With a national touring production hitting Los Angeles April 16 and a Yiddish version now playing off-Broadway, “Fiddler on the Roof” is still a hot property 55 years after it opened on Broadway. The iconic musical about life in a Jewish shtetl in Czarist Russia is also the subject Max Lewkowicz’s documentary “Fiddler: Miracle of Miracles.” It tells the story of its creation in New York City In the early 1960s as well as its legacy, influences, and impact.
The film includes background on author Sholem Aleichem, whose stories are the basis of the show; footage of international “Fiddler” productions and choreographer Jerome Robbins at work; and interviews with lyricist Sheldon Harnick, producer Hal Prince, actor Austin Pendleton, Chaim Topol, who starred in the film version; and such notables as Itzhak Perlman, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Fran Lebowitz.
“Fiddler on the Roof” won nine Tony Awards and was the reigning longest-running Broadway musical for nearly a decade. There have been five revivals since the original Broadway production in 1964.
Roadside Attractions and Samuel Goldwyn Films will release “Fiddler: Miracle of Miracles” this summer.
