Portland Public Library

Wonder of wonders, a cultural history of Fiddler on the roof, Alisa Solomon

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 397-409) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Wonder of wonders

bibliography

827256853

Alisa Solomon

a cultural history of Fiddler on the roof

In the half-century since its premiere, Fiddler on the Roof has become a supremely potent cultural landmark, beloved by audiences the world over. Now, in a history as captivating as its subject, award-winning drama critic Alisa Solomon traces how and why the story of Tevye the milkman, the creation of the great Yiddish writer Sholem-Aleichem, was reborn as blockbuster entertainment and a cultural touchstone, not only for Jews and not only in America. It is first a story of the theater, as Solomon follows Tevye from his humble appearance on the New York Yiddish stage, through his adoption by leftist dramatists as a symbol of oppression, to his Broadway debut and his starring role in a major Hollywood picture. And it is a cultural story, of a show that spoke to the deepest conflicts and desires the world over: the fraying of tradition, generational tension, the loss of roots. Entertaining and original, Wonder of Wonders reveals the profound legacy of a show about tradition that itself became a tradition [Publisher description]

Introduction: a little bit of this, a little bit of that -- When America commands -- Tevye's long journey to the New York stage -- Between two worlds of Sholem Aleichem -- Tevye strikes it rich -- Tevye leaves for the land of Broadway -- It takes a shtetl -- Raising the roof -- Tevye's travels -- The old country in the old-new land -- Fiddler while Brooklyn burns -- Skrzypek na dachu: Poland -- Epilogue: fiddling with tradition