Dazzling dances and likable lead send ‘Fiddler’ through the roof

There is a good chance you’ve already seen a production of “Fiddler on the Roof ” — be it one of the five Broadway revivals, countless national tours, community center efforts, high school stagings.

Or maybe you’ve watched the 1971 movie version so many times you know every beat of star Topol’s manic delivery.

So what about this national tour, taken from a 2015 Broadway revival to celebrate the show’s 50th anniversary, now at Fort Lauderdale’s Broward Center for the Performing Arts for a two-week run?

“Fiddler on the Roof ” is set in a small Jewish settlement where Reb Tevye (Yehezkel Lazarov) clings to his religious and cultural traditions in the face of the rapidly changing world of Imperial Russia circa 1905. Three of his five daughters want to marry for love rather than have a matchmaker arrange a marriage. Additionally, the Jews face increasing hostility from their Orthodox Christian neighbors.

So, go? Or no?

Well, if you love the score then you must go. Songs such as “Tradition,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” “Miracle of Miracles,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “Far From the Home I Love,” “Do You Love Me?” and “To Life (L’Chaim!)” are like jewels nestled in a velvet box — beautifully sung and lovingly presented in sepia tones and artful shadows

And if you want to see a mighty fine Teyve, a role cherished by actors, then you have to catch Lazarov’s turn. The Israeli film and TV star is known by international audiences for his leading man roles in movies such as “Waltz with Bashir,” “The Dybbuk of the Holy Apple Field” and “Lashabiya.” Onstage Lazarov has headed up productions of “A Chorus Line” and “The Picture of Dorian Gray” in Tel Aviv. On television he has appeared in “Mata Hari” in Europe and “Combat Medics” in Israel. Here he plays Teyve a little younger than we may be accustomed to seeing, but his charisma is set on 10. The humor embedded in the heartbreak of the story feels a little more amped up with this staging, and Lazarov is in his element with masterful comedic timing.

This production was helmed by theater and opera director Bartlett Sher (“The Light in the Piazza,” “The Bridges of Madison County,” “South Pacific,” “Oslo,” “The King and I”).

London-based, Israeli-born choreographer Hofesh Shecter re-staged Jerome Robbins’ original choreography.

And it is Shecter’s work that will wipe away any memories you have of previous “Fiddlers.”

Here the dance is a melange of movement — folk, modern — steeped in faith with a tableaux from a ritual suddenly appearing, hanging in the air for a split second only to be whisked away from view in a crouched spin and whirl of motion. It is thrilling to watch. You won’t want the glorious production numbers to ever end, even though the show’s running length is two hours and 15 minutes with a 15-minute intermission.