Rosie O'Donnell to Move into Fiddler's Anatevka on September 20

Former talk show queen Rosie O'Donnell is returning to the Great White Way. The 12-time Emmy Award winner will play Golde opposite Harvey Fierstein's Tevye in the current Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof. O'Donnell will begin performances at the Minskoff Theatre on September 20.

When Broadway.com asked O'Donnell about stepping into the role of Golde, she replied using the Yiddish expression for something that is meant to be: "It's beshert!"

O'Donnell, best known as a comedic film actress A League of Their Own, Sleepless in Seattle, The Flintstones and for her six-year stint as the host of The Rosie O'Donnell Show, has appeared on Broadway in Grease and Seussical. Last year, she produced the Broadway musical Taboo, which ran for 116 performances and was honored with four 2004 Tony Award nominations. She penned the bestselling autobiography Find Me, which she is currently developing into a theatrical play. O'Donnell recently appeared opposite Danny Aiello in a reading of a new play called Folding the Monster. The play is aiming for a Broadway bow this season. In addition to her show business efforts, O'Donnell is involved in many other ventures, including R Family Vacations, a gay-friendly vacation travel company, and Rosie's Broadway Kids, a charitable organization that exposes New York City public school students to theater. She also established the For All Kids Foundation, which thus far has distributed 22 million dollars to various children's charities.

"As a 20-year friend of Rosie's, I couldn't be happier that we will finally share a stage together," Fierstein said in a statement. "With her understanding of Fiddler's important place in theatrical history, I am positive she will uphold that tradition excitingly."

Fiddler on the Roof--inspired by the stories of Sholom Aleichem--concerns Tevye, his wife Golde and their daughters, who are yearning for something new even as great changes they do not want are happening in the world outside their village of Anatevka. The show features music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and a book by Joseph Stein. The score includes such songs as "If I Were a Rich Man," "Matchmaker, Matchmaker," "Sunrise, Sunset" and "To Life." The show has announced that it will close on January 8, 2006.