His last Broadway role was as Edna Turnblad, the (huuuge) mother in Hairspray. And now, in what is either a genius move or the product of too many long nights huffing really bad drugs and then chasing it all down with gallons of Manischewitz plonk, the next Tevye will be swishy actor Harvey Fierstein. Fierstein will be replacing Alfred Molina today in the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof – should be interesting, especially considering how sensitive Fierstein seems to be:
I used to go home from “Torch Song Trilogy” and just cry for an hour. Now, I can’t even make it through the scene at the train station [in which Tevye bids farewell to his second daughter] – with the stage manager – without breaking down. With my feet tied up in my shoes, pinching myself, and still I look up at God and say, “Take care of her,” and I’m done. I have to get out of that rehearsal room so fast, because the audience should cry, not you. I can’t be too aware of it. My kishkes are on the floor. That’s the other thing. This show has made me so Jewish.
Ought to be interesting. So now when your Auntie Mina from New Jersey comes to visit with her girlfriends, you’ll have something, uh… fun to do. Yeah.
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