big screen. The Hamilton director hopes to eventually put his own stamp on the iconic story, but his latest update suggests that a new version won’t be coming anytime soon.
