50 Fun Facts About Fiddler on the Roof

What is Tevye's occupation?

He pulls his own cart because his horse is lame, and asks God who it would hurt if he were a rich man.

What is the name of the fictional village where the musical is set?

It sits in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. Yehupetz is the author's fictional name for Kyiv.

Whose short stories about 'Tevye the Dairyman' inspired the musical?

He wrote them in Yiddish between 1894 and 1914. His own dramatisation was staged in Yiddish in 1919, after his death.

Who wrote the music for Fiddler on the Roof?

Sheldon Harnick wrote the lyrics and Joseph Stein the book. Bock and Harnick's other shows include Fiorello! and She Loves Me.

How many daughters do Tevye and Golde have?

Tzeitel, Hodel, Chava, Shprintze and Bielke. Only the three eldest have marriage plots.

Which wealthy widower does Yente the matchmaker propose as a husband for Tzeitel?

He is older than Tevye. Tevye first thinks he wants to buy his cow.

What is Motel saving up to buy before he dares ask for Tzeitel's hand?

By the second act he has bought a used one and he and Tzeitel have a baby.

Perchik, the radical student who tutors Tevye's daughters, studied at the university in which city?

He later returns there to work for the revolution, is arrested and exiled to Siberia, where Hodel joins him.

In 'Tevye's Dream', which two dead women rise from the grave?

Tevye fakes the nightmare so the superstitious Golde will insist Tzeitel marry Motel instead of Lazar Wolf, whose late wife Fruma-Sarah threatens revenge.

What tradition does Perchik break at Tzeitel's wedding?

His dance with Hodel ends the argument between Tevye and Lazar Wolf. Earlier he had danced with Hodel in private to prove the world was changing.

What euphemism does the Constable use to warn Tevye about the coming pogrom?

The Russians break up Tzeitel's wedding celebration and wound Perchik. Critics noted the show made the Constable far more sympathetic than Aleichem had.

Which daughter's marriage does Tevye refuse to accept, telling the family to consider her dead?

Marriage outside the faith is the line he will not cross. As the family leaves, he prompts Tzeitel to add 'God be with you'.

How many days does the Constable give the villagers to pack up and leave?

Chava and Fyedka head for Kraków and Motel and Tzeitel to Poland, and the fiddler follows Tevye's family out of the village.

In 'Do You Love Me?', how many years does Golde say she and Tevye have been married?

Their own marriage was arranged; Tevye asks because Hodel and Perchik have just declared that love is 'the new style'.

Where does the family plan to go at the end of the musical, unlike in Aleichem's stories?

Aleichem's stories end with Tevye alone, his wife dead and daughters scattered; the musical keeps most of the family together.

Which painter's work suggested the musical's title and inspired the original set design?

Paintings such as Green Violinist and The Fiddler were the inspiration, though no single painting is referenced. Chagall reportedly did not like the musical.

What title did the writers consider before settling on Fiddler on the Roof?

The Chagall-inspired title won out. Off-Broadway had already seen a musical called Tevye and his Daughters in the late 1950s.

Who directed and choreographed the original 1964 Broadway production, his last original staging?

Producer Harold Prince brought him in. He reportedly 'abused the cast, drove the designers crazy and strained the good nature of Hal Prince'.

Why did original star Zero Mostel hold the show's director in contempt?

Mostel had been blacklisted after his own defiant testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee, while Robbins had cooperated and hidden his Jewish heritage.

Which future Golden Girls star played Yente the matchmaker in the original Broadway cast?

Florence Stanley took over nine months in. Austin Pendleton was the original Motel and Bert Convy the original Perchik.

Which future superstar took over the role of Tzeitel during the original Broadway run?

Rosalind Harris was Midler's understudy and went on to play Tzeitel in the 1971 film. Pia Zadora played the youngest daughter, Bielke.

How many performances did the original Broadway production run for?

It was the first musical to pass 3,000 performances and held the long-run record for almost a decade.

Which musical eventually broke Fiddler's record as the longest-running Broadway show?

Fiddler had held the record for almost ten years.

How many Tony Awards did the original production win?

From ten nominations, including Best Musical, score, book, direction, choreography and acting awards for Mostel and Maria Karnilova.

How much did the original production earn for every dollar invested?

Investors had worried it might be 'too Jewish' for mainstream audiences.

