Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles

Max Lewkowicz’s richly detailed documentary celebrates the illustrious Broadway show Fiddler on the Roof, the evergreen shtetl-set musical first staged in 1964 with choreography and direction by Jerome Robbins and starring Zero Mostel as Teyve, the milkman.

Contributions from a range of interviewees – including people attached to the original production, such as producer Hal Prince and lyricist Sheldon Harnick, and famous fans of the show, including Fran Lebowitz and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda – help to structure the history lesson about how Fiddler became a massive international hit. That account is filled out with footage of recent productions from around the world as well as the 1971 film version, starring Chaim Topol and directed by Norman Jewison.  What makes this documentary are the organically introduced digressions into, among many other things, the history of the Pale of Settlement, Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem and Marc Chagall. (modified from Leslie Felperin, Guardian)

USA 2019, 97 mins, English

Director Max Lewkowicz