Fiddler On The Roof Musical

Chaim Topol was so young when he starred as Tevye in the 1971 movie version of the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" that he had to spend more than two hours in the makeup chair every day to transform himself into a middle-aged milkman. The makeup artist would even pluck gray whiskers from the beard of director Norman Jewison and glue them into Topol's eyebrows.

Chaim Topol was so young when he starred as Tevye in the 1971 movie version of the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" that he had to spend more than two hours in the makeup chair every day to transform himself into a middle-aged milkman. The makeup artist would even pluck gray whiskers from the beard of director Norman Jewison and glue them into Topol's eyebrows.

Rosie O'Donnell will join Harvey Fierstein in the Broadway revival of the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" on Sept. 20, the show's producers said. Fierstein plays Tevye the milkman, and O'Donnell will play his wife, Golde, according to a statement released Monday. The show is running at the Minskoff Theater in New York City. O'Donnell, 43, made her Broadway debut in 1994, starring as Rizzo in a revival of "Grease." In 2001 she returned to Broadway to star as the Cat in the Hat in "Seussical."

You know you're in good hands when a show lasts three hours -- and you don't want it to end. Granted, with "Fiddler on the Roof," you're starting off with a classic. First produced on Broadway in 1964, "Fiddler," which features Jerry Bock's music, Sheldon Harnick's lyrics and Joseph Stein's book, based on the beloved stories of Sholem Aleichem, has been a perennial offering at dinner theaters and community playhouses for almost 50 years. However, Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities' present production at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center is a chance to experience this timeless musical in peak form.

You know you're in good hands when a show lasts three hours -- and you don't want it to end. Granted, with "Fiddler on the Roof," you're starting off with a classic. First produced on Broadway in 1964, "Fiddler," which features Jerry Bock's music, Sheldon Harnick's lyrics and Joseph Stein's book, based on the beloved stories of Sholem Aleichem, has been a perennial offering at dinner theaters and community playhouses for almost 50 years. However, Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities' present production at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center is a chance to experience this timeless musical in peak form.

There was a time, a biblical 40 years ago, when Tevye the milkman, seen through the eyes of a Broadway audience in "Fiddler on the Roof," was representative of the Jewish everyman. An impoverished shtetl dweller, filled with fantasies of becoming rich, he was ultimately helpless against the combined forces of persecution and encroaching assimilation.

In an exercise sure to start arguments among music lovers, National Public Radio has created its list of the 100 most important American musical works of the century. The list started with 300 songs suggested by a group of producers, artists and experts familiar to NPR. In mid-October, NPR allowed the public to vote on the selection. More than 13,000 listeners cast their votes online and through the mail. A panel of 15 musicians considered the same 300 songs.

A little bit of turn-of-the-century Russia comes to Port Hueneme this month, as the Cabrillo Music Theatre presents its rousing, tuneful version of the venerable "Fiddler on the Roof." This production is even stronger than the company's recent "Li'l Abner," which was helmed by the same talented creative team, director Linda Stiegler and choreographer Kevin Calvin. The story is simple: Dairyman Tevye and his wife, Golde, have five grown--or quickly growing--daughters.

Sholem Aleichem and Isaac Bashevis Singer have two things in common: More familiar to readers of English than any other Yiddish authors, they are also, arguably, the consummate storytellers of their native literature.

Most of Ventura County's actors, actresses and behind-the-scenes folk enjoy spending the holidays at home with their families. Still, the show must go on. And indeed it does, with a number of local companies providing holiday entertainment, with some of the productions more holiday-related than others. You don't have to know who Sholem Aleichem was to enjoy the richness of "Fiddler on the Roof."

Rosie O'Donnell will join Harvey Fierstein in the Broadway revival of the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" on Sept. 20, the show's producers said. Fierstein plays Tevye the milkman, and O'Donnell will play his wife, Golde, according to a statement released Monday. The show is running at the Minskoff Theater in New York City. O'Donnell, 43, made her Broadway debut in 1994, starring as Rizzo in a revival of "Grease." In 2001 she returned to Broadway to star as the Cat in the Hat in "Seussical."

There was a time, a biblical 40 years ago, when Tevye the milkman, seen through the eyes of a Broadway audience in "Fiddler on the Roof," was representative of the Jewish everyman. An impoverished shtetl dweller, filled with fantasies of becoming rich, he was ultimately helpless against the combined forces of persecution and encroaching assimilation.

Fools and madmen tell commonly truth. --Robert Burton "The Anatomy of Melancholy" In a world gone mad, it is the mad upon whom we sometimes rely to see things clearly. That is the underlying thought in Jean Giraudoux's "The Madwoman of Chaillot," in which a tribunal of madwomen, aided by a ragpicker, defend Paris against a group of speculators determined to rip up the streets of the city in search of oil.

Through July 5: "Liza Lou: 'Back Yard' and 'Kitchen' " and "Beck and Al Hansen: Playing With Matches," Santa Monica Museum of Art. Through Aug. 2: "Marsden Hartley: American Modern," Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University. Through Aug. 2: "Realms of Heroism: Indian Paintings From the Brooklyn Museum," Bowers Museum of Cultural Art. Through Aug. 3: "In Praise of Women: African Sculpture From the Walt Disney-Tishman Art Collection," California African-American Museum.