“Fiddler on the Roof” will open this week at Missouri Western State University.

Western Playhouse, the summer theatre company at Western will present “Fiddler on the Roof” June 17-25 in the Potter Hall Theater. Show times are at 7:30 p.m. June 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25 and 2 p.m. Sunday, June 19. Tickets may be purchased in advance in person at the Western Institute, Spratt Hall room 105; by phone at 816-271-4452; or online at www.westernplayhouse.com.

Opening Night will include a Shabbat Dinner in the tradition of Tevye, his family and the people of Anatevka. The dinner will be at 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 17 in the Enright Community Rooms, Spratt 214-216. Tickets for the dinner only are $17.50 per person, or $30 per person with a ticket to the show (a $10 savings). Dinner reservations must be made by June 14 by calling 816-271-4100

Set in the little village of Anatevka, “Fiddler on the Roof” centers on Tevye, a poor dairyman, and his five daughters. With the help of a colorful and tight-knit Jewish community, Tevye tries to protect his daughters and instill them with traditional values in the face of changing social mores and the growing anti-Semitism of Czarist Russia. Rich in historical and ethnic detail, the show’s universal theme of tradition cuts across barriers of race, class, nationality and religion, leaving audiences crying tears of laughter, joy and sadness.

This year’s show is dedicated to Dr. Joe Friedman, a 1939 graduate of Missouri Western (when it was St. Joseph Junior College). Dr. Friedman was a St. Joseph native who left his practice as a podiatrist in 1962 for a remarkable career in theater and television, including 2,840 shows of “Fiddler on the Roof” with Hal Prince Productions. Dr. Friedman died earlier this year at the age of 95.

The cast includes members from St. Joseph, Kansas City, and across the nation.