Which actor, Mostel's understudy, went on to play Tevye in more than 2,000 performances?

He held the record until Topol passed him. Leonard Nimoy also played Tevye on stage.

Who starred as Tevye in the original 1967 London production and then in the 1971 film?

He had already played the part in Tel Aviv, and kept playing it in revivals for four decades, including a 2009 'farewell tour'.

Who directed the 1971 film adaptation?

Despite his surname, Jewison was not Jewish. The film was the highest-grossing of 1971, taking $83.3 million on a $9 million budget.

Which three actors were considered for Tevye in the film before Topol was cast?

Jewison feared Mostel's larger-than-life personality would make audiences see Mostel rather than Tevye.

Where were most of the film's exterior scenes shot?

Scouts had chosen the area for its heavy snow in 1969; when filming came in 1970 there was none at all.

What did the film's producers ship in to substitute for snow?

Additional scenes were shot at Jadran Film studios and at Pinewood in England, with 300 multilingual extras plus geese and pigs.

Who adapted and conducted the film's score, winning an Academy Award for it?

He also wrote an original cadenza for the violinist who performed the film's fiddle solos, and orchestrated the score with Alexander Courage.

Which celebrated violinist performed the fiddle solos in the film?

The film also won Oscars for cinematography (Oswald Morris) and sound, from eight nominations.

Which two songs from the stage show were cut from the 1971 film?

Perchik's song to Hodel was replaced by a scene in Kyiv, and Yente's role was reduced.

Which future Starsky & Hutch star played Perchik in the film?

Four decades later he toured the UK as Tevye, in a 2013–14 production choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood.

Who played Tevye when the 2004 Broadway revival opened at the Minskoff Theatre?

Fierstein and later Rosie O'Donnell (as Golde) joined during the run, which replaced 'The Rumor' with a new song, 'Topsy-Turvy'.

Which future Glee star played Shprintze in the 2004 Broadway revival?

Laura Michelle Kelly was Hodel in the same production, directed by David Leveaux.

Who directed the Yiddish-language production Fidler Afn Dakh, which opened in New York in 2018?

Steven Skybell played Tevye and Jackie Hoffman was Yente. It transferred off-Broadway and won a Drama Desk Award.

Gwen Stefani and Eve's 2004 top-ten hit reworks which Fiddler song?

It reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was inspired by a 1993 ragga version by Louchie Lou & Michie One.

In 2011, Sheldon Harnick wrote alternative lyrics to which song so it could be used at same-sex weddings?

The song is a wedding staple; the new versions made minor word changes such as 'When did they grow to be so handsome?'

Which Broadway show sends up Fiddler's bottle dance with a 'Grail dance'?

In 2004 the Avenue Q and Fiddler revival casts teamed up for a benefit mash-up called 'Avenue Jew'.

Which Mad magazine parody imagined Tevye's descendants living in the assimilated 1970s suburbs?

Later parodies included Animaniacs' 'Pigeon on the Roof' and the Lovecraftian musical A Shoggoth on the Roof.

Which novelist, writing in The New Yorker, dismissed the show as 'shtetl kitsch'?

Other critics called it middlebrow and sanitised, yet it became one of the first popular post-Holocaust depictions of Eastern European Jewish life.

In 2020, the original Broadway cast recording was selected for preservation by which institution?

It joined the National Recording Registry as 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'.

At which Broadway theatre did Fiddler on the Roof open on September 22, 1964?

After tryouts in Detroit and Washington, it later transferred to the Majestic in 1967 and the Broadway Theatre in 1970.

Which actress won a Tony as Golde in the original Broadway cast?

She and Zero Mostel both took home Tonys; Austin Pendleton played Motel and Bert Convy was Perchik.

How many Academy Award nominations did the 1971 film receive, the most of any film that year?

It won three, for John Williams's score adaptation, Oswald Morris's cinematography and sound.

What song written for Perchik was recorded for the 1971 film but cut from the final print?

It surfaced on the 2004 soundtrack reissue and was later given to Perchik in the 2018 Yiddish production.

How much did the 1971 film gross worldwide, making it the year's highest-grossing release?

That return came on a $9 million budget, with United Artists releasing it on November 3, 1971.

Who played Tevye in the 2015 Broadway revival directed by Bartlett Sher?

Jessica Hecht was Golde, and Hofesh Shechter's choreography was based on Jerome Robbins's original.