[SHELDON HARNICK, JERRY BOCK and JOSEPH STEIN]

Fiddler on the Roof. New York: circa 22 September 1964. Two of stage manager James Bronson's annotated scripts and a third offering lighting instructions for the first production of Fiddler on the Roof. There are three scripts:

1) Likely the earliest script is identified on the title page as "Tab Version ... No Intermission" which is also signed "Bronson" and is annotated with the length of each song. Overall approximately 70 pages, held in a burgundy binder, this script toned and with dampstaining, annotated as noted.

There are two scripts identified on the title pages as "Final Playing Version as of September 22, 1964." 2) The first is in its original flexible cover lettered in gilt which is held in a black binder, the title page signed "J. Bronson" and this identified as copy #2 in ink, annotated throughout in pencil and occasional ink and crayon, approximately 103 pages, some staining, wear to original binding. 3) The second of these may be the copy belonging to the lighting engineer. The script is hole-punched and held in a three-ring binder. The title is unsigned and the ink annotations within, which sometimes appear on inserted pages, offer lighting instructions, spotting and light staining and wear to binder. Also present is also an approximately 15-page copied "Wardrobe Cue" document from a later national tour, circa 1982.

Fiddler on the Roof opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on September 22, 1964 and ran for a record-setting 3,242 performances before closing in 1972. The original Broadway production was nominated for 10 Tony Awards in 1964 winning nine including Best Musical among others. The script here that is believed to be the earliest is marked "Tab version... no intermission." In this script, the show seems to run as one long act with 15 scenes and is numbered as such, although the two leaves that form the prologue to Act II are inserted in the correct position. This script, which is heavily annotated at points correcting lines, is worthy of future research. The other two "Final Playing Version" scripts that are dated as of opening night in September 1964 offer the full expanded two-act musical. These seem to match the script held in the Zero and Kate Mostel Papers at NYPL. Such early materials from the first production of Fiddler on the Roof, one of the most successful and frequently revived musicals in history, are scarce.

James Lord Bronson (1921-1988) was the production/stage manager for the opening run of many legendary Broadway shows including: Stephen Sondheim’s Gypsy at the Broadway and Imperial Theatres, 1959 to 1962, with Ethel Merman and Jack Klugman; A Family Affair at the Billy Rose Theatre, 1962, with Shelley Berman; Stephen Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the Alvin, Mark Hellinger and Majestic Theatres, 1962-1964, with Zero Mostel, David Burns and John Carradine; Fiddler on the Roof at the Imperial, Majestic and Broadway Theatres, 1964-1972; Zorba at the Imperial, 1968-1969; Cabaret with Zero Mostel and Beatrice Arthur at the Broadhurst, Imperial and Broadway Theatres, 1966-1969; and Stephen Sondheim’s Company at the Alvin Theatre, 1970.