" Madeline Kahn as Amalia in the 1977 concert production of She Loves Me, singing one of the greatest songs ever written, ’Will He Like Me?’ "
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From the 1930s to the 1950s, Leonard Sillman produced a revue called "New Faces of [year]." Many stars got their first major exposure in these shows. The 1952 edition yielded a bumper crop, including Eartha Kitt (above), Alice Ghostley, Carol Lawrence (the original Maria in West Side Story five years later), Paul Lynde, Robert Clary, Mel Brooks (who wrote many of the sketches), and Sheldon Harnick (who wrote the lyrics to some of the songs; he would go on to write the lyrics for Fiddler on the Roof, among other shows). It was a big hit, running for 365 performances and being made into a film.
SHELDON HARNICK (1924-Died June 23rd 2023,ar 99). American lyricist and songwriter best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on musicals such as Fiorello! and Fiddler on the Roof.Sheldon Harnick - Wikipedia
A post to mark the death of Chaim Topol. Known for his portrayal of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, he player the role on stage for over 50 years and also in the 1971 film. Here from the film is “If I Were a Rich Man”.
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If I Were a Rich Man
Songwriter: Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock
If I were a rich man
Ya ba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dum
All day long, I'd biddy biddy bum
If I were a wealthy man
I wouldn't have to work hard
Ya ba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dum
If I were a biddy biddy rich yidle-diddle-didle-didle man
I'd build a big, tall house with rooms by the dozen
Right in the middle of the town
A fine tin roof with real wooden floors below
There would be one long staircase just going up
And one even longer coming down
And one more leading nowhere, just for show
I'd fill my yard with chicks and turkeys and geese and ducks
For the town to see and hear
Squawking just as noisily as they can
And each loud of the"gee", be it "gow", be it "geh", be it "guh"
Would land like a trumpet on the ear
As if to say, "Here lives a wealthy man"
If I were a rich man
Ya ba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dum
All day long, I'd biddy biddy bum
If I were a wealthy man
I wouldn't have to work hard
Ya ba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dum
If I were a biddy biddy rich yidle-diddle-didle-didle man
I see my wife, my Goldie, looking like a rich man's wife
With a proper double-chin
Supervising meals to her heart's delight
I see her putting on airs and strutting like a peacock
Oy, what a happy mood she's in
Screaming at the servants, day and night
The most important men in town would come to fawn on me!
They would ask me to advise them like a Solomon the Wise
"If you please, Reb Tevye..."
"Pardon me, Reb Tevye..."
Posing problems that would cross a rabbi's eyes!
And it won't make one bit of difference if I answer right or wrong
When you're rich, they think you really know!
If I were rich, I'd have the time that I lack to sit in the synagogue and pray
And maybe have a seat by the Eastern wall
And I'd discuss the holy books with the learned men, several hours every day
And that would be the sweetest thing of all
If I were a rich man
Ya ba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dum
All day long, I'd biddy biddy bum
If I were a wealthy man
I wouldn't have to work hard
Ya ba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dum
Lord, who made the lion and the lamb
You decreed I should be what I am
Would it spoil some vast eternal plan
If I were a wealthy man?
