FIDDLER ON THE ROOF: FROM THE PALE OF SETTLEMENT TO THE BROADWAY STAGE with Dr. Avi Blitz

ZOOM

THURSDAYS, 7:30 – 8:45 PM

Nov 7, 14, 21; Dec. 5

Explore the world of author Sholem Aleichem, the man whose stories inspired the Broadway musical, Fiddler on the Roof. Begin by reading The Railroad Stories and consider what kind of world Sholem Aleichem inhabited. Read the tales of Tevye the Dairyman and consider how each of Tevye’s daughters represents a different future for the Jewish people. Look at the rise of Yiddish theater in New York and reflect on the conditions that made the production of Fiddler on the Roof possible. Finally, we will watch Tevya, a 1939 Yiddish film adaptation of the stories, which we will compare with the 1971 film of the Broadway show. Dr. Avi Blitz will be our guide as we compare how the Broadway musical changed the original stories to align with Jewish-American realities and explore the ways in which the play speaks to a universal immigrant experience in the United States.

Tuition: $80