Overview

Originally entitled "Tevye", the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" is based on "Tevye and his Daughters", or "Tevye the Milkman", and other stories originally published by the Russian Jewish author Sholom Aleichem in 1894. The story centres on Tevye, the father of five daughters, and his attempts to maintain his family and religious traditions while the world and civilization around him change rapidly. He must cope with both the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters - each daughter's choice of husband moves progressively further and further away from established custom, and with the edict of the Tsar that upends his village.