Stage Sounds: Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler has been a part of my life as far back as I can remember thanks to the Jewish heritage on my mother's side of the family. It's a story about family, love, and values that transcends the ages all wrapped up in a really incredible soundtrack. I've gotten to see it on stage twice in my lifetime and have watched the movie more times than I can count, and my love for it grows with each viewing.

Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with a book by Joseph Stein, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Inspired by Sholem Aleichem's 1894 series of short stories titled Tevye and His Daughters, the show opened on Broadway in 1964 at The Imperial Theatre, though it transferred to The Majestic Theatre in 1967 and once again in 1970 to The Broadway Theatre (at 1681 Broadway), where it stayed for an astronomical and record-breaking 3,242 performances. The original Broadway run was nominated for ten Tony Awards in 1965 and won nine of them: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Director, Best Choreography, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (Zero Mostel), Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (Maria Karnilova), Best Producer, Best Composer and Lyricist, and Best Costume Design. Apart from Broadway, the show has so far been seen internationally, including but not limited to productions in Australia, China, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, and The United Kingdom. 1971 saw a feature length film starring Chaim Topol as Tevye, Norma Crane as Golde, and Rosalind Harris as Tzeitel. The show has seen many revivals over the years, as recently as 2015.

As in previous posts, I will focus on one song for each main cast member. In the case of this particular show, I will discuss the original Broadway cast recording, the 1971 film soundtrack, and the 2015 Broadway revival cast recording. There will be honorable mentions again because it was so difficult to pick just one song per character, and if I talked about every song I wanted to I'd be writing for a week straight. Therefore, here we go! Warning: spoilers ahead.

Tevye (Bass-Baritone)

Spotlight Song: Do You Love Me?

Honorable Mentions: Prologue: Tradition; If I Were a Rich Man; Sabbath Prayer; To Life; Tevye's Dream; Sunrise, Sunset; Chavaleh

Original Broadway Cast (1964): Zero Mostel

Film (1971): Chaim Topol

Broadway Revival Cast (2015): Danny Burstein

All three actors listed above who have played the iconic role of Tevye have lent really incredible amounts of talent to the show in their own rights, but I have to say Zero Mostel is my favorite of these three. Tevye wants nothing but the best for his family, and spends the entire show thinking he knows how to achieve it for each of his daughters only to be proven that his traditional way of thinking is not always the correct path. He, as the main character, has some of the most incredible songs in the show, but my favorite that he is involved in is Act 2's Do You Love Me, a duet with his wife Golde. It's funny, it's sweet, and it's just plain wonderful.

Do you love me/Do I what/Do you love me/Do I love you/With our daughters getting married and there’s trouble in the town/You’re upset, you’re worn out, go inside, go lie down/Maybe it’s indigestion/Golde, I’m asking you a question

Golde (Mezzo-Soprano)

Spotlight Song: Sunrise, Sunset

Honorable Mentions: Sabbath Prayer; Tevye's Dream; Do You Love Me?; Anatevka

Original Broadway Cast (1964): Maria Karnilova

Film (1971): Norma Crane

Broadway Revival Cast (2015): Jessica Hecht

Golde is the epitome of a Jewish mother, and while she can be a bit exhausting I love her all the same. Her number one goal is to make sure her family is taken care of and wants nothing but the best for her daughters. She proves a little more...stubborn in her acceptance of breaking tradition than Tevye, but her love for her family wins out at the end of the day. All the actresses from the casts show a unique look at Golde, but I really love Maria Karnilova's vocals the most out of everyone. For Golde's spotlight song, I chose the final song of Act 1, Sunrise, Sunset. This has always been one of my favorite songs in the entire show, a beautiful love song for a beautiful wedding scene.

Is this the little girl I carried, is this the little boy at play/I don’t remember growing older, when did they/When did she get to be a beauty, when did he grow to be so tall/Wasn’t it yesterday when they were small/Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset, swiftly flow the days/Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers, blossoming even as we gaze/Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset, swiftly fly the years/One season following another, laden with happiness and tears

Tzeitel (Mezzo-Soprano) & Chava (Mezzo-Soprano)

Spotlight Song: Matchmaker

Original Broadway Cast (1964): Joanna Merlin (T) & Tanya Evertt (C)

Film (1971): Rosalind Harris (T) & Neva Small (C)

Broadway Revival Cast (2015): Alexandra Silber (T) & Melanie Moore (C)

