The Musical starts with this song where Tevye, the main character, introducing the audience to the town of Anatevka. In an outright manner, he and the chorus introduce us to the importance of one of the main themes, tradition. He says "Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof". In this song we learn the traditional roles expected of the mother, father, daughter, and son, as well as that of the priest and matchmaker.
Scene 1 introduces us to Tevye's family and home. We meet his wife Golde and his five daughters. The Matchmaker Yente shows up and tells Golde that she has made a match for the oldest daughter with the wealthy Lazar Wolf. She leaves and the three oldest daughters (Tzeitel, Hodel, and Chava) discuss who they'd like to be matched with. We are also introduced to the tailor Motel who is supposedly friends with Tzeitel.
Scene 1 goes directly into this song where the three oldest daughters discuss the good along with the bad of matchmaking. They make fun of the Matchmaker and express their wishes for someone young and handsome along with their fear of someone old and mean.
Tevye often narrates what is happening by talking to God. This scene begins with Tevye lamenting his horse losing a shoe. This turns into him singing If I Were a Rich Man. Afterwards, his neighbors and him discuss news that in another village in Russia, all Jews were forced to leave their homes (thus foreshadowing the ending). A young scholar named Perchik comments on how they should do something about it and everyone dismisses him except Tevye. Perchik offers to teach Tevye's daughters in exchange for food and he accepts. They go off to celebrate the Sabbath together.
This song comes in the middle of scene 2 and it is a amusing solo where Tevye daydreams about what his house and family and life would look like if God had blessed him with riches. It is an amusing look into another main theme in this musical which is poverty.
In this scene we get to see the relationship between Tevye and Golde which consists mostly of sharp banter. Perchik is introduced to the daughters and has a bit of banter with Hodel, thus setting up their relationship to grow. Golde tells Tevye to go see Lazar Wolf while Tzeitel and Motel discuss their love for one another and how Motel needs to tell Tevye before she is betrothed. Motel says he will but then chickens out right before Sabbath Prayer.
This song does not add anything particularly significant to the plot, however, it gives us more of a look into the religion that this family holds so close and what types of things a mother and father pray for their children.
In this scene Tevye meets Lazar Wolf at a bar to discuss. There is a humorous interaction where Tevye thinks he is talking about buying his new milk cow while Lazar Wolf is talking about marrying his daughter. Tevye admits to the audience that he does not like Lazar Wolf but will agree to the match because he is wealthy. This hammers down the importance of wealth (especially to the poor) within this play and the two of them drink to the match.
This is a jovial song where the men in the bar cheer about life and what little things they are grateful that God has given them. It also has a part in it where the Russians at the bar drink a toast to the new couple, thus giving us hope that maybe the Russians and the Jews can share this town peacefully after all.
This is a short scene with Tevye and Lazar Wolf stumbling out of the bar together. However, this leads to Tevye having a discussion with the Constable who warns him as a friend that the cops around these parts will have to cause a bit of trouble in the Jewish community soon to assure the Inspector that the cops are doing their duty. This scene rips away the hope and joy from the last scene and replaces it with an impending dread as to what is in store for this community.
Back at home, Perchik teaches the daughters Bible stories that agree with his revolutionist agenda. Hodel and Perchik talk and flirt intellectually and the two of them dance. Tevye announces that Tzeitel will marry Lazar Wolf and while Golde is extremely pleased, Tzeitel is not. In private, Motel tells Tevye that he and Tzeitel gave each other a pledge, that they love each other and want to be married.
Tevye laments that young people making matches for themselves breaks tradition and is more than prepared to deny the two. However, upon realizing that his daughter well and truly loves Motel, he gives in and allows them to marry.
This lighthearted song lets us bask in the joy of newly engaged young lovers and gives us even more of a look into the importance of religion to these people as Motel compares himself to all the heroes of the Bible for being allowed to marry his love.
This scene sets us up The Dream where Tevye pretends to have a dream about Golde's ancestors in order to convince her to allow Tzeitel and Motel to marry.
This song, while very humorous, informs us how the only things willing to change Golde's mind about money are family and faith (dreams are very spiritual things). So, when Tevye tells Golde that he had a dream where her grandmother Tzeitel came from the grave to tell them to let their eldest marry Motel, she is fully convinced. Tevye also says he dreamed that Lazar Wolf's previous wife also returned from the grave to threaten to kill Tzeitel if she marries Lazar Wolf.
This scene begins as another glimpse into the gossipy nature of the people here in Anatevka as the news is spread that Tzeitel is going to be marrying Motel and not Lazar Wolf. Some people are pleased by the news and some are not, but everyone congratulates Motel nonetheless. Chava is harassed by a few Russians until one saves her and compliments her for reading. She does not want to talk to him because he is not Jewish, but he flirts relentlessly and eventually gets her to borrow a book from him.
This slow, melodious song portrays the steady, melancholic passage of time. It allows Golde and Tevye to wonder at how their daughter got so old, and it allows Hodel and Perchik to wonder about when they will be married. This song explores the passage of time to different people and what thoughts go through their heads at the wedding of a loved one.
