NY Public Library for the Performing Arts Artistic Producer Evan Leslie Celebrates 50 Years of FIDDLER

BroadwayWorld.com continues our exclusive content series, in collaboration with The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, which delves into the library's unparalleled archives, and resources. Below, check out a piece by Evan Leslie (Artistic Producer, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts) on FIDDLER ON THE ROOF's 50th anniversary:

Over the last couple months I've been spending a lot of time in The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts' reading room, preparing for two upcoming programs that will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Fiddler on the Roof. As the home for the collections of Boris Aronson, Jerry Bock, Zero Mostel, Harold Prince, Jerome Robbins, and Patricia Zipprodt, the Library's archives provide the complete story of Fiddler's creation and ongoing cultural significance.

The Library's Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, for example, has over four hours of reel-to-reel recordings that composer Jerry Bock made for his songwriting partner, lyricist Sheldon Harnick. Sitting alone at his charmingly out-of-tune studio spinet, Bock sang nonsense syllables to melodies that later became, after some insightful word-smithing from Harnick, "If I Were a Rich Man" and "Tradition." In costume designer Patricia Zipprodt's archive, the genesis of each costume garment is detailed in piles of sketches, with character notes and accompanying fabric swatches. Similarly, Boris Aronson's archive holds watercolor masterpiece after watercolor masterpiece, exploring every corner of Tevye's universe. The Library even has director Jerome Robbins' memos to designers, annotated scripts, and audition critiques, along with the letters that producer Harold Prince wrote to Fiddler's first investors.

By sifting through these materials, a simple secret to the show's enduring success and meaning becomes clear. Each of these creators found pure joy in their work, and they all loved collaboration and the creative process.

"Shel I just hit something that I'm... uh... (giggling) very happy about..." Bock says before ecstatically belting through a recording of the first take of a tune that later became "Sunrise, Sunset." In meticulously arranging the wardrobe of each Anatevkite, Zipprodt seems to have personally befriended each character, from Rabbi to street vendor. Aronson's scenic designs are equally crafted with devotion, in homage to his hero Marc Chagall. Even Prince, the most successful producer on Broadway, took the time to answer congratulatory notes, but also every complaint letter, responding with an equal mix of humility and steadfast pride in his creative collaborators.

That miraculous combination of creative passion has fueled Fiddler's success. In the fifty years since Fiddler on the Roof first opened on Broadway, the shtetl of Anatevka has come to life on stages around the world. Bock and Harnick's songs have been translated into a dozen languages, and families from many cultural backgrounds have sympathized with the story of Tevye, Golde, and their daughters.

If you can't join us in person for the Fiddler on the Roof sing-along and 50th anniversary celebration coming up at The Library for the Performing Arts, you can learn more about Fiddler by reading Amanda Vaill's Jerome Robbins biography Somewhere, and Alisa Solomon's Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof.

Photo Credit: The New York Public Library