Fiddler on the Roof Trivia
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41 free Fiddler on the Roof trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
Fiddler on the Roof opened in 1964 with investors fretting that it was 'too Jewish', then became the first Broadway musical to pass 3,000 performances and one of the most staged shows on earth. This Fiddler on the Roof trivia quiz covers the stage musical and the 1971 film: Tevye, Golde and their five daughters, the matches that break tradition one by one, the dream with Fruma-Sarah in it, the wedding, the pogrom and the exodus from Anatevka. It also digs into the history: Sholem Aleichem's Tevye stories, Jerome Robbins's feud with Zero Mostel, the Chagall-inspired title and sets, Bette Midler and Pia Zadora in the original run, Topol's decades as Tevye, Norman Jewison's Yugoslavia shoot with marble-dust snow, John Williams's Oscar for the score, and later revivals from Alfred Molina to the Yiddish Fidler Afn Dakh. Questions range from easy for anyone who has seen the show to expert-level trivia for the true Anatevka obsessive. Every answer was checked against theatre references and encyclopaedic sources before publishing, and each question carries a citation.
30 of 41 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is Tevye's occupation?
Milkman
He is the village milkman, delivering his dairy from a cart he pulls himself because his horse has gone lame.
Q 02What is the name of the fictional village where the musical is set?
Anatevka
Anatevka is a shtetl in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in 1905, and its name is the title of the villagers' lament when they are expelled.
Q 03Whose Yiddish short stories inspired the musical?
Sholem Aleichem
Sholem Aleichem, pen name of Solomon Rabinovich, wrote the stories in Yiddish from 1894; his own stage version was performed in Yiddish in 1919, after his death in 1916.
Q 04Who wrote the music for Fiddler on the Roof?
Jerry Bock
Jerry Bock wrote the music, and his partnership with lyricist Sheldon Harnick had begun with a 1958 flop, The Body Beautiful.
Q 05Which wealthy widower does Yente the matchmaker propose as a husband for Tzeitel?
Lazar Wolf, the butcher
Lazar Wolf, the butcher, gets her father to agree to the match at the village inn, but Tzeitel then begs not to be forced into the marriage.
Q 06What is Motel saving up to buy before he dares ask for Tzeitel's hand?
A sewing machine
Motel is saving for a sewing machine; by the second act he has bought a used one, and he and Tzeitel have a baby.
Q 07Perchik, the radical student who tutors Tevye's daughters, studied at the university in which city?
Kyiv
Kyiv is where Perchik studied, and he later heads back there to work for the revolution, a choice that ends with his arrest.
Q 08In 'Tevye's Dream', which two dead women rise from the grave?
Grandma Tzeitel and Fruma-Sarah
Grandma Tzeitel and Fruma-Sarah appear because Tevye invents the nightmare to scare the superstitious Golde into letting Tzeitel marry Motel.
Q 09What tradition does Perchik break at Tzeitel's wedding?
He crosses the barrier to dance with a woman
He crosses the barrier to dance with a woman, Hodel, and soon most of the wedding guests join the dance.
Q 10What euphemism does the Constable use to warn Tevye about the coming pogrom?
A 'little unofficial demonstration'
A 'little unofficial demonstration' is the Constable's phrase for the raid that wrecks Tzeitel's wedding, where Perchik is wounded trying to fight back.
Q 11Which daughter's marriage does Tevye refuse to accept, telling the family to consider her dead?
Chava
Chava marries the Christian Fyedka, and when the Jews are driven out, the couple leave for Poland rather than stay among people who could do such things.
Q 12At the end of Fiddler on the Roof, where are Tevye, Golde and their two youngest daughters heading?
America
America is where many of the villagers have friends and relations, and Motel and Tzeitel plan to follow once they have saved enough money.
Q 13Which painter's work suggested the musical's title and inspired the original set design?
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall's style reached the original set through designer Boris Aronson, who had written a book about Chagall while living in Berlin.
Q 21Who starred as Tevye in the 1967 London production of Fiddler on the Roof and in the 1971 film?
Topol
Topol spoke hardly any English when he came to London, so he learned the role with voice coach Cicely Berry.
Q 22Who directed the 1971 film of Fiddler on the Roof?
Norman Jewison
Norman Jewison, a Canadian and not Jewish despite his surname, directed the 1971 film, which was the highest-grossing release of that year.
Q 23Who played Yente the matchmaker in the 1971 film of Fiddler on the Roof?
Molly Picon
Molly Picon played Yente, but the eldest daughter turns down the match Yente brings, because she loves someone else.
Q 14Who directed and choreographed the original 1964 Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof?
Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins won Tonys for directing and choreographing it, and his dances later underpinned revivals such as the 2015 production's new choreography.
Q 15Why did the original Tevye hold Fiddler on the Roof's director in contempt?
He had cooperated with HUAC
He had cooperated with HUAC, naming names after holding out for three years, while the star had refused to name anyone and been blacklisted.
Q 16Which future Golden Girls star played Yente the matchmaker in the original Broadway cast?
Beatrice Arthur
Beatrice Arthur created Yente, the matchmaker whose plans unravel as Tevye's daughters insist on picking husbands for love.
Q 17Which future superstar took over the role of Tzeitel during the original Broadway run?
Bette Midler
Bette Midler worked her way up from the chorus, understudying Tzeitel before taking over the role in 1967.
Q 18Which musical was the first to overtake Fiddler on the Roof as Broadway's longest-running show?
Grease
Grease overtook Fiddler after beginning in 1971 at Chicago's Kingston Mines Theatre and moving to New York the following year.
Q 19Which star won the 1965 Tony for Best Actor in a Musical as the original Tevye?
Zero Mostel
Zero Mostel won it, though as the run went on his ad-libbing drove the show's creative team up the wall.
Q 20Which Star Trek actor played Tevye in a 1971 touring production of Fiddler on the Roof?
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy toured as Tevye in 1971, and he had modelled Spock's Vulcan salute on a priestly blessing he watched in synagogue as a boy.
Q 24What did the cinematographer of the 1971 film of Fiddler on the Roof put over his lens?
A silk stocking
A silk stocking over the lens gave the film its sepia, earth-toned look, and Oswald Morris won the cinematography Oscar for it.
Q 25Who adapted and conducted the score of the 1971 film of Fiddler on the Roof, winning an Oscar?
John Williams
John Williams won his first Oscar adapting it, and he wrote an original violin cadenza for the film's soloist.
Q 26Which celebrated violinist played the fiddle solos in the 1971 film of Fiddler on the Roof?
Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern played the solos on the soundtrack, dubbing the on-screen fiddler, actor Tutte Lemkow.
Q 27Which song from the stage musical was cut from the 1971 film of Fiddler on the Roof?
Now I Have Everything
Now I Have Everything was cut; Perchik and Hodel ask her father only for his blessing, and he gives them his permission as well.
Q 28Which future Starsky & Hutch star played Perchik in the 1971 film of Fiddler on the Roof?
Paul Michael Glaser
Paul Michael Glaser returned in 2013 to lead a UK tour as Tevye, the father of his Perchik's fiancée.
Q 29Who played Tevye when the 2004 Broadway revival opened at the Minskoff Theatre?
Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina opened the revival, which added 'Topsy-Turvy', a new song in which Yente finds matchmaking going out of style.
Q 30Which future Glee star played Shprintze in the 2004 Broadway revival?
Lea Michele
Lea Michele played Shprintze in the 2004 revival, and Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy later cast Broadway performers like her in his show.