Fiddler on the Roof

The Details

• Opened in 1964• Music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick,

book by Joseph Stein• Tsarist Russia, 1905• Theme: Tradition vs. outside influences• Based off the book Tevye and His Daughters by

Sholem Aleichem published in 1894 (in Yiddish)• “The Fiddler”Marc Chagall – Symbol of survival and tradition

“The Fiddler”

The Characters• Tevye-Poor milkman, father to 5 daughters• Golde-His strong wife• Tzeitel-Oldest daughter (19), in love with Motel• Hodel-2nd oldest daughter (17)• Chava-3rd oldest daughter (15)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------• Motel-Poor tailor, in love with Tzeitel• Perchik-young revolutionary, in love with Hodel• Fyedka-young man in love with Chava• Lazar Wolf-older man to whom Tzeitel is arranged to be married,

butcher• Yente-village gossiper and matchmaker

The Story

• Tevye explains how important tradition and customs are in their Jewish village (Tradition). He serves as our narrator.

• Yente arrives to tell Tevye she has a match for Tzeitel, Lazar.

• Tzeitel is not pleased (she is in love with poor Motel) and the daughters commiserate .(Matchmaker)

• Tevye wishes he were rich. (If I Were a Rich Man)

The Story

• He meets Perchik, a radical whom most men dismiss, but Tevye invites him to stay with the family and tutor the youngest daughters.

• Motel tells Tzeitel he wants to save money for a sewing machine to prove he can support her.

• Tevye and Lazar meets, and he reluctantly agrees to Tzeitel’s marriage. (To Life)

• Constable warns Tevye there is to be a demonstration (riot against the Jews) in the coming weeks.

The Story

• Perchik tutors the daughters and Hodel mocks him for his Marxist interpretation of a story

• Perchik says the world is changing and dances with her. They fall in love.

• Golde is excited about the upcoming marriage of Tzeitel and Lazar, but Tzeitel and Motel are upset.

• Motel professes his love of Tzeitel to Tevye, and Tevye reluctantly agrees

The Story

• At the wedding (Sunrise, Sunset), Lazar brings a gift, but a fight breaks out.

• Perchik defies tradition and dances with Hodel.• Russians interrupt the wedding and hold their

demonstration, ruining the wedding, the gifts, and wound Perchik.

• Perchik decides to go back to Kiev for the Revolution and proposes to Hodel.

The Story

• Tevye is appalled that they are going against tradition.

• They ask for a blessing, not permission.• Tevye grants both.• Tevye asks Golde is she loves him. It’s a “new

fashion!”

The Story

• Yente tells Tevye he saw Chava with Fyedka, a Christian

• Word spreads that Perchik was arrested and sent to Siberia

• Hodel says that she will join him because he is where her heart is. (Far from the Home I Love)

• Weeks pass and Tzeitel and Motel have a baby and a sewing machine!

The Story

• Chava works up the courage to ask Tevye for permission to marry Fyedka.

• Tevye forbids her to ever speak to Fyedka again.• The two elope and Tevye considers them dead to

him. The splits the families loyalties.• The Russians come and declare they must leave

the village in three days. (Anatevka)• Before everyone is scattered, will Tevye reconcile

with his daughter and family?

The Results

• First musical to hit the 3,000 performance mark• 14th longest running musical in history• 10 Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Score• The production earned $1,574 for every dollar

invested in it• Successful 1971 movie which is pretty accurate.• Highly referenced in media today (most recently in

the Big Bang Theory episode “The Grasshopper Effect”)

The Results

• Accurately depicted life in a shtetl• Dwelt on issues of assimilation into unfamiliar

cultures “Bending to far I will break!”

• Side note: If you read Sholem Alecheim’s stories on Tevye, you’ll learn the fate of all 7 daughters and where he ends up emigrating to (It’s not the same as the musical)

Songs

• Tradition• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRdfX7ut8gw • Matchmaker• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59Hj7bp38f8 • If I Were a Rich Man• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBHZFYpQ6nc • To Life• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvr8AjT0aD0 • Far From the Home I Love• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqEO5iA_NiM