We wrote about Theodore Bikel’s 90th birthday concert last week, so it seems appropriate to feature “The Fresh Air Interview” with Fiddler on the Roof lyricist Sheldon Harnick, who has also recently celebrated a 90th birthday. [Since his first appearance as Tevye in the musical Fiddler on the Roof in 1967, Theodore Bikel has performed the role more often than any other actor, more than 2,000 times to date.] From NPR:
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Fiddler on the Roof‘s Broadway premiere. Lyricist Sheldon Harnick co-wrote the songs for Fiddler, as well as Fiorello!, She Loves Me and Tenderloin. Just in time for his 90th birthday, Harnick has released a new album, Sheldon Harnick: Hidden Treasures (1949-2013), a collection that includes Harnick singing demos of his own popular songs, rarities from early in his career, and pieces cut from Broadway shows. Many of the recordings are from his private collection.
“Any successful lyricist has to be part playwright and has to be able to put himself into the minds and the hearts and the souls of the characters he’s writing about,” he tells Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross. “That’s part of a theater lyricist’s talent.” More here.
