CMU School of Drama


Wednesday, July 11, 2018

How Do You Say ‘Tradition’ in Yiddish?

The New York Times: Yiddish was the language spoken by Tevye the milk peddler and the other shtetl characters depicted in the stories that inspired “Fiddler on the Roof,” yet in this country the landmark musical has never been performed professionally in that savory and supple tongue. Until now.

1 comment:

Ariella Grossberg said...

I am beyond happy that theater has come out with a more "ethnic" version of Fiddler on the Roof. Although I absolutely love the musical in English, if not performed in the right tastes the musical could be very insulting to Jews. I think that since they made a new version in Yiddish, and with slightly different themes of songs, it is less insulting to Jews and shows the beauty of Yiddish. A person in the article brought up how the events of Fiddler on the Roof is reoccurring right now in the sense of Mexican immigration to America and refugees from the Middle East coming to America. I think that it was also well done that they have an English and Russian translation while watching the musical so it is more universalized. I also think that it is really great how different countries are adapting the Fiddler on the Roof to fit their dialect.