American composer Jerry Bock, librettist Joseph Stein and lyricist Sheldon Harnick in 1964. the musical "Fiddler on the Roof", like the famous musicals "My Fair Lady", "Hello, Dolly", "West Side Story" or "The Sound of Music", belongs to the golden fund of this genre. When in 1958 J. Bock and S. Harnick made their debut as co-authors, both of whom had already achieved this. And although the first work of the duo - the musical "Beauty Contest" - was not successful, it drew the attention of the artistic community to the talented ensemble of creators. A year later, the big success came: it was brought by the musical "Fiorela". In it, the authors told the story of Fiorello La Guardia, one of the most popular politicians of the time, 1933-1945, through music, poetry and dance. the biography of the mayor of New York. The music and lyrics caused a furore, especially the satirical episodes of the piece. This stage work has earned the authors, producers and performers the highest recognition and various awards. After two more, not very successful musicals ("Lepūnėlis" and "Ji mane myli"), the tandem of authors took on the stories of the Jewish literary classic Sholom Aleichem about the life of the milkman Tevjė and his family (wife Goldė and daughters Ceitele, Hodelė, Chava, Šprince and Bielke) in the small town of Anatevka during the time of tsarist Russia, with 1905 already in the air. premonitions of revolution.
"Fiddler on the Roof" premiered in 1964. in September. One of the brightest and most innovative musical theater performances was born, with a very strong charge of humanistic ideas, understandable to audiences all over the world, regardless of race and nationality. It is a musical whose music is full of temperament and passion. In it, the listener recognizes elements of stylized Jewish folklore, old Russian romances, and next to them, typical modern themes with their characteristic rhythmic, melodic and harmony sound. Many numbers from the musical became universally recognized hits. This includes the theme "Tradition", which already sounds in the prologue, and Tevjë's song "If I were rich...", and the song "The sun rises, the sun sets..." performed by all the characters, and others. The success of the lyrical, humorous performance was largely determined by the skill of the director and choreographer Jerome Robbins, so not only singing and acting, but also dancing take an important place in it.
The musical "Fiddler on the Roof" won many prestigious awards for its co-authors and brought worldwide fame. In the first production of the Broadway theater, the role of Tevye was played by the famous Zero Mostel, and his wife Golde was played by the dancer Marija Karnilova. Emboldened by success, the creators decided to take on the Jewish theme again and this time they lost. in 1970 the staged musical "The Rothschilds" depicted the famous Rothschild family of bankers between 1772 and 1818. However, the authors failed to rise to the height of the factography illustrated by the songs. The Rothschilds Missed a Surreal Fiddler on the Roof… Fiddler on the Roof broke all records with a fantastic run on Broadway: 3,242 performances in nine years! After the premiere, it was staged in another 32 countries, and the heroes of the musical spoke 16 different languages on stage. The musical creates a bright color of Jewish life in a small town. The leitmotif of "Fiddler on the Roof" is tradition. It is very important to the main character of the musical - the milkman Tevye. However, the old customs do not survive the confrontation with the young generation, which looks at the world differently...