Fiddler on the Roof
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Culture How ‘Downton Abbey’ Plundered the Story of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
Lord Grantham is Tevye the Milkman. As the trials and tribulations marking the third season of BBC’s “Downton Abbey” came to a close, the realization hit me: Julian Fellowes has created a WASP version of “Fiddler on the Roof.” Despite obvious differences, the fundamental premise is identical: how a proud man with three daughters copes…
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Culture The History of Yenta’s and its Dirty Roots
Read a follow-up post by Ezra Glinter on the true Yiddish history of the word “Yenta.” Pssst! Wanna know a juicy secret? Get this: The most well-known Yiddish word describing women doesn’t mean what we think it does. I’m no linguist, but after spending a little time on several authoritative Yiddish dictionaries, I’m convinced that…
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Culture My Jewish American Girl
I was never a Barbie kind of girl. While my friends collected armies of pink, plastic mannequins — oh, the sequined gowns and magenta workout getups and never-ending ponytails of faux blond locks, not to mention Barbie’s Corvette and three-story dream house, complete with working elevator, garage and pool — I was given educational toys….
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Opinion Death of Tamara Brooks, 70, Robs Theodore Bikel of Treasured Companion
Sunrise, sunset. On May 2, Turner Classic Movies celebrated Theodore (Theo) Bikel’s 88th birthday by airing six of his films – by and large, as it happens, not the most memorable among them. Not counting television roles, Bikel – or Theo, since I write as his friend – has appeared in more than 40 films,…
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The Schmooze A Picture Out of Focus
Is Broadway ready for dancing girls in the Warsaw ghetto? Can an American musical high kick through the darkest moments of Jewish history and still avoid giving offense, or worse, falling into kitsch? “The People in the Picture,” a new musical playing at the Roundabout theater until June 19, raises this question, treading where even…
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The Schmooze Tevye Like You Have Never Seen Him Before
What do you get when Russian pogroms are set in the world of urban dance competitions? A breakdancing Tevye. A spoof trailer and mash-up of “Fiddler on the Roof” and “You Got Served” features the Fiddler cast dancing to Ludacris and Method Man. Watch the video for some new moves
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The Schmooze May You Be Like Jerry and Like Joseph
Yesterday I was watching Nightly News with Brian Williams and was surprised to see that Sparky Anderson got a five-minute tribute but Jerry Bock, the beloved composer of “Fiddler on the Roof,” didn’t get a mention. I have a personal stake in this, as I write musicals and often worry about posterity. Mr. Bock leaves…
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The Schmooze ‘Fiddler’ Writer Joseph Stein Dies
It’s hard not to hum “Sunrise, Sunset” (swiftly flow the years…) when reporting the death of Joseph Stein, the playwright who wrote the Semitic-kitsch musical classic “Fiddler on the Roof.” According to the BBC, Stein died at a New York hospital from complications after a fall; the writer had been in care suffering from prostate…
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