Fiddler on the Roof: A Revival

With the news hitting Broadway blogs and columns last week that seminal classic ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ is to be revived on Broadway next year, I thought I’d take a look at the musical theatre classic. Why has it endured?

For anybody who doesn’t know, Fiddler on the Roof is a classic musical which first appeared on a Broadway stage in 1964. The production was such a hit that not only did it enchant audiences everywhere; it was nominated for ten TONY awards, was turned into a hit movie musical and has sparked numerous revivals.

The musical itself is based on ‘Teyve and His Daughters and Other Tales’ by Sholem Aleichem. Set in Tsarist Russia in 1905, a period of terminal decline for the regime, the musical tells the story of a Jewish family; a father and his daughters. The production chronicles the family’s attempts to honour their Jewish heritage as outside influences alter the way they live their lives.

The production itself is an intelligent exploration of what Jewish people faced at the time under the repression of Tsar Nicholas II. It produced musical numbers that have become standards of the genre, most notably ‘If I Was A Rich Man’ and it became so popular it was the first musical to reach the 3,000 performances mark. No wonder they want to revive it in 2015.

So, apart from the aforementioned reasons, why has it remained enduringly popular? Part of the credit for this sustained success has to go to the movie version of the musical. Released in1971, it was so good that one of its stars, Leonard Frey, received an OSCAR for best supporting actor.

However most of the credit has to go to the stage production itself. Fiddler is an immense musical that will make you weep and laugh in equal measure, and when done right, it can really capture the imagination. It also takes a grand theme such as the repression of the Jewish community in Tsarist Russia and frames it through the lives of ordinary people. This is, I believe, its ultimate key to success.

Audiences don’t tend to react well to grand themes that are beyond their ability to relate to. By framing the narrative through this village bound Jewish family, audiences can see how such prejudices play out in normal life. They sympathise with the characters and grow to support them in their struggles. It’s a similar way of framing a story to how the AIDS struggle was framed through the Alphabet City community of New York in ‘Rent.’

Fiddler on the Roof is a classic that has endured because despite the time it is set in, it tells a story that everybody can relate to. I have no doubt, Simon Morris readers that the 2015 revival will be just a big a hit with audiences as the 1964 original production was.