This is the Forward’s coverage of Fiddler on the Roof, the seminal 1964 Broadway musical about a Russian man who attempts to maintain his Jewish way of life circa 1905. It is based on Yiddish stories by Sholem Aleichem,…
Fiddler on the Roof
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The Schmooze Robin Williams’ Most Jewish Moments
Robin Williams wasn’t Jewish. But he was close. Though raised Episcopalian in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (his mother was a Christian Scientist), the comedian had an affinity for Jews which shaped and even defined many of the roles he took on. He used Yiddish, danced a mean hora and did a killer Barbra Streisand impression. With…
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The Schmooze Topol Wows at Folksbiene ‘Fiddler’ 50th
Lots of Motls, Goldas and Tzeitels, but only one world-famous Tevye — Topol— were on stage at Town Hall for the National Yiddish Theatre-Folksbiene’s June 9 extravaganza “Raising the Roof: A tribute to “Fiddler on the Roof.” The show seamlessly showcased multi-generational alumni of “Fiddler”— including Pia Zadora – reaching back to the 1967 Broadway…
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The Schmooze ‘Fiddler’ Lyricist Sheldon Harnick Turns 90
“The sad thing is that Joe Stein and Jerry Bock can’t be part of this celebration,” mused lyricist Sheldon Harnick at his 90th birthday bash hosted on June 2 by Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, a principal of Bernstein Global Management at its New York City headquarters. It was Stein who wrote the book, and Bock who wrote…
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Culture ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ Turns 50 With an All-Star Celebration
Zalmen Mlotek, artistic director of the National Yiddish Theatre (aka Folksbiene) doesn’t seem too surprised — indeed, he sounds matter-of-fact — that the iconic theater is marking its 100th birthday and still going strong. But, he acknowledges its founders, who opened the theater’s doors on the Lower East Side for Yiddish speaking Eastern European immigrants, would…
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The Schmooze 6 Things About ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ on 50th Anniversary
On Monday, the Folksbiene theater will celebrate the 50th anniversary “Fiddler on the Roof.” In honor of this auspicious birthday, we bring you a trove of obscure fun facts about the Jewish classic. If nothing else, you can bust it out at Shabbat dinner to one-up the family. What else is useless knowledge for? 1.Richard…
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The Schmooze Theodore Bikel, Tevye Extraordinaire Celebrated at Symphony Space
The stars illuminating Symphony Space’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater at the December 2 “Miracle of Miracles” Hanukkah Gala were “Sunshine Boys” (almost 90) Theodore Bikel, (91 year young) Fyvush Finkel and (102 year sharp-as-a-tac stunner) Bel Kaufman. Honoree Bikel — who has portrayed Tevye more than 2500 times worldwide — witnessed the arrival of Hitler…
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The Schmooze Why ‘Funny Girl’ Is as Important as ‘Fiddler’
The publication of Alisa Solomon’s “Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof” has seemed to reassert the prominence of “Fiddler” as the Jewish musical to end all Jewish musicals. “Fiddler,” Eileen Reynolds wrote in her review of Solomon’s book, “has achieved something like folklore status in the American imagination, and grapples,…
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Culture Will the Real Sholem Aleichem Please Stand Up?
The Worlds of Sholem Aleichem: The Remarkable Life and Afterlife of the Man Who Created Tevye By Jeremy Dauber Schocken, 464 pages, $28.95 Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ By Alisa Solomon Metropolitan Books, 448 pages, $32.00 Like most Jews of my generation, I saw “Fiddler on the Roof” before…
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