No. 30. “If I Were a Rich Man”
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1964). By Jerry Bock (music), Sheldon Harnick (lyrics), and Joseph Stein (book). Based on stories by Sholom Aleichem.
Fall, 1964. You’re attending Fiddler on the Roof, a new musical based on short stories set in turn-of-the-century Russian shtetels1. You’re skeptical that three hours of singing and dancing peasants will be a good time, but it stars comic genius Zero Mostel, so that’s something to look forward to. And composer Jerry Bock and lyricist Sheldon Harnick have written some other charming musicals that embrace historical dramatic and musical themes (Fiorello!andShe Loves Me). The curtain rises on a small hut on largely barren stage. A lively painted backdrop inspired by the paintings of Marc Chagall evokes a small impoverished village, but one full of color and movement. An actual fiddler sits atop the hut as Zero Mostel comes forward and speaks directly to the audience. “A fiddler on the roof…sounds crazy, no?” Mostel plays Tevye, a milkman and our protagonist (and guide) for the evening. He launches into an opening number (“Tradition”) that introduces the main characters and the show’s theme. According to Tevye, everyone in the village (Anatekva) is like that fiddler, “Trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune / Without breaking his neck.” Following entrenched cultural traditions keeps them balanced. We then meet three of his daughters, who sing a delightful song with excitement and caution about their arranged-marriage prospects. (They subsequently spend the evening escalating their defiance of tradition—the eldest shuns the matchmaker’s choice, instead marrying for love; the middle moves to Siberia to be with the revolutionary she loves; and the youngest falls for a Russian cossack.) Then Tevye returns, talks to god, and asks himself how things would be different, “If I Were a Rich Man.”
“If I Were a Rich Man” is one of the most instantly recognizable solos in Broadway history. If a show or movie needs a quick establishing shot showing that someone was in a musical, there’s a good chance you’ll see them in dressed like a Russian peasant at the turn of the 20th century with his arms raised singing about how he’d “bidi-bidi bum.” It also encapsulates what made Fiddler…, at one time, Broadway’s longest running musical2. Fiddler…was a labor of love for the writers—Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, and Joseph Stein—and director/choreographer Jerome Robbins. They spent years developing it in a time when shows could go from conception to opening night in a matter of months. They had major concerns about the universal appeal of the somewhat niche subject matter. Robbins would ask what the show was about, not what happens but what its centered around thematically. They realized it was about the conflict between honoring and evolving tradition in a rapidly changing world. Fiddler…became an early version of the “concept musical,” in the sense that every scene and song explored a different faced of the theme. However, they explore these themes through seemingly traditional, linear narrative. In “…Rich Man” Tevye imagines an “old world” version of success, centered on forgotten luxuries (like stairs) and religious devotion. Everyone in the audience feels the sentiment of wanting to be wealthy, even if the examples Tevye mentions are not directly relatable. Bock and Harnick’s score filtered traditional folk styles through a modern Broadway sensibility, with witty lyrics that nonetheless felt appropriate for the characters. Joseph Stein’s book finds a central driving action in a collection of short stories. Although neither Bock, Harnick, Stein, nor Robbins reached this level of success again—but few other musicals are this well written and have experienced the same continued popular appeal.
Recommended Recording: ”If I Were a Rich Man,” Fiddler on the Roof (1964 Original Broadway Cast)
This is about as definitive as a performance gets by one of theater’s most distinctive comics. The creative team utilmately took issue with Zero Mostel’s tendency to go off script, but he tows the line on this recording. His squaking geese alone are worth the price of admission.
Alternate Performances
Fiddler… has received ~59 cast recordings, plus many “___ Sings/Plays Songs from…” albums. The song “If I Were a Rich Man” had an exepected second life when Louchie Lou & Michie One adapted and interpolated the song into the 1993 reggae song “Rich Girl,” later remade by Gwen Stefani in 2004.
1971 Film - Norman Jewison’s screen adaption was the last successful hoorah of the Road Show musicals, and opened while the musical was still running on Broadway. Topol, who opened Fiddler in London, stars as Tevye. (The creators didn’t want Mostel because of his mugging and character-breaking during the original run). It’s a good movie full of beautiful location shots and period costumes with a talented cast. It’s also incredibly serious and long, and the realistic settings are basically what Boris Aronson’s Broadway set wanted to avoid. John Williams (yes, that John Williams, the Jaws and Star Wars guy) won his first Oscar for adapting and conducting the score.
A Shoggoth on the Roof (2003) - There are ~59 cast recordings of Fiddler…, but only one is a full fledged parody about H.P. Lovecraft Lore. 2003’s A Shoggoth on the Roof is that cast recording. “If I Were a Rich Man” becomes “If I Were a Deep One.”
2018 Off-Broadway Cast - Fiddler has seen many Broadwaay revivals, including three recreations of the original production and two largely new stagings that were met with mixed reviews. A 2018 revival performed in Yiddish (with English supertitles), however, proved so successful in it’s original limited National Yddish Theatre Fokslbiene run that it went on to an extended commercial run and a return engagement. Steven Skybell stars as Tevye. “If I Were a Rich Man” translates to “Ven Ikh Bin a Rotshild.”
Is it Covered by The Rat Pack, Audra McDonald, or Glee?
The Rat Pack - Sammy Davis Jr. did a great performance of “If I Were a Rich Man” on a 1969 variety show. A 1977 special, Frank Sinatra and Friends includes opera star Robert Merrill singing “…Rich Man” which then segues into Sinatra, Merrill, and Dean Martin singing “The Oldest Established” from Guys and Dolls.
Audra McDonald has not recorded anything from Fiddler… that I can find, but she is no stranger to Bock and Harnick, recording songs from Fiorello!, She Loves Me, and The Apple Tree.
In the Wings
Song No. 31 will drop next week. But before we go, I need you to watch this video of Josh Groban playing Tevye in high school musical—it’s seriously amazing. If you want some fun lore, I suggest looking up “Fiddler on the Roof Joseph Stein It’s So Japanese.” If books is more your speed, I recommend Barbara Isenberg’s Tradition! The Highly Improbable, Ultimately Triumphant Broadway-to-Hollywood Story of Fiddler on the Roof, the World’s Most Beloved Musical
Catch up with all the songs to date!
It’s worth noting that, when I looked up “shtetl” on Merriam-Webster to confirm the spelling of its singular and plural forms, 2 of the 3 examples showing the word in context were about Fiddler…
It’s current ranking is 19, behind Hamilton and 42nd Street.