THE Grand Opera House Stage Experience musical in York this summer will be Fiddler On The Roof.

Directed by Louise Denison, in her fifth year in charge, the project will run from July 20 to August 4, culminating in 7.30pm performances on August 2 and 3 and a 2.30pm matinee and 7.30pm show on the last day.

The Stage Experience is targeted at performers aged ten to 21 who have the opportunity to rehearse and perform a musical within a professional run company, led by West Yorkshire director and choreographer Louise and musical director Adam Laird.

Auditions have been held already. The leading role of poor dairyman Tevye will go to James Potter, 21, from Thirsk, while Tevye’s daughters will be played by the Tait sisters, Rosalind, 13, and Rowan, 12, from Stockton-on-the-Forest, as Chava and Bielke respectively; Robyn McIntyre, 16, from Knaresborough, as Hodel; Grace Holroyd, 16, from Beeston, Leeds, as Tzeitel; and Kirstin Thornton, 11 later this month, from York, as Shprintze. Camille Hainsworth Staples, 15, from Brough, has been cast as Tevye’s wife, Golde.

All principal roles have been allocated but the director requires more dancing boys to complete the cast. Anyone interested should send an email to yorkmarketing@ theambasadors.com for more details.

Everyone will be in place by July 20 to start rehearsing Joseph Stein, Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock’s 1964 Broadway musical, which revolves around the family of Tevye, who lives in the poor Jewish village of Anatevka in 1905, just before the Russian Revolution.

The Jewish community was being subjected to persecution by the Russians, with many villages being periodically cleared during “demonstrations” sponsored by the ruling Tsars. It was a way of life that was “as precarious a position as that of a fiddler on a roof”. The storyline develops around the relationships of Tevye and his daughters, who are often at odds with their father and the Jewish establishment. Assorted musical numbers and dance routines vividly illustrate the girl’s dreams and aspirations and those of their suitors.

Among the well-known songs are Matchmaker, Matchmaker, If I Were A Rich Man, Tevye’s Dream, Sunrise, Sunset and Far From The Home I Love. Tickets can be booked on 0844 871 3024 or atgtickets.com/york