Jerry Bock

Fiddler on the Roof: If I Were a Rich Man

One of Broadway’s most successful pairings has been composer Jerry Bock (b. 1928) with lyricist Sheldon Harnick (b.1924), who had their first big hit together with Fiorello! (1959), for which they won both a Tony Award (Best Musical) and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. But without a doubt their best known musical is Fiddler on the Roof (1964), which won nine Tony’s and broke box office records. Loosely based on Tevye the Milkman, by Ukrainian author Sholem Aleichem (1859-1916), the story centers on a peasant trying to keep his headstrong daughters true to the old Jewish traditions, while simultaneously trying to ignore the social upheaval he faces in the tsarist Russia of 1905. As he drags his dairy wagon around after his horse has gone lame, “Tevye” daydreams of how things might be... If I Were a Rich Man. Really, who would it hurt?

--Intermezzo Sunday Concerts, November 18, 2007 (Bella Voce Cabaret)