Fiddler On The Roof Opens July 13, 2012

Woodminster Summer Musicals
Oakland's Summer Theater Under the Stars
Summer 2012 – 46th consecutive season of musical theater in Oakland's beautiful Joaquin Miller Park

Press contact: Kathy Kahn, woodminsterpr@yahoo.com, 510-418-8523
Theater contact: Harriet Schlader, harriet@woodminster.com, 510-531-9597

PRESS RELEASE (For immediate release)

Woodminster Summer Musicals Presents Fiddler on the Roof July 13-22
Perennial Broadway Favorite Will Open Woodminster's 46th Season in Oakland

June 25, 2012, Oakland, CA -- Producers Associates, Inc. will open the 46th season of the Woodminster Summer Musicals with the ever-popular Fiddler on the Roof, playing July 13-22 at Woodminster Amphitheater in Oakland’s Joaquin Miller Park.

Fiddler on the Roof will be performed at 8 p.m. on July 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22. Tickets are $27-$56, with discounts for children and seniors, half-price tickets for groups of 25, and season tickets that offer a savings of about 15%. The organization also continues its Preview Night, instituted in 2010, which opens the last dress rehearsal to the public for a flat $12 at the door. The Preview for Fiddler on the Roof will be Thursday, July 12, at 8 p.m.

Tickets may be purchased online at https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/34148, or through the theater box office at 510-531-9597, or in person in advance or at the door. Complete information about all ticketing options is available at http://www.woodminster.com/Webpages/Ticketbuying/ticketsgen.html.

Woodminster continues its Kids Come Free program, which provides free tickets each season to children and teens 16 or younger. These free tickets are available the night of the performance (not in advance) and some restrictions apply, but over the last 15 years, Kids Come Free has become an institution at Woodminster, and the board was unwilling to discontinue it when the organization lost its major funder for this program this year. The program will continue, and the organization is seeking funding to help keep it alive after this season.

Fiddler on the Roof, based on Sholem Aleichem's short stories about a poor milkman named Tevye and his daughters, is set in a poor Jewish village in Czarist Russia in the early years of the twentieth century. The themes -- tradition, family, love and marriage, regret and optimism -- are presented by honest, funny characters and memorable songs like "Sunrise, Sunset," "If I Were A Rich Man," and "Matchmaker."

The original 1964 Broadway production, with a cast including Zero Mostel and Beatrice Arthur, won 9 Tony awards, ran for 8 years, and was the first Broadway musical to surpass 3000 performances. It has had a very successful 1971 film adaptation starring Topol, four Broadway revivals, and continues to enjoy great international popularity.

Says Harriet Schlader, Managing Director of Producers Associates, "We've been wanting to do Fiddler again for a few years, and we're really happy to be opening our season with it this year. We pay attention to what our audiences ask for, and Fiddler gets a lot of requests. Beyond that, it's a beautiful musical that has something to say, it makes you laugh and cry, and it's a pleasure for us to produce such a fine piece."

The Woodminster production of Fiddler is directed by Joel Schlader. Choreography is by Jody Jaron, with music direction by Richard Vetterli and vocal direction by Trente Morant. The leading role of Tevye is played by Bruce Winant, supported by a cast of about 40 professional and community actors.

Woodminster Summer Musicals are performed under the stars at Woodminster Amphitheater, an open-air performance facility in Joaquin Miller Park high in the Oakland Hills. The park's spectacular views and serene woodsy environment made it the perfect setting for the amphitheater, cascades, reflecting pool, and paths that were originally built as a WPA project in 1939-40. For many East Bay families, it is a long-standing summer tradition to enjoy a picnic in the park and then see a musical at Woodminster.

Producers Associates, Inc. was founded in 1967 by the late James Schlader (who in May 2010 at age 96) and his wife, Harriet, to provide affordable live summer family entertainment in the East Bay, and to foster a love of live theatre. For more than four decades, the organization, in partnership with the Oakland Park and Rec Department, has been producing summer musicals at Woodminster Amphitheater. Healthy season tickets sales, attendance by groups, and special opportunities for families have made Woodminster shows the best attended performances in Oakland. For more information about the 2012 season or history of the organization, visit http://www.woodminster.com.

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