#Fiddler on the Roof

[teagrammy]

Shut up ring this, ball and chain that. Get you a man who sings a whole song about how excited he is to marry you and cherish you, comparing it to the great miracles that have occurred for your people throughout history. Who is this man you might ask? The tailor Motel Kamzoil!! 🗣️🗣️‼️‼️

[soracities]

Jeremy Radin, from "Lazar Wolf the Butcher" (poem written during staging of Fiddler on the Roof at Paper Mill Playhouse, shared on his IG page) [ID'd]

[to-know-how-it-ends]

i've noticed that there is a bit of ingrained antisemitism in some non-jewish fiddler on the roof fans and im not gonna lie it really rubs me the wrong way. like they probably don't even know they're being kinda antisemitic in this way

here's what i mean. fiddler on the roof is about (shocker) jewish tradition and change. when you see tevye who cannot accept his daughter for marrying a non-jew, do you think, "oh, he's set in his ways, he's bigoted, he's just not modern enough, his (jewish) tradition is making him blind." ? whereas every time someone in my family would see it for the first time, literally everyone said, "it's a shame, but i absolutely understand why."

i think that's the most important thing -- do you understand why a man like tevye, a jewish man whose judaism is incredibly important to him, a jewish man who lives in the pale of settlement and whose village is under constant threat of pogroms, a jewish man who is alive in this period literally 2 years after the infamous kishinev pogroms (assuming this story takes place in 1905), a jewish man whose ancestors were constantly persecuted for being jewish (ESPECIALLY in the pale), a jewish man who is so remarkably proud to be jewish despite all of this --- do you understand why this man might be rightfully upset at his daughter for breaking the tradition that he and his people have paid with their lives to keep?

you can disagree with tevye's decision all you want -- i do too -- but like. if you don't see this you need to check yourself. fiddler on the roof is not just about the breaking of tradition -- it's about the breaking of tradition that is been their only method of survival for generations because they are Jews.

[trashpidgeon48]

Leitmotifs drive me insane, like I hear *repeated melody that has an association with a person, idea, or situation* and I go *tears up the fucking rug like a dog*

[gay-jewish-bucky]

"fiddler on the roof is a happy musical" "no fiddler on the roof is a horror story"

wrong! beam attack!

it's a musical that depicts the profound dichotomy between the greatest joys and the deepest tragedies that historically and presently come with being jewish. both aspects are equally important, in real life and in fiction, neither aspect should be discounted. doing so flattens the story and does a disservice to honouring the complex experiences of the generations of jews who lived in shtetls in the pale of settlement.

while it's ending is heartbreaking, it is still hopeful and that hope is what has kept the jewish people marching ever forward.

[like-this-post-if-you]

Like this post if you enjoy musicals.

[cowpokezuko]

A helpful chart

EDIT: Stop pointing out I made a typo. I know.

[fmluder24]

I saw a production of Fiddler on the Roof in my city tonight that tried to make the story about the contemporary Russia-Ukraine war by having the characters be played by actors who are escaping into the world of Fiddler to get away from the war. It was really infuriating and maybe it’s because I spent my week rereading People Love Dead Jews for my xf meta but I can’t help but be pissed at the decontextualization and dejudaizing of such a famous piece of musical theater. It feels like the non Jewish director didn’t care about telling a story about Jews. She had to make it secretly about people she sees as worthwhile to tell the story. All we are to them is these fictional creatures to puppet around and learn something from, not flesh and blood human beings

EDIT: To clarify based on an ask I got, I know it’s already Americanized and historically inaccurate. This was adding insult to injury.

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[silly-cherries]

big fan of the "for twenty five years I've lived with him, fought with him, starved with him. twenty five years my bed is his, if that's not love, what is?" ships

[scottstiles]

Dear God, did you have to send me news like that, today of all days? I know, I know we are The Chosen People, but once in awhile, can't you choose someone else?

[notfeelingthyaster]

there's always the right sounding version of a musical, and it's never the one easy to find in spotify

[to-know-how-it-ends]

open Jewish identity and culture onstage my beloved...

leopoldstadt/parade/fiddler on the roof/falsettos/funny girl/prayer for the french republic

[groovy-lady]

[bloedgetuige]

[red-mask-of-death]

I love it when characters are a result of their surroundings. like yessssss let’s feel the themes of civil unrest in your soliloquy 🤩🤩🤩