Opera San José brings Fiddler on the Roof to the California Theatre Nov. 15–29, 2026, with a full orchestra, as many as 60 voices and a live fiddler on stage. The theatre is at 345 1st St.
The company has cast Eugene Brancoveanu as Tevye in his role debut, with the rest of the cast and production details posted by Opera San José. The Mercury News reported on the production’s scale.
An Opera House, a Book Musical
The production brings a book musical into an opera company’s season without reducing its musical forces: a full orchestra accompanies the score, the ensembles may include as many as 60 voices, and the title’s fiddler appears live on stage.
Director Crystal Manich told The Mercury News that the full orchestration allows audiences to hear the arrangements in detail. The paper also reported that the staging includes about 25 consecutive minutes of dialogue. Joseph Stein’s book gives the production an extended spoken passage, rather than dialogue broken into short stretches between songs.
Manich previously directed Opera San José’s 2022 production of West Side Story. For Fiddler, conductor George Manahan returns to the podium, the company says. The production is presented through a special arrangement with Music Theatre International, which supplies the authorized performance materials; the company is not presenting a house rewrite.
Tevye, Asked for Early
Brancoveanu's Tevye is a first in the role. Nicole Koh plays Tzeitel and Melissa Sondhi plays Hodel, two of the daughters whose choices press on the customs he is trying to keep.
According to The Mercury News, Shawna Lucey, Opera San José’s chief executive officer and general director, offered Brancoveanu the role about a year and a half before the paper published its story.
Brancoveanu’s earlier credits include playing Marcello in the 2003 Broadway production of La Bohème, which won a Tony Award. The award went to the production, not to Brancoveanu personally.
The Dairyman and the Score
Opera San José describes the setting as a vibrant Jewish shtetl on the eve of upheaval. Tevye, a dairyman, confronts his daughters’ hopes for love while trying to hold on to the customs of his world. The Mercury News places the story in pre-Bolshevik Russia.
The musical draws on Sholem Aleichem’s Tevye the Dairyman. Jerry Bock composed the music, Sheldon Harnick wrote the lyrics and Joseph Stein wrote the book. In San José, the company’s stated musical forces are a full orchestra, a large vocal ensemble and a live onstage fiddler.
Those forces shape what audiences will hear in the theatre: a full orchestra under the score, with up to 60 voices in the ensembles and a fiddler visible on stage.
Tickets, Doors, and the Clock
Tickets range from $50.50 to $276.50, The Mercury News reported. Opera San José says doors open 90 minutes before each performance, giving patrons time in the lobby before the show.
Theatre and Group Tickets
The California Theatre first opened in 1927 as a motion picture-era house, according to Symphony San Jose. For group bookings, Opera San José says groups of 10 or more can receive a 10% discount by contacting the box office.
On length, the published figures do not match. The company lists the show at approximately three hours and 30 minutes, including one 20-minute intermission. The Mercury News reported three hours with an intermission. Anyone booking a sitter or a late train should use the house's number.
The dates line up across the company's materials and its publicist. Carla Befera & Company lists Nov. 15–29, 2026, at the California Theatre, the same window The Mercury News gives for 345 1st St. The first performance is Sunday, Nov. 15, with the run continuing through Nov. 29.
