and 's musical opened on September 22, 1964, in New York. Based on 's stories, it tells the tale of , a Jewish milkman who lives in Russia with his family (including five daughters). The Broadway production originally starred , who got to sing such songs as Anti-Semitic notions abound as and his family find themselves being forced from their village. 's daughters break from their village's tradition as they marry for love, not for prosperity. Throughout all of this, a symbolic fiddler lingers over them. was the most successful musical up to its time, running for over 3,000 performances. It was also the origin of several famous and now-standard songs, such as in addition to those mentioned above. The music is beautiful, and haunting at moments. The original Broadway cast not only boasted a strong performance from , but also had as , the matchmaker. A Top Ten, multi-platinum-selling hit, this is the quintessential recording, disappointing only to those who consider the definitive . Those who do would be advised to seek out either the London cast recording or the film soundtrack, where they can find 's classic performance. ~ Sarah Erlewine & William Ruhlmann