Tradition, Extra Credit, and Backstage Sin: Lou Waxman on Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler on the Roof has been a success at every level.  This blue-chip classic, adapted from the stories of Sholom Aleichem,appeared on Broadway as a musical in 1964, and in its first run went on for over 3,000 performances.  The first musical to do so.  It was the longest-running Broadway musical until Greasecame along.  It won nine Tony awards, including for best musical, score, book, direction and choreography.  Zero Mostel played Tevye the Dairyman.

In 1971, Fiddler was adapted for film and was again a massive success.  Commercially, the film was the highest grosser of the year, making $83.3 million worldwide on a $9 million dollar budget.  As Adam Sandler would say in “The Hanukkah Song”, “Not too shabby.”  Fiddler was also a smash critically, receiving eight Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture and Best Director. Given its success, it is not surprising that Fiddler did well in the music-related categories, winning Best Score Adaptation, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound.  Topol played Tevye in the film.  He won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

You can talk all you want about the revolution in the movie industry from 1967 to 1975.  There have been numerous books written about the youthquake movement in Hollywood and how it changed the Studio System forever.  Don’t get all hot and bothered and don’t hyperventilate about all this so-called change.  The status quo in terms of the Studios and the paying audience was alive and well during this whole period.  The success of Fiddler, both critically and commercially, is proof of that.  It could be argued that Fiddler was revolutionary and radical in its treatment of Jewish themes and that it was daring to be so Jewish before mainstream audiences.  This is no doubt true to some extent, but Fiddler was also sanitized and safe.  In The New Yorker, Philip Roth, who at the time was a true radical of Jewishness in terms of his work, such as Portnoy’s Complaint, called Fiddler shtetl kitsch.  And that it is.  And that is why mainstream audiences ate it up with a spoon.

Fiddler was so successful on Broadway and in Hollywood that there were soundtracks released for both the Zero Mostel version and the Topol version.  At The Vogue, there was a copy of the Mostel version in the cheap seats.  Lou picked it up, gave it a look with a wistful smile, and put it back.  Lou does not have to listen to this one.  Lou lived it.

Just as Fiddler succeeded on Broadway and in Hollywood, it became a staple of high school musical productions for decades.  Lou does not have to watch High School Musical or Glee or any other shit like that, because, yes, Lou lived it.  In Lou’s junior year in high school, a social studies teacher, who was also a football coach, or, should we say, a football coach, who was also a social studies teacher, offered extra credit to anyone who would participate in the school musical:  Fiddler on the Roof.  Lou was a grinder in high school.  Anxiety about grades ruled his life, so a chance at some extra credit could not be refused,even if anxiety about performing in public was high as well.  Grades took precedence over everything and anything.

It would be false to say that Lou tried out for the musical.  The music department was desperate for bodies to fill out the stage.  Lou was not an actor in Fiddler by any means; he was a stage prop.  Given strict instructions not to sing, but to lip-sync, and not to dance, but to stand in formation during group scenes, Lou was a glorified piece of furniture.  An extra.  

You might think this was humiliating or boring in some way but participating in the school music, even as an extra, was one of the most fun and interesting experiences Lou had at the time.  From the sidelines, Lou got to see a creative work come together from the ground up.  He saw the rehearsals and the backstage antics and mechanizations.  He overheard the director and choreographer discuss all aspects of the production and the conversations of the actors as well.  It was fascinating.  At the start, Lou had no idea how all this would come together, but magically it did.  In addition, even as an extra, Lou felt the sheer thrill of performing before an audience.  Doing nothing basically, Lou still felt the rush of being on stage.  There is the thrill of sex, drugs, and rock and roll for sure, but hearing a reaction from a live audience is what it is all about.  It reminds Lou of Gay Talese’s essay on Joe DiMaggio “The Silent Season of a Hero,” which is one of the greatest pieces of writing about sports ever (just as Talese’s essay on Frank Sinatra, “Sinatra Catches a Cold,” is one of the greatest celebrity profiles ever).  In that essay on DiMaggio, Talese recounts when Marilyn Monroe toured Japan during their honeymoon, as a young up-and-coming actress.  She hears the applause from 100,000 fans and says to Joe, “Have you ever heard anything like that?”  And DiMaggio says, “Yes, I have.”  It is killer.  And even with a small audience in your high school auditorium, you get that juice when the audience responds.

Seeing the creative sausage being made and experiencing the thrill of live performance.  That shit is all well and good, but that is not what made Lou sign on to do Annie, Get Your Gun during his senior year and this time offer himself up for a meatier role.  During the Wild West Show sequence, Lou took centerstage all by himself and twirled a gun in both hands.  Lou practiced for hours to make it as smooth as he could.  But Lou struggled and was never great at it.  Lou then had an inspiration.  Lou suggested to the director that what if Lou shot himself in his foot and hopped off stage in mock pain.  The orchestra could mimic a gunshot on the drums.  It would bring the house down.  The director went with it, and Lou had his big moment.  Lou cannot say it brought the house down.  Lou doesn’t think he sold it very well and most of the audience was confused about what was going on.  Lou thinks his parents were wondering if Lou had a cramp or something.

It was thrilling nonetheless, but that is not why Lou signed up again.  Lou did not give a shit about what happened onstage.  Lou was addicted to the backstage decadence.  Let Lou tell you that Alyson Hannigan in American Pie is not a fictional character.  The high school girls of drama club and band camp and the glee club were hot to trot.  Fuck the cheerleaders and the mean girls and all that shit.  Go for the creative types.  That is were the action is in high school.  Lou could not believe what was going on behind the scenes during rehearsals, both at school and off campus.  Lou could not believe what was going on as the play was being performed in dressing rooms and in the wings.  Lou could not believe it until it was happening to him.  It was incredible.  A dream come true.  So, Lou lied.  The draw of performing is all about sex, drugs and rock and roll.  Or should we say sex.  But it is not the sex with fans that is so seductive.  It is sex with co-stars and your peers in performing circles.  You become part of an intimate club.  Like Plato’s Retreat.  That is the juice.

Maybe Lou should have bought the Broadway soundtrack LP ofFiddler and brought it home to relive his youth.  It is not necessary.  Those memories have real estate in Lou’s head forever.  Lou could not tell you one song from Fiddler or Annie.  He can’t sing a single verse, but he can remember what one of his co-stars whispered in Lou’s ear before he stepped on stage for his showstopper for Annie.  Lou will keep it to himself, so the memory remains pure, because it was so deliciously dirty.

Suggested Sites and Sounds:

Pauline on Fiddler: A Bagel with a Bite out of It | The New Yorker

Matchmaker:  Fiddler on the Roof (3/10) Movie CLIP - Matchmaker (1971) HD

“The Silent Season of a Hero”:  The Silent Season of a Hero

High School Musical:  Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens - Gotta Go My Own Way (From "High School Musical 2")

One Time at Band Camp:  All The Times At Band Camp | American Pie (1999) | Big Screen Laughs

American Pie Presents:  Band Camp:  Screwing at Band Camp 24/7 | American Pie Presents: Band Camp

— Lou Waxman