50 years ago: Fiddler on the Roof opened on Broadway

Fiddler on the Roof Jerry Bock (music), Sheldon Harnick (lyrics)

The Musical

Opened on Broadway: September 22, 1964 Number of Performances: 3242 Opened at London’s West End: February 16, 1967 Number of Performances: 2030 Movie Release: September 19, 1968

Cast Album

Charted: October 31, 1964 Peak: 7 US Sales (in millions): 2.0 US Genre: show tunes

Soundtrack

Charted: October 30, 1971 Peak: 30 US, 26 UK Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Genre: show tunes

Songs: Prologue: Tradition (aka “Prologue and Tradition and Main Title”) Matchmaker, Matchmaker If I Were a Rich Man Sabbath Prayer To Life Miracle of Miracles The Dream (aka “Tevye’s Dream”) Sunrise, Sunset Wedding Dance (aka “Wedding Celebration and the Bottle Dance”) Now I Have Everything * Do You Love Me The Rumor * Far from the Home I Love Chava Ballet Sequence ** Anatevka Finale ** * on cast album only ** on soundtrack only Singles/Hit Songs: These were covers of songs from this musical which became hits: “Sunrise, Sunset” – Roger Williams (#84, 1967)

Rating: 4.482 out of 5.00 (average of 12 ratings for cast album and soundtrack combined) Awards (Cast Album and Soundtrack): (Click on award to learn more).

About the Show: “Fiddler on the Roof is one of Broadway’s great classics. Based on the tales of Sholem Aleichem, the musical tells the humorous and heartbreaking story” DH of “Tevye, a Jewish milkman who lives in Russia with his family (including five daughters).” ER “He tries to maintain the simplicities of his traditional life even as his daughters grow up and Russia heads toward revolution.” DH “Anti-Semitic notions abound as Tevye and his family find themselves being forced from their village. Tevye’s daughters break from their village’s tradition as they marry for love, not for prosperity. Throughout all of this, a symbolic fiddler lingers over them.” ER “Fiddler on the Roof was the most successful musical up to its time, running for over 3,000 performances.” ER “The music is beautiful, and haunting at moments” ER while the musical “was also the origin of several famous and now-standard songs” ER like Sunrise, Sunset, If I Were a Rich Man, and Matchmaker, Matchmaker. “As Tevye, Zero Mostel leads – and at times dominates – the original 1964 Broadway cast, displaying irrepressible swagger and bluster.” DH “The original Broadway cast…also had Beatrice Arthur as Yente, the matchmaker.” ER “A young Julia Migenes plays his middle daughter, Hodel, while those who only know Bert Convy as a game-show host will be surprised by his pleasant voice as her suitor.” DH The movie version of Fiddler on the Roof “became the top-grossing film of 1971.” WR The soundtrack “stretched out Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick’s song score with musical adaptations by conductor John Williams. There was plenty of screen dialogue, too. But the appeal of the work continued to be the wonderful songs.” WR Topol, who starred in the 1967 London production, EV takes on the role of Tevye for the movie. He “wasn’t as funny as Zero Mostel…but gave it more gravity. Occasionally on the soundtrack, he sounded so tired, though, that he barely got his lines out. Happily, he nailed ‘If I Were a Rich Man,’ which is Tevye’s real showcase number.” WR The soundtrack also features Isaac Stern as the fiddler. EV “Still, the Fiddler album to buy is the original Broadway cast recording.” WR

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Jerry Bock DMDB encyclopedia entry for Sheldon Harnick ER Sarah Erlewine/ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide c DH David Horiuchi, Amazon.com c WR William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide s EV Elisabeth Vincentelli, Amazon.com s First posted 9/21/2011; last updated 12/24/2021.