It was based on the short story tevye and his daughters by sholem aleichem.
The real story of fiddler on the roof.
Six things you may not have known about fiddler on the roof as the acclaimed musical turns 50 years old this week relive the tradition with these interesting factoids zero mostel in the original.
The events related in the fiddler on the roof take place in anatevka a fictional town inside the pale during the year of 1905.
First produced on broadway with zero mostel as the lovable russian jewish village milkman tevye fiddler on the roof is one of the most popular modern musicals.
From 1880 to 1920 when there was a political social crisis the russian government would incite the population against the jews trying to divert its attention from the real problems.
It is 1905 and life here is as precarious as a fiddler on the roof yet through their traditions the villagers endure.
This particular story also portrays the strong cold winds of change that would affect the whole jewish nation in the twentieth century.
Set in the ukrainian shtetl of anatevka in 1905 imperial russia fiddler tells the story of jewish milkman tevye wife golde and their five daughters facing the headwinds of change.
But at the risk of seeming the spoilsport i must confess that i dislike fiddler on the roof.
Fiddler on the roof based on the short story tevye and his daughters by sholom aleichem was one of the first musicals to defy broadway s established rules of commercial success it dealt with serious issues such as persecution poverty and the struggle to hold on to one s beliefs in the midst of a hostile and chaotic environment.
Fiddler on the roof is a musical with music by jerry bock lyrics by sheldon harnick and book by joseph stein set in the pale of settlement of imperial russia in or around 1905.
Tevye the philosophical village milkman explains the customs of the jewish people and their lives in the russian shtetl of anatevka in 1905 where life is as precarious as the perch of a fiddler on a roof tradition at tevye s home everyone is busy preparing for the sabbath meal.
His sharp tongued wife golde norma crane orders their five daughters 19 year old tzeitel.