Show guide
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is the beloved Golden Age musical about a Jewish milkman and his family navigating tradition, love, and upheaval in a small Eastern European village.
- Broadway premiere
- 1964
- Music by
- Jerry Bock
- Genre
- Golden Age
- Setting
- 1900s
Fiddler on the Roof: quick answers
What is Fiddler on the Roof about?
- Fiddler on the Roof follows Tevye, a poor Jewish milkman in a small village in Imperial Russia, as he struggles to hold on to tradition while his daughters defy custom in choosing whom to marry, and as rising persecution threatens the whole community.
When did Fiddler on the Roof open on Broadway?
- Fiddler on the Roof opened on Broadway on September 22, 1964, at the Imperial Theatre and ran a record-setting 3,242 performances, the first musical run to pass 3,000 performances. Bartlett Sher's 2015 revival at the Broadway Theatre starred Danny Burstein as Tevye.
Is Fiddler on the Roof a Golden Age musical?
- Yes. It opened in 1964, late in the Golden Age, and is one of the era's landmark book musicals, with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and a book by Joseph Stein based on Sholem Aleichem's Tevye stories.
Where and when is Fiddler on the Roof set?
- Fiddler on the Roof is set in Anatevka, a fictional Jewish village in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia, in or around 1905.
Has Fiddler on the Roof played in London's West End?
- Fiddler on the Roof opened in the West End at Her Majesty's Theatre on February 16, 1967, with Topol as Tevye, and ran 2,030 performances. Trevor Nunn's revival, which moved from the Menier Chocolate Factory to the Playhouse Theatre in 2019, won the Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival.
Is there a Fiddler on the Roof movie?
- Norman Jewison's 1971 film starred Topol as Tevye; it received eight Academy Award nominations and won three.
The story of Fiddler on the Roof
Set in a small Russian village around the turn of the twentieth century, the story follows a dairyman and his family as he tries to hold onto tradition while his daughters make choices about love and marriage that push against long held customs. Around this family drama looms the growing threat of persecution and displacement facing the village's Jewish community.
The show balances warm domestic comedy with real historical weight, using one family's story to explore how communities adapt, and sometimes cannot adapt, to changing times and outside forces beyond their control.
The music and the makers
The score was written by composer Jerry Bock, whose music draws on Eastern European Jewish folk traditions to root the show in its specific cultural setting. The songs blend hearty, communal celebration numbers with more intimate, reflective ballads, giving the score both warmth and gravity.
That grounding in traditional musical idioms helps the show feel authentic to its world, and the songs remain some of the most widely recognized and performed in the classic Broadway songbook.
Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway
Fiddler on the Roof became one of the defining hits of the Golden Age of Broadway musicals, admired for the way it married an intimate family story to universal themes of tradition, change, and resilience. Its emotional honesty and rich sense of community struck a deep chord with audiences.
Decades later, the show remains a touchstone of the American musical theater canon, frequently revived and beloved for its combination of humor, heartbreak, and one of the most enduring scores in Broadway history.
Fiddler on the Roof: frequently asked questions
When did Fiddler on the Roof open on Broadway?
It opened in 1964.
Who composed Fiddler on the Roof?
The music is by Jerry Bock.
What is Fiddler on the Roof about?
It follows a Jewish dairyman and his family in a small village around 1900 as they navigate tradition, marriage, and the threat of upheaval.
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