When Getting a Zero is a Good Thing
This is a companion piece, of course, to the video treasure I posted here on Monday of Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock singing the original song from Fiddler on the Roof that was originally intended to be the opening number.
This today is another of those videos that’s so wonderful and such a treasure, but achingly too short. It’s a very brief two-minute montage of Zero Mostel on stage in the 1977 revival of Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway. Since he didn't play the role in the movie, there is almost no footage of him in his classic role.
I saw this production when it played in Los Angeles. It was said that for most performances of the show (the original production and revival), after he’d played it for a long while, Mostel was terrific, but often he’d get bored and a bit lazy in his performance and throw in some antics. Happily, the night I saw him, he was absolutely great. And he’s a gem here. If only it was more than two minutes. But man, what a great two minutes it is. And a joy and treat to have.
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