Sholom Aleichem was the pseudonym for Yiddish writer Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich. His collection of short stories Tevye the Milkman and Other Tales inspired the musical Fiddler on the Roof. In 1905 he escaped Russia's Pogroms (more history here folks) to settle in New York, but moved to be with his family to Geneva, Switzerland. His family eventually moved to Manhattan in 1914, but Aleichem died the next year in Geneva. His work was influential as a Jewish writer.
Fiddler on the Roof is based on Aleichem's characters and stories and was written by Joseph Stein (book) and Jerry Bock (music). Lyrics were written by Sheldon Harnick. The play takes place in Russia and is about Tevye (a milkman) who is the father of five daughters. He attempts to maintain Jewish traditions during the Russia diaspora. Since many of you are a little cloudy about history, please look here for information about the Diaspora (full film documentary). And a lecture by Dr. David Neiman on the Diaspora.
The original Broadway production of Fiddler opened in 1964 and surpassed 3,000 performances. Fiddler held the record for the longest-running Broadway musical for almost 10 years until Grease took that title. It remains one of Broadway's Top 20 productions in all history. The production was extraordinarily profitable and highly acclaimed.winning nine Tony Awards, including best Musical, score, book, direction, and choreography. So There's a lot to learn by reading it.
HOMEWORK: Please read Fiddler on the Roof (listen to the music on our next blog entry) and post a response to the forum (remember that thing?) by Friday, Dec. 16.
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1 comment:
Fiddler on the Roof shows the transformation from a traditional lifestyle to a more modern one. How Tevye's girls married off is a perfect example of that. Tevye didn't meet his wife until the day of his wedding, as for his daughters they were able to meet the man they loved Android wished to spend their lives with. For some people change can be a scary thing and I think that is why it was so hard for Tevye to fully accept what was happening with his family and his society. I'm not a huge fan of musicals but I somewhat enjoyed this one, the only part I wasn't too fond of was when he disowned his daughter Chava. I don't think that it should be the easy for a father to say that his daughter is dead to him because she married someone outside of their religion.
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