Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler on the Roof is a 1964 musical play with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters (or Tevye the Dairyman) and other tales by Sholem Aleichem, and spawned a 1971 film adaptation.

Tevye

 * A fiddler on the roof. Sounds crazy, no?  But in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof, trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck.  It isn't easy.  You may ask, why do we stay here if it's so dangerous?  We stay because Anatevka is our home.  And how do we keep our balance?  That I can tell you in a word—tradition!


 * Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof.