Fiddler on the Roof is one of the great stage and film musicals. It opened on Broadway in 1964 with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and libretto by Joseph Stein . Zero Mostel played the protagonist, Tevye the milkman, Maria Karnilova his wife Golde, Beatrice Arthur as Yente the Matchmaker, and Bert Convy as Perchik the student revolutionary.
Tevye was played by Chaim Topol in later productions; he also starred in the successful 1971 film adaptation by Norman Jewison.
The Broadway production won nine Tony Awards:
- Best Musical
- Composer and lyricist: Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick
- Leading actor: Zero Mostel
- Featured actress: Maria Karnilova
- Author: Joseph Stein
- Producer: Harold Prince
- Director: Jerome Robbins
- Choreographer: Jerome Robbins
- Costume designer: Patricia Zipprodt
The film won three Academy Awards, including one for arranger-conductor John Williams.
The musical was revived on Broadway for the fourth time in 2004, with Alfred Molina as Tevye.
The story is based on Tevye and his Daughters, or Tevye the Milkman by Sholom Aleichem, and is set in the Jewish shtetl of Anatevka in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It centers on Tevye's attempts to maintain family and religious traditions while adapting to new pressures. These manifest themselves chiefly in the strong-willed actions of Tevye's eldest three daughters, who each select her own husband (directly or indirectly), contrary to tradition. Eventually, a pogrom takes place and all the Jewish families are forced to leave Anatevka to find new homes in other countries.
The best-known songs from the tuneful but unconventional score are If I Were A Rich Man, Sunrise, Sunset and Matchmaker, Matchmaker Make Me A Match .
In early 2004, Gwen Stefani released a hit song partially based on If I Were A Rich Man, called Rich Girl.
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