THEATER TALK to Celebrate 50 Years of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF This Weekend

September 22, 2014 marks the 50th anniversary of the beloved Broadway musical Fiddler On The Roof - music and lyrics by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, book by Joseph Stein, produced by Harold Prince and directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins. To celebrate the classic show, THEATER TALK welcomes critic and dramaturg Alisa Solomon of the Columbia University Journalism School to discuss her new book, Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof.

Hosted by Michael Riedel of the New York Post and Susan Haskins, the new THEATER TALK episode premieres in the New York metropolitan area Friday, Sept. 19 (2014) at 1 AM (Saturday morning) on Thirteen/PBS, and repeats on CUNY TV* Saturday 9/20 at 8:30 PM, Sunday 9/21 at 12:30 PM, and Monday 9/22 at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM.

In Wonder of Wonders, Ms. Solomon traces how the stories of Tevye the dairyman, a character created by Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem in 1894, was transformed into the blockbuster musical, which achieved astonishing popularity, not only among Jews but with audiences around the world.

Fiddler originally starred the late Zero Mostel as Tevye. He was succeeded in the role by countless other actors including: Luther Adler, Herschel Bernardi, Harry Goz, Paul Lipson and Leonard Nimoy. A film version was released in 1971, directed by Norman Jewison starring Chaim Topol as Tevye. The show was revived on Broadway in 1976 (Zero Mostel), 1981 (Herschel Bernardi), 1990 (Topol), and 2004 (Alfred Molina, followed by Harvey Fierstein). Some of its enduring songs are Matchmaker, Matchmaker; Tradition; If I Were a Rich Man; and Sunrise, Sunset.

THEATER TALK is jointly produced by the not-for-profits Theater Talk Productions and CUNY TV. The program is taped in the Himan Brown TV and Radio Studios at The City University of New York (CUNY TV) in Manhattan, and is distributed to 100+ participating public television stations nationwide. THEATER TALK is made possible in part by The New York State Council on the Arts, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The TDF/TAP Plus Program, The CUNY TV Foundation and The Friends of THEATER TALK.

*CUNY TV, the City University of New York television station, is broadcast in the New York metropolitan area on digital Ch. 25.3, and cablecast in the five boroughs of New York City on Ch. 75 (Time Warner and Cablevision/Optimum), Ch. 77 (RCN), and Ch. 30 (Verizon FiOS). The show is available online anytime at www.cuny.tv and www.theatertalk.org and via iTunes podcasts. CUNY TV is also live-streamed for viewing on various devices at www.Aereo.com.

Pictured: Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem, "Fiddler" historian Alisa Solomon, and actor Zero Mostel, the first Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof"