Fiddler on the Roof (Musical)
This Musical has special meaning to me. This was the very first play that I saw in person, and I just loved it. I was in Junior High and had a crush on the boy that played the main character. So listening to this music brings back memories of watching him perform. I am not the only person who has loved this Musical. It ran for eight years on Broadway and is now performed all over the world and in high schools and junior high’s.
When asked what the Fiddler on the Roof was about Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick who wrote the music and lyrics for it said that it was about a father with three daughters and no money. However, when pushed further for a deeper meaning they replied that it is about the disillusion of this community’s life. It is about the breakup of tradition. In Anatevka tradition is everything. In the song Tradition they talk about how, “we have traditions for everything, how to eat, how to sleep, even how to wear clothes.” This town thrives on tradition…that is until people start wanting to change tradition. With the presence of soliders who are sent for the czar things start to change. But Tevya warns that “without traditions our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof.”
Hearing Bock and Sheldon talk about their music was fascinating. One of my favorite songs from the play is If I were a Rich Man. Bock talks about how the song used to be If I had a horse, but they didn’t want to have to bring a live horse on stage so they decided to change the song. Another thing that I thought was interesting was when they talked about the words that they used in the songs. Both Bock and Sheldon had attended another play where there were Yiddish words throughout the play and every time they were spoken the audience would erupt into laughter, but that was not what was supposed to happen. So Bock and Sheldon were very careful on how they used Yiddish, Hebrew or Jewish words. They wanted the audience to be able to understand what was going on and if they were to laugh at certain parts, they would take it out of the next performance. To me it was nice to see that respect for the Jewish/Yiddish culture. They wanted to be able to show the culture without mocking it.
"Back in the Saddle Again"
Whenever I hear this song what I picture in my mind is a cowboy in the west trying to survive who has been beaten up time and time again, but he keeps on getting up and is back in the Saddle again ready for the next challenge.
This song was written by Ray Whitley. I loved the story behind this song. Ray received a phone call at four in the morning one morning and he was told that he had four hours to write a song and come to studio to record it. He hung up the phone and went back to bed where he told his wife, “well it looks like I am back in the saddle again.” She asked why and he told her about the recording in a few hours. She said to him well at least you have a good title and he asked what she was talking about and she said, “Back in the Saddle Again.” He wrote the song and it became a huge hit.
This song became Gene Autry’s theme song and he ended up recording many dozens of different versions of the song. Gene’s favorite one was right after he returned from fighting in World War 2. Upon his return Roy Rogers was the new favorite Cowboy. A somber Gene recorded this song again proving that he was back.
I thought about the American Dream as I listened to this song. It pretty much sums up what people think about how you can get beat up by life and get right back up and be ready to go for the next challenge that life will throw your way.
I chose this Musical because again it holds a special place in my heart. This was another play that I saw as a young girl. I haven’t seen it since and at the time didn’t understand all the political meanings that were behind it. It was very interesting to me to be able to find out more about the Play itself.
This was Broadway’s first and best story about the true Broadway. It talked about the tough times of Broadway and how it is hard to make it. The show was not as innovative as Oklahoma or as Political as South Pacific, but it was an unreal real show. It was an unreal show based on tough reality. The show was constantly trying to become better. Out of the first 41 times Guys and Dolls was performed it was changed 40 times. Changes were made after the performances to enhance and make it better. In 1950 Guys and Dolls won all the major Tony awards.
One of my favorite songs from this musical is sung by Adelaide. She is the main guy Nathan Detroits fiancée and they have been engaged for 14 years. She sings about how she has developed a cough from waiting for so long. This song has humor and charm and audiences, like me, love it.
"My Girl"
I grew up listening to this song. I come from a family of mostly girls and so my dad would sing this song to us and to my mom all the time. I knew that it was a popular song since it has survived all these years.
My Girl was a song that changed the Temptations. This song with its upbeat and light feel caused the Temptations to put choreography into their performances. They wanted their concerts to be more entertaining. In this song the Temptations made up their own background vocals. The song went to number one in a month. At Motown Records, the producers of the Temptations, if a song goes to number one in the charts then the songwriter gets a $1000 bonus.
One question that Smokey Robinson, the man who wrote the song, would ask people to tell if his song was good or not is, “If you had only one dollar and you were hungry, would you buy this record or would you buy this hot dog.” He said that most everybody would always choose the hot dog, but he could tell how good the song was by how long people paused to answer the question.
My Girl became so popular that when the Temptations tried to break from their normal performance and not do the song they were booed and cussed at until they did the song. I have to admit that on NPR it talks about how this song reflects the racial and political tension of the time, but I don’t understand how. Maybe it is because it is 1965 and the song is sung by five black men and it became incredibly popular. But I don’t really understand why they would say that.
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