Tzeitel and Chava are daughters 1 & 3 of Tevye and Golde, and both of their love stories are main focal points of the story. Tzeitel, as the oldest, has gone and fallen in love with her childhood sweetheart Motel instead of wanting and accepting her prearranged match with Lazer Wolf, so it falls to them and poor Tevye to all but con Golde into accepting their marriage, which she does. Chava, the shy, intellectual middle child (there are two younger daughters not of marrying age as well), has the absolute audacity to fall in love with a Gentile, the Russian Fyedka, resulting in Tevye disowning her until the very end of the show. One of my favorite things about Fiddler is the relationship the oldest three sisters have with each other, shown in (sadly) Tzeitel and Chava's only solo song, Act 1's Matchmaker. One of the most iconic songs in the entire show, the good natured teasing between the three of them is adorable.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, make me a match/Find me a find, catch me a catch/Matchmaker, Matchmaker, look through your book/And make me a perfect match/Matchmaker, Matchmaker, I’ll bring the veil/You bring the groom, slender and pale/Bring me a ring, for I’m longing to be/The envy of all I see/For Papa, make him a scholar/For Mama, make him rich as a king/For me, well, I wouldn’t holler/If he were as handsome as anything

Hodel (Mezzo-Soprano)

Spotlight Song: Far From the Home I Love

Honorable Mentions: Matchmaker; Sunrise, Sunset

Original Broadway Cast (1964): Julia Migenes

Film (1971): Michele Marsh

Broadway Revival Cast (2015): Samantha Massell

Hodel is Tevye & Golde's second oldest daughter, and definitely the most headstrong. Her dearest ambition in life is for Tzeitel to get matched by the Matchmaker so that she can receive her match next. However, love ends up finding her just as unconventionally as her sisters in the form of a traveling student named Perchik who challenges every tradition in the town of Anatevka, from mixed-gender dancing at Tzeitel & Motel's wedding to getting himself in so much trouble he gets arrested and exiled. That fact is how we get to Hodel's spotlight song, Act 2's Far From The Home I Love, when Hodel admits to Tevye she is joining Perchik in Siberia so that she can marry him. This song is so beautifully sad, and it's one of the best theatre solos out there in my opinion.

How can I hope to make you understand/Why I do what I do/Why I must travel to a distant land/Far from the home I love/Once, I was happily content to be/As I was, where I was/Close to the people who are close to me/Here in the home I love/Who could see that a man could come/Who would change the shape of my dreams/Helpless now, I stand with him/Watching older dreams grow dim

Motel Kamzoil (Tenor)

Spotlight Song: Miracle of Miracles

Original Broadway Cast (1964): Austin Pendleton

Film (1971): Leonard Frey

Broadway Revival Cast (2015): Adam Kantor

Motel, Anatevka's dirt poor tailor and true love of Tzeitel, is such a colossal dork but is the sweetest, most hopeless romantic there is. The minute that he finds out Tzeitel is to be matched with Lazer Wolf, he faces his greatest fear (confrontation, especially with someone like Tevye) and fights for he and Tzeitel's love, effectively changing his mind and (by extension) Golde's. Motel's solo, Act 1's Miracle of Miracles, is so joyful and happy and full of love that it's just an absolute delight to listen to.

Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles/God took up Daniel once again/Stood by his side and miracle of miracles/Walked him through the lion’s den/Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles/I was afraid that God would frown/But like He did so long ago at Jericho/God just made a wall fall down/When Moses softened Pharaoh’s heart/That was a miracle/When God made the waters of the Red Sea part/That was a miracle, too/But of all God’s miracles large and small/The most miraculous one of all/Is that out of a worthless lump of clay/God has made a man today

Perchik (Tenor)

Spotlight Song: Now I Have Everything

Honorable Mentions: Sunrise, Sunset

Original Broadway Cast (1964): Bert Convy

Film (1971): Paul Michael Glaser

Broadway Revival Cast (2015): Ben Rappaport

Perchik, Hodel's main man and traveling student, lives to challenge the social norms of the small town of Anatevka. He sees no harm in men and women dancing together, stating that just because it's the way it's always been done doesn't mean that it's the way it should always be. While we in the audience know he's absolutely right, it takes everyone else (except Hodel) a little longer to come to terms with, and he ends up being shipped to Siberia after he's arrested for "starting trouble." This is after, however, he sings his Act 2 duet with Hodel, Now I Have Everything. Honestly, this is probably my least favorite song in the show just because I find it musically boring, and it's actually not included in the film at all, but the declaration of Perchik and Hodel's love to each other is still sweet.