This last scene before the end of act one explores tradition, religion, and the relationship between the Jews and the Russians. At the wedding, Lazar Wolf gets into an argument with Tevye about breaking his word and soon the whole town in arguing about the unorthodox manner of the match and tradition until Perchik stands up and tells them all that their tradition is ridiculous. To prove it, he goes over to the women and asks Hodel to dance. People argue about sin and tradition and after Perchik proves it is not a sin, Hodel dances with him. Tevye decides that he would like to dance with his wife, and soon all the men and women are dancing together except for Lazar Wolf and Yente. The dancing is broken up by the police who come in and destroy everything and beat Perchik.
Right away in Act 2 we are thrust back into the precarious political situation we left Act 1 in. We also explore more about love and tradition and where one beats the other. Perchik tells Hodel that he will be going back to Kiev to aid the revolution. He then proposes to Hodel and she accepts. They tell Tevye they are going to be married with or without his permission. He gives them his blessing because he can see once again how much Hodel loves him. He tells Golde and she is mad at him at first, but then they get down to discussing whether they love each other. The scene ends very sweetly with them admitting their love.
This, like Miracle of Miracles, is the young suitor singing about how happy he is to be engaged to his love. However, unlike Motel's song, Perchik's is much more sensible and level-headed, while still portraying a great deal of affection. Much less faith and much more logic.
This is also like the first Tradition Reprise in that Tevye speaks to the audience about his dilemma about a daughter's engagement. He laments that they aren't even asking his permission, until he sees how much love is in his daughter's eyes. Here, one again, we see Tevye let go of Tradition for the sake of his family's happiness and love.
In this song directly following the others, Tevye asks Golde if she loves him. It is interesting to see this old married couple realize that they have never said "I love you" to one another. They unravel their entire relationship in this song to entertain the idea that maybe they didn't love each other at first, but they certainly have grown to love each other.
In this scene we are given a very serious plot point (Perchik being arrested) in a very comical scene and song where Yente starts a rumor and the gossip of town turns it ridiculous. Hodel receives a letter from Perchik which Yente reads. She then starts the entire rumor and at the end claims that "That's what comes from men and women dancing". As funny a line as this is, it satirizes and enforces how strongly tradition reigns over some people's lives.
Tevye is parted with his second oldest daughter as the two of them wait for a train to take her to Perchik in Siberia. He tries to convince her not to go, but she compares Perchik to men from the Bible and sings about how he is her home now and she must go to him.
This is the first solo song we get from a woman in this show. Subsequently, this is the first time we get to hear a woman truly express her feelings. Matchmaker is a sort of frivolous song sung by girls who don't yet know love. The Hodel from that song is very different from the Hodel in this song. This song also explores the theme of home and what it means to leave "home" when a person is your home.
This is a very short scene which exists only to tell us that Motel and Tzeitel have had a new arrival and to enforce the gossipy nature of the generic villagers.
The previous scene bleeds right into this one where we see Motel and Tzeitel have a new sewing machine and a new child. Fyedka begs Chava to let him talk to her father. She tells him no and proceeds to tell her father that she loves Fyedka. Tevye has already bent the rules for two of his daughters and he puts his fist down hard saying Chava will not marry Fyedka because he is not Jewish.
The scene begins with Tevye pulling his own cart and lamenting that his horse's leg is lame. Golde rushes in and says that Chava has run away with Fyedka and the two of them have gotten married. Tevye declares that Chava is dead to them and sings to himself about what Chava used to be like. Chava appears and begs for his blessing and acceptance. We see him struggle with this like with his other daughter's before. However, here we see that religion and his own faith is a line he will not cross and he denies her.
This song, very much like Sunrise, Sunset, is a parent wondering how their child grew up so fast. However, unlike the previous song, there is nothing warm and hopeful about this song. He is confused and disappointed about what his daughter has done and he's wondering how she became this way.
This scene begins with the family trying to balance out their recent loss by backpedaling further into tradition and having Yente set up their two young daughters with two young boys from the town. This ends with when a group of the men enter asking about Tevye and the Constable and a rumor. Tevye enters and as he does the Constable enters with an edict that all the Jews are to leave Anatevka within three days.
Scene 7 goes right into the song Anatevka where the people of Anatevka sing about how little their town was/had, but how much it meant to know everybody there, to have community and home. They lament that they will be entering a new strange world as strangers, all alone.
In the final scene of the show we see where everyone is going and how they are dealing with this sudden change being thrust upon them. Tevye, Golde and their two youngest are on their way to America to live with an Uncle. Motel and Tzeitel will move to America once they have enough money. Lazar Wolf is moving to America to live with a brother in law and Yente is traveling to the Holy Lands. Chava stops by to tell her family that she and Fyedka are also moving away on principle. Tefye does not acknowledge her, but he does prompt Tzeitel to say "God be with you" to her. Amidst the sadness and confusion, Yente is still talkative, Motel is still awkward, and Tevye still banters with Golde. The villagers of Anatevka all leave the stage in different directions to show just how split up and alone they all will be in their new lives. However, they are all still themselves.