‘If I were a rich man ...’
Fiddler on the Roof
Jerry Bock
In the shtetl of Anatevka, somewhere in eastern Europe, life is strictly defined by Jewish tradition. Tevye the milkman struggles with this. And with his God. And with his three oldest daughters and their stubborn ideas about love. Until one day, when the entire community is forced to flee the pogroms ...
The book for Fiddler on the Roof was written by Joseph Stein, based on the famous Yiddish tales penned by Sholem Aleichem from 1894 to 1916. Fiddler on the Roof depicts both humour and human suffering caught somewhere between catastrophe and indomitable vitality, in one of the twentieth century’s most life-affirming tragicomedies about love, life, and marriage. After Barrie Kosky’s production premiered at Komische Oper Berlin, The New York Times wrote that ‘this is quite possibly the most convincing—and least embarrassingly cliché-ridden—Fiddler imaginable.’
A long time ago, or perhaps not so very long ago ... there was this Jewish shtetl called Anatevka, in Russia’s vast expanses, where the milkman Tevye lived with his wife Golde and their five daughters. The three oldest, Zeitel, Hodel and Chava, were expected to marry in accordance with the venerable dictates of Jewish tradition, and to find husbands as wealthy as possible thanks to the ministrations of the matchmaker Yente.
But the daughters are headstrong in matters of love. It’s not the butcher that Zeitel falls for, but a poor tailor called Motel Kamzoil. Hodel loses her heart to the family tutor Perchik, a revolutionary, while Chava chooses an intellectual, the Orthodox Christian Fyedka. Against a background of troubles and celebrations, fear of pogroms targeting the village, Golde’s worries about the children and Tevye’s struggle for his daily bread and true piety, the girls call time-honoured traditions into question, posing tough challenges for their big-hearted father. Tevye strives to do the right thing and pardons all their crazy ideas. Well, not quite all. There are limits to his magnanimity, set by faith and tradition – for the sake of which he disowns his daughter Chava. A short time later a pogrom happens, the villagers scatter in all directions, the family is torn apart. Tevye, his kids, friends and neighbours leave Anatevka, their home, for good.
Musical based on the tales of Sholem Aleichem [1964]
With the express permission of Arnold Perl
Book by Joseph Stein
Music by Jerry Bock
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
German text by Rolf Merz and Gerhard Hagen
Produced for the stage in New York by Harold Prince
Original stage production and choreography in New York by Jerome Robbins
With the express permission of Arnold Perl
Book by Joseph Stein
Music by Jerry Bock
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
German text by Rolf Merz and Gerhard Hagen
Produced for the stage in New York by Harold Prince
Original stage production and choreography in New York by Jerome Robbins
In the repertoire since 3 December 2017
Recommended from grade 7
German
3 hr 15 min incl. intermission
Tevje, Milchmann
Max Hopp/Markus John
Golde, seine Frau
Zeitel, seine älteste Tochter
Susan Zarrabi/Paula Rummel
Hodel, zweite Tochter
Chava, dritte Tochter
Elisabeth Wrede/Katharina Thomas
Sprintze, vierte Tochter
Laeticia Krüger/Lia Tursic
Bielke, fünfte Tochter
Luisa Souza de Prét/Ida Dasch
Jente, Heiratsvermittlerin
Mottel Kamzoil, Schneider
Perchik, Hodels Verehrer
Lazar Wolf, Metzger
Motschach, Gastwirt
Rabbi
Peter Renz
Mendel, Sohn des Rabbi
Awram, Buchverkäufer
Nachum, Bettler
Tim Dietrich/Eberhard Krispin
Fruma Sarah, Lazar Wolfs erste Frau / Oma Zeitel, Goldes Großmutter
Wachtmeister
Fedja, ein junger Russe
Schandel, Mottels Mutter
Saskia Krispin/Cornelia Berner
Der Fiedler auf dem Dach
Rafaela Großkopf/Laura Kindt
Tänzer
Liam Michael Scullion, Benjamin Gericke/Joseph Edy, Ivan Dubinin, Andrii Zubchevskyi, Daniel Daniela Ojeda Yrureta, Michael Fernandez, Marcell Prét, Lorenzo Soragni, Kai Chun Chuang, Danilo Brunetti, Davide De Biasi, Shane Dickson
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