I used to tell myself that I had everything/But that was only half true/I had an aim in life, and that was everything/But now, I even have you/I have something that I would die for/Someone that I can live for, too/Yes, now I have everything, not only everything/I have a little bit more/Besides having everything, I know what everything’s for

Lazar Wolf (Baritone)

Spotlight Song: To Life

Original Broadway Cast (1964): Michael Granger

Film (1971): Paul Munn

Broadway Revival Cast (2015): Adam Dannheisser

Lazar Wolf, Anatevka's wealthy and respected (and elderly) butcher, decides that it's time for him to remarry after years of being a widow. Unfortunately for 19-year-old Tzeitel, he's set his sights on her. Another of the most iconic songs in the show, Act 1's To Life, is Lazar Wolf and Tevye's (premature) celebration of their arrangement, and is an absolute banger. With incredible vocals and an incredible dance sequence, this is without a doubt not a number to be slept on.

To life, to life, l’chai-im/L’chai-im, l’chai-im, to life/Here’s to the father I tried to be, here’s to my bride to be/Drink l’chai-im to life, to life, l’chai-im/L’chai-im, l’chai-im, to life/Life has a way of confusing us, blessing and bruising us/Drink l’chai-im to life/God would like us to be joyful/Even when our hearts lie panting on the floor/How much more can we be joyful/When there’s really something to be joyful for

Yente (Alto)

Spotlight Song: The Rumor

Honorable Mentions: Prologue: Tradition; Anatevka

Original Broadway Cast (1964): Beatrice Arthur

Film (1971): Molly Picon

Broadway Revival Cast (2015): Alix Korey

Yente, Anatevka's all-important Matchmaker, is an ever present figure throughout the entire show. Whether she's matching up the eligible sons and daughters of the town or helping spread rumors, everyone knows her and everyone loves her...in their own way. Act 2's The Rumor, of which Yente plays a huge part, is so funny and so reminiscent of many a small town that it's impossible for most people to not recognize a similar situation in their own life.

Remember Perchik, that crazy student/Remember at the wedding when Tzeitel married Motel/And Perchik started dancing with Tevye’s daughter, Hodel/Well, I just heard that Perchik’s been arrested in Kiev/Remember Perchik, that crazy student/Remember at the wedding, he danced with Tevye’s Hodel/Well, I just heard that Hodel’s been arrested in Kiev

Grandma Tzeitel (Mezzo-Soprano) & Fruma Sarah (Mezzo-Soprano)

Spotlight Song: The Dream

Original Broadway Cast (1964): Sue Babel (GT) & Carol Sawyer (FS)

Film (1971): Patience Collier (GT) & Ruth Madoc (FS)

Broadway Revival Cast (2015): Lori Wilner (GT) & Jessica Vosk (FS)

Golde's Granda Tzeitel, for whom daughter Tzeitel was named after, and Lazar Wolf's deceased wife Fruma Sarah are a part of my absolute favorite song in the entire show, Act 1's The Dream. The entire segment is made up by Tevye, basically on the spot, to convince Golde to help him break Tzeitel's engagement to Lazar Wolf and deem Motel an acceptable match for their beloved daughter. This segment is a blast to sing, hilarious to watch on stage, and so much fun to listen to no matter the cast.

A blessing on your head, Mazel Tov, Mazel Tov/To see a daughter wed, Mazel Tov, Mazel Tov/And such a son-in-law like no one ever saw/The tailor, Motel Kamzoil/A worthy boy is he, Mazel Tov, Mazel Tov/Of pious family, Mazel Tov, Mazel Tov/They named him after my dear Uncle Mordachai/The tailor, Motel Kamzoil

Rabbi (Baritone)

Spotlight Song: Prologue: Tradition

Honorable Mentions: Anatevka

Original Broadway Cast (1964): Gluck Sandor

Film (1971): Zvee Scooler

Broadway Revival Cast (2015): Adam Grupper

To quote Tevye himself in Act 1's opening number Tradition, "And most important, our beloved Rabbi." Anatevka's Rabbi is beloved and deeply respected by everyone in the town, and though he doesn't have the largest number of lines, he's a great character nonetheless.

Rabbi, may I ask you a question/Certainly, my son/Is there a proper blessing for the tzar/A blessing for the tzar, of course/May God bless and keep the tzar/Far away from us

I absolutely insist that you acquaint yourself with Fiddler if you've never done so before as it is a timeless classic. Happy listening, and see ya'll next week!