Los Angeles Times - 23.08.2019

LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR S FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2019E3

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AT THE MOVIES

How successful has “Fid-
dler on the Roof ” been?
Maybe a little reminder is in
order.
Winner of nine Tonys, for
almost 10 years the longest-
running musical in Broad-
way history and revived
there a full five times, its ap-
peal is so universal that it’s
playing somewhere in the
world every single day,
playing more than any other
show.
Given all that, it’s easy to
lose track of how hugely un-
likely a success this adapt-
ation of a group of Yiddish
short stories wasand the
struggles that were neces-
sary before all those good
things happened. Which is
where “Fiddler: A Miracle of
Miracles” comes in.
As directed by Max
Lewkowicz, this engaging
and enlightening documen-
tary is stuffed with anec-
dotes, history and informa-
tion. It makes excellent use
of both new interviews and
carefully selected archival
footage to reveal the build-
ing blocks of all this accom-
plishment.
It also offers visual evi-
dence of exactly how exten-
sive the show’s reach has
been, the way multiple cul-
tures around the world feel
this story is specifically
about them.

We see clips from produc-

tions in Japanese, Thai and

Dutch, and we hear every-

one from opera legend Bryn

Terfel to the Temptations

singing the show’s iconic

songs.

And for those who can’t

get to Manhattan, we even

hear star Steven Skybell

singing a song (translated as

“If I Were a Rothschild”)

from New York’s current

red-hot Yiddish-language

production.

All this is especially ironic

given that when the original

“Fiddler” was trying to get

produced, voices were loud

and persistent that nobody

was going to want to see it.

Based on short stories

from the great Yiddish writ-

er Sholom Aleichem about a

milkman named Tevye and

his relationship with God,

his wife and his family of

marriageable daughters, it

was a landmark in American

musical theater because

outsiders told their own

story and made it the center

of popular culture.

Because the outsiders

were Jewish, it was widely

assumed no one outside the

faith would come to see it.

“What am I going to do for an

audience,” one producer

asked, “once I run out of

Hadassah members?”

The show’s creators,

book writer Joseph Stein,

composer Jerry Bock and

lyricist Sheldon Harnick,

were mightily discouraged

from pursuing their idea.

“Jews fleeing pogroms?”

they were told. “Are you out

of your mind?”

It was Harnick who got

things started when he read

another Sholom Aleichem

work, “Wandering Stars,”

and thought there might be

a musical there. Stein

steered the trio to the Tevye

stories, and the three men

worked on it in their spare

time as a passion project

they refused to abandon.

One of the treats of the

documentary, in fact, are ex-

cerpts from the tapes Bock,

who did extensive research

in traditional Jewish melo-

dies, sent to lyricist Harnick

when he reworked some-

thing that he thought had

possibilities.

So it’s almost chilling, af-

ter hearing Bock’s voice say-

ing he’s come up with some-

thing “bubbly and spirited

and kind of kooky,” to hear

the unmistakable strains of

“If I Were A Rich Man”

played for the first time.

“Fiddler” was brought to

Broadway by legendary pro-

ducer Harold Prince, and all

the voices in the documenta-

ry agree that his decision to

hire Jerome Robbins as di-

rector/choreographer was

key even though, Robbins bi-

ographer Amanda Vaill

notes, “he had a complicated

and conflicted feelings

about his Judaism.”

Robbins’ key idea, as we

see in a handwritten memo,

was to “celebrate and ele-

vate the life of the shtetl,” the

small communities where

Eastern European Jews

lived. In fact, it was Robbins

who encouraged the writing

of the key song “Tradition.”

Things went less

smoothly with star Zero

Mostel, who had issues with

Robbins because he’d

named names of commu-

nists during the blacklist

era; something he did, the

film posits, because he was

threatened with exposure as

a homosexual.

Among the other aspects

of the show that are hard to

believe is that when it

opened in Detroit for an out-

of-town tryout, Variety

opined that it had no memo-

rable songs. Robbins

worked tirelessly to improve

things, adding “Do You Love

Me” and cutting a number

called “When Messiah

Comes.”

In addition to people inti-

mately involved with “Fid-

dler,” such as original cast

members Austin Pendleton

and Joanna Merlin, the doc-

umentary interviews ran-

dom cultural figures like

Abraham Foxman of the

Anti-Defamation League,

not always to fascinating ef-

fect.

The most engaging per-

son is “Hamilton’s” Lin-Ma-

nuel Miranda, who supplies

movies of his own wedding

celebration where he and his

father-in-law surprise his

bride with a rousing rendi-

tion of “To Life.”

It’s a moment to treasure,

a further reminder of a show

whose reach continues to ex-

pand.

‘Fiddler:

A Miracle

of Miracles’

Rated: PG-13, for some

thematic

elements/disturbing

images.

Running time: 1 hour,

32 minutes

Playing: Laemmle Royal,

West Los Angeles;

Laemmle Town Center 5,

Encino; Edwards Westpark

8, Irvine: Edwards Rancho

Niguel 8, Laguna Niguel

ACTORZero Mostel as Tevye, center, with the beloved musical’s cast on opening night in New York in 1964.

Roadside Attractions / Samuel Goldwyn Films

REVIEW

‘Fiddler: A Miracle of

Miracles’ tugs the heart

The documentary

goes deep inside the

legendary musical and

how it struggled to

become a success.

KENNETH TURAN
FILM CRITIC

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