It starred Zero Mostel as Teyve, had an almost eight-year run and offered the world such stunning songs as “Sunrise, Sunset,” “If I Were a Rich Man” and “Matchmaker, Matchmaker.” The most recent Broadway revival starred Danny Burstein as Tevye and earned a Best Revival Tony nomination. Neither was a hit - although “She Loves Me” won a Grammy for best score from a cast album - but their next one was a monster that continues to be performed worldwide: “Fiddler on the Roof.” It earned two Tony Awards in 1965.īased on stories by Sholom Aleichem that were adapted into a libretto by Stein, “Fiddler” dealt with the experience of Eastern European Orthodox Jews in the Russian village of Anatevka in the year 1905. Griffith and Hal Prince had liked the songs from “The Body Beautiful,” and they contracted Bock and Harnick to write the score for their next production, “Fiorello!,” a musical about the reformist mayor of New York City.īock and Harnick then collaborated on “Tenderloin” in 1960 and “She Loves Me” three years later. They would form one of the most influential partnerships in Broadway history.
“Once we got past that, he was wonderful to work with.” “I think in all of the years that we worked together, I only remember one or two arguments - and those were at the beginning of the collaboration when we were still feeling each other out,” Harnick, who collaborated with Bock for 13 years, recalled in an interview with The Associated Press in 2010. The first Harnick-Bock musical was “The Body Beautiful” in 1958. In addition, Harnick was nominated for Tonys in 1967 for “The Apple Tree,” in 1971 for “The Rothschilds” and in 1994 for “Cyrano - The Musical.” But their masterpiece was “Fiddler on the Roof.”īock and Harnick were first introduced at a restaurant by actor Jack Cassidy after the opening-night performance of “Shangri-La,” a musical in which Harnick had helped with the lyrics. Known for his wry, subtle humor and deft wordplay, Harnick died in his sleep Friday in New York City of natural causes, said Sean Katz, Harnick’s publicist.īock and Harnick first hit success for the music and lyrics to “Fiorello!,” which earned them each Tonys and a rare Pulitzer Prize in 1960. Tony- and Grammy Award-winning lyricist Sheldon Harnick, who with composer Jerry Bock made up the premier musical-theater songwriting duos of the 1950s and 1960s with shows such as “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Fiorello!” and “The Apple Tree,” has died.
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