Fiddler on the Roof is another of those shows with which I’ve had a fair deal of experience on both sides of the curtain. I’ve seen five different productions, one of which was faithful to the the last detail to the Jerome Robbins staging, and I’ve choreographed a production in a high school production, following the supplied manual of the Robbins staging for as long as the kids’ abilities allowed me to. Of all of these, mine included, the one that was the most faithful also played the best – perhaps unsurprisingly. The stunning Robbins staging aside, Fiddler on the Roof has a fantastic book by Joseph Stein – one of the best in the canon, I think – and a great score by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, with only one second rate tune (“Now I Have Everything”) and one complete dud (“The Rumor”). A dreamy Perchik with a great voice can make “Now I Have Everything” bearable; nothing can be done about “The Rumor”, although the 2004 revival replaced it with a new song called “Topsy Turvy”. As it happens, the film cut both of those numbers and while some dislike Norman Jewison’s take on the material, I think it is one of the best stage to film adaptations we’ve ever seen. This is one of those shows that never fails to be moving, no matter how cynical or familiar you get about it. By the time you get to “Anatevka” or to the scene where the seeds of reconciliation between Chava and her family are planted or to the final moments of the show where the Fiddler follows Tevye out of the village, the sense of catharsis provided by this musical is completely far out.
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Musical Cyberspace 