Sheldon Harnick, the lyricist for “Fiddler on the Roof,” passes away 2023
Sheldon Harnick, an experienced lyricist, has passed away. Harnick reportedly passed away at his apartment on the Upper West Side overlooking Central Park as a result of natural causes, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
On Friday, Harnick passed away. He is most known for his collaborations with the composer Jerry Bock to write songs for some of the most successful musicals in Broadway history, such as Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello!, and She Loves Me. He was 99. In September of 1964, Fiddler on the Roof made its debut at the Imperial Theatre in New York City.
The play’s book was written by Joseph Stein. It portrays the captivating narrative of Tevye, a poor milkman living in 1905 who is striving to preserve hold of his Jewish customs despite the approaching peril brought about by the Russian occupation. The plot is based on the stories written by Sholem Aleichem.
In an interview that took place in 2014 with the Hartford Courant, Harnick disclosed that it took a number of years for all of the components of the performance to come together.
After putting together a first music and book, the group was successful in luring Hal Prince to take on the role of producer and Jerome Robbins to take on the roles of director and choreographer for the production.
