Portal:Musical Theatre/Selected article/4

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Fiddler on the Roof is a well-known musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. Originally entitled Tevye, the musical is based on Tevye and his Daughters, or Tevye the Milkman, and other stories originally published by the Russian Jewish author Sholom Aleichem in 1894. The story centers on Tevye, the father of five daughters, and his attempts to maintain his family and religious traditions while the world and civilization around him change rapidly. He must cope with both the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters — each daughter's choice of husband moves progressively further and further away from established custom, and with the edict of the Tsar that upends his village.

The original Broadway production of the show, in 1964, was the first Broadway musical to surpass the 3,000 performance mark, and it held the record for longest-running Broadway musical in history for almost 10 years until Grease surpassed its run. The production earned $1,574 for every dollar invested in it. The show was nominated for ten Tony Awards, winning nine, including Best Musical, score, book, direction and choreography. It spawned four Broadway revivals, a successful 1971 film adaptation, and has enjoyed enduring international popularity.

The play's title stems from a painting by Marc Chagall, one of many surreal paintings he created of Eastern European Jewish life. The Fiddler is a metaphor of survival, through tradition and joyfulness, in a life of uncertainty and imbalance. Stein created a version of the show called Fiddler on the Roof, Jr. for elementary and middle schools that cuts out a few of the scenes, including the dream sequence.