Barbara Isenberg Chronicles FIDDLER from Stage to Screen in New Book TRADITION!

Just in time for the opening of the new Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof (directed by Bartlett Sher, opening Dec. 17th, 2015) St. Martin's Press has published TRADITION! The Highly Improbable, Ultimately Triumphant Broadway-to-Hollywood Story of Fiddler on the Roof, The World's Most Beloved Musical. The book hits shelves today, August 25, 2015 (ISBN: 978-1-250-07537-6).

Since it first opened on Broadway in fall, 1964, Fiddler on the Roof has rarely not been on the stage somewhere, and that includes schools, army bases and countries from Argentina to Japan. Award-winning journalist Barbara Isenberg, author of MAKING IT BIG: THE DIARY OF A BROADWAY MUSICAL and CONVERSATIONS WITH FRANK GEHRY, weaves together behind-the-scenes tales and anecdotes on the making of the show and film with thoughts on its cultural importance and resonance for such an enormous and diverse audience.

Isenberg interviewed almost everyone still living who worked on the original Broadway production, the film adaptation and significant revivals, including Harold Prince, Sheldon Harnick, Joseph Stein, Jerry Bock, Austin Pendleton, Joanna Merlin, Norman Jewison, Topol, Harvey Fierstein and others.

The result is a lively, Broadway- and Hollywood-infused chronicle of the making of this great musical from the moment of first inspiration to opening night on Broadway. Isenberg also looks at the creation of the film and the travels of Fiddler around the globe. Like Ted Chapin's classic Everything Was Possible about the musical Follies, Isenberg's TRADITION! brings us to the heart of Fiddler's creation. A fascinating look at a worldwide cultural phenomenon, TRADITION! is the book for everyone who loves Fiddler and can sing along with the original cast album (or the soundtrack!).

About the new Broadway production: Rediscover the joy as a Broadway tradition returns: Fiddler on the Roof. Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher (South Pacific and The King & I) brings this theatrical masterpiece from Tony winner Joseph Stein and Pulitzer Prize winners Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick back to life! Starring Tony nominees Danny Burstein and Jessica Hecht, this reimagining will introduce a new generation to this uplifting celebration of faith, family and, of course, tradition!

BARBARA ISENBERG is an award-winning journalist who has been writing and lecturing about theater for more than three decades. She is the author of Making It Big: The Diary of a Broadway Musical, State of the Arts: California Artists Talk About Their Work, and Conversations with Frank Gehry. A former staff reporter for the Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal, she has also written for Time, Esquire, The Huffington Post, and London's The Sunday Times. She lives in Los Angeles.