An Untraditional Austin Opera Opening

You’ve got to appreciate a work that explains the central metaphor right off the bat. Fiddler on the Roof starts with protagonist Tevye (Steven Skybell) describing how we are all such fiddlers, “trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking [our] neck.” Tevye attributes any success to the endurance of tradition. Of course, the next few hours are dedicated to challenging, and even eliminating, those selfsame traditions. 

This particular production of Fiddler, the 2026 kickoff of Austin Opera’s 40th anniversary season, mirrors such tradition-flouting. 

On the one hand, I love Fiddler. I respect Fiddler. And yet Fiddler is not an opera. The tale of milkman Tevye, working to preserve his village’s traditional Jewish lifestyle in the face of encroaching modernity, has always been a musical. And not a particularly operatic one at that. 

But on the other hand, this is only the second time in their illustrious history that Austin Opera has presented a musical as part of the season. Besides, it’s a crowd-pleaser. My Thursday night viewing, which actually began with Mayor Kirk Watson declaring February 5, 2026, “Austin Opera Day,” was packed to the gills. The audience ate up every scene with incredible gusto. If Fiddler gets people to the opera, how wonderful! What a coup. Untraditional, but lucrative.

However, merit must be given to the power of traditional formats. The production shone most in moments that clung to operatic rhythms. The gentle rise and fall of “Sabbath Prayer” highlighted the cast’s rich vocals while showcasing a sacred weekly ritual. I got actual goosebumps when Mitch Jones’ Fyedka broke through Tevye’s revelry in “To Life,” holding a gloriously sustained note before descending into a Russian refrain. And my heart yearned with Rachel Blaustein’s Hodel as she journeyed “Far From the Home I Love,” sung in a plaintive mezzo-soprano tone that could fit comfortably alongside any classical aria. Austin Opera Orchestra’s concertmaster Patrice Calixte nearly stole the show as the eponymous Fiddler, encapsulating the space with his violin, providing instrumental refrains that reminded the audience just how majestic a true concert hall can sound. 

It’s a vastness that other areas of the production struggled to match. While the voices were powerhouses – Tony nominee Skybell soared as Tevye, matched well by Mela Sarajane Dailey’s Golde and the couple’s daughters – the onstage movement didn’t rise quite as high. It was a good reminder why many operas bring in ringers from ballet corps to cover choreography. Even with Thomas C. Hase’s clever lighting design working to fill blank backgrounds (most charmingly in the aforementioned “To Life,” where a chaotic bar scene would have been anemic without his brilliant use of looming shadows to create crowds), the motion lagged a bit. Conductor Timothy Myers gave the live orchestra strong, deliberate direction that was purposeful, but not necessarily playful. “Tevye’s Dream” was comedically carried by Grandma Tzeitel (Hillary Schranze) and Fruma-Sarah (Rebecca Harris Tulbah), even as it could have benefited from a slight tempo increase. 

Austin Opera returns to pure tradition this April with La Bohème, which will undoubtedly give the company more opportunity to display their golden tones. But as far as untraditional outings go, Fiddler was a fine addition to the lineup. The tune it scratched out was indeed pleasant, with lovely music and timely musings on when to bend traditional thinking and when it must be utterly abandoned. It gave hope that perhaps, like the Fiddler, Austin Opera can walk that line between presenting old and new formats. 

This article appears in February 13 • 2026.