Rehearsing ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ is like trying to herd cats onto a grid and make them walk it perfectly.

I’m really enjoying the experience. I’ve made a playlist of all the numbers I’m in, and as I drive or do laundry I’m mentally practicing the choreography. What do we do again after the sunburst? Am I supposed to cut in front of or behind Travis when we zip our two separate lines into a single ring around the ghostly, curse-shrieking, ladder-mounted Fruma Sara?

Rehearsing ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ is like trying to herd cats onto a grid and make them walk it perfectly. What I mean is, this show, when you attain the rights to perform it, comes with an agreement that you recreate Jerome Robbins original choreography. It is one of the only, if not the only, now that I think about it, productions that requires this. It comes with this manual, that could have been produced by engineers from the 50’s, that shows you where everyone goes. —Tony Talks: A Director’s Blog (Entry #1).