CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- High school musicals are back, and one of the first premieres in the area is Charlottesville High School’s “Fiddler on the Roof.”

This classic musical many people know and love has seen a lot of interpretations since 1964, but CHS is hoping to portray a more modern message to which people can relate.

“But one of the things that never goes away with 'Fiddler on the Roof' is its universal story about the way that we treat our communities, and the way that we value our survival and see how the story of this community had oppression that they experienced in ways that we can relate oppression to lots of other cultures that they’ve experienced. Not just cultures, but also, the LGBTQ community, all of those communities where they’ve experienced such a thing,” said David Becker, the director of "Fiddler on the Roof" at CHS.

But a production like this takes a lot of work to put on and every student participating plays a vital role and credits the success of the show to teamwork.

With more than 100 students participating, this production was an all-hands-on-deck event from the beginning.

“It’s very much like a community, where people come and work on stuff together,” added Tzvia Feldman, the stage manager for "Fiddler on the Roof."

And that means staying late hours to make sure everything is in the best shape for the performances.

“We need to make sure that what happens up there looks great and that means putting in as much work as we need to to make sure that happens. So, we’re here Saturdays, we’re here after school, we’re here after the actors leave, sometimes we’re the last people in the building,” added Akari Hernandez, the assistant stage manager for the production.

But those late hours and long rehearsals do not bother these high school students, because this production is their first musical back at full capacity since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There was a little bit of a learning curve here, and then it takes a little bit of extra time to encourage, a little bit more time than it previously took to get to this point, and in some ways, that's really wonderful because it demonstrates the value of education,” added Becker.

CHS is happy to be back in full force and ready to give its take on this musical, which has a lot of stand-out moments the audience will love.

“They can look forward to a dynamic performance by a wonderful group of ensemble members. They can look forward to some numbers that they have heard from the movie from 1971,” added Becker.

"Fiddler on the Roof" opens this Thursday night and ticket information will be available here.