‘Fiddler’ Without Borders
In this week’s Forward, Ben Frumin reported from New Delhi on a new production of the classic musical “Fiddler on the Roof” — in Hindi.
Most of the cast members had never met a Jew before. Some turned to the Internet to learn about Jewish history, the importance of the Sabbath, kosher meat and the meaning of “L’chaim.” And translating the lyrics was a real challenge, because of differences between Hindi and English.
Still, a “Fiddler” production in an exotic tongue isn’t as novel as one might think. As “Fiddler” expert Alisa Solomon told Frumin, the play has been produced in dozens of languages all over the world.
We found video footage from a number of foreign-language productions of the famed musical. Here are a few of them:
India
This one, of course, is the Hindi version of “Tradition.” For more classic “Fiddler” songs in Hindi from the New Delhi production, click here.
Japan
Netherlands
Germany
France
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