Theater News

Sunrise, Sunset: Sister of Jerome Robbins Dies as Fiddler on the Roof Revival Opens at the Minskoff

New York City

February 27, 2004

Last night, just before the opening performance of the new Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof at the Minskoff Theatre, Sonia Cullinen — the sister of Jerome Robbins, who choreographed and directed the original production of Fiddler in 1964 — suffered a heart attack at the theater.

Paramedics arrived and took Cullinen from the Minskoff to Bellevue Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. She was 91.

A statement released by the producers of Fiddler on the Roof reads as follows: “On behalf of the entire company of Fiddler on the Roof, we offer our deepest sympathy and condolences to Ms. Cullinen’s family.”