Fiddler on Roof Tickets

Comedy in theater may sometimes be synonymous with slapstick humor, satire, & a bunch of laughs. But often the relentless creative mechanisms of theater churn out great pieces that address pertinent social issues, while also keeping the entertainment element truly alive. Fiddler On The Roof highlights the central power of traditions in the lifestyle & habits of a community, using a small Jewish settlement (shtetl) in pre-Holocaust eastern Europe as the focal point. The musical is based on "Tevye & his Daughters" & other tales by Sholem Aleichem. First published in Yiddish in 1894, the tales lay the foundation perfectly for the play, which is based in 1905 Tsarist Russia. It portrays the struggles of a man to keep his family together, caught in a mire of time honored traditions.

Act I introduces Tevye, his wife Golde, & their daughters Tzeitel, Hodel, Chava, Shprintze & Bielke as they prepare for Sabbath meal in the Russian shtetl of Anatevka, under the constant threat of eviction of the Jews on orders of the Tsar. The village's traditional matchmaker, Yente, visits Golde to tell her about the proposal that Lazar Wolf, the wealthy elderly butcher, has sent for Tzeitel. The milkman Tevye gets told off by a stranger, Perchik, while on the road, & dismisses him as a radical, but then invites him & gives him lodgings to serve as tutor to his younger daughters. Perchik secretly develops a relationship with Hodel. Tzeitel, on the other hand, wants a marriage with her childhood friend, the poor tailor Motel. After Tevye meets Lazar, he is overjoyed at the prospect of marrying off Tzeitel to a well-off man. But upon his return, the timid Motel somehow plucks up the courage to ask for Tzeitel's hand. Tevye reluctantly agrees, knowing he is going against the traditional authority of the matchmaker. The marriage ceremony is marred by the Russians riding in to spark a riot. Act II starts with the revolutionary Perchik telling Hodel that he must leave for Ukraine to help with the Revolution. The two inform the flabbergasted Tevye that they are already engaged & only seek his blessing. Again, Tevye relents, & again, the weight of another broken tradition weighs down on him. Perchik is arrested & sent to Siberia, & despite the protests of her father, Hodel goes to join him there. Traditions are put to the test once more as Chava asks for marriage to a Russian, Fyedka, who guarded her as his friends teased her. This time Tevye absolutely forbids marriage outside the Jewish community. Chava & Fyedka elope, & Tevye is angered to the point of declaring her dead to him & the family. A Russian Constable sympathetic to the plight of the Jews tells them they have three days before they get evicted. Tzeitel & Motel head to Poland; Fyedka & Chava stop by to tell they would leave for Krakow, & an unrelenting Tevye still can't stop giving her a blessing. The rest of the family leave for America, as the Fiddler plays in the background before joining them.

The music is given by Jerry Bock & Sheldon Harnick has penned down the lyrics. Fiddler On the Roof started off its immensely successful Broadway journey in 1964, developing to become the longest-running production until Grease eclipsed it. The West End production in London opened in 1967. Both the major productions saw a number of revivals, along with an outstanding triple Academy Award winning film adaptation in 1971 that thrust the superb Chaim Topol into the limelight. He still plays in many of Fiddler On the Roof's plays.

The original Broadway production went on to win a staggering 9 Tony awards & a nomination. Its longevity & excess of 3000 performances stand testament to the response it received in theater circles. The 1981, 1990 & 2004 revivals notched up a total of 8 more nominations & a winner. Critical acclaim was followed by mass audience appeal, making Tevye one of the more loved characters of the generation.

If statistics are anything to go by, Tevye & his family's intrigues have formed a bankable entertainment outlet. Calgary, Edmonton & San Francisco feature on the radar in January, while shows to San Diego, Tuscon & Austin follow soon after. The Fiddler is a symbol of joy & success even through the imbalanced & precarious times, & Fiddler On the Roof provides insight into the role of traditions in the practical world, replete with comic relief.