Fiddler On The Roof With a Whole New Ending

Here's a jolly confession for ya.  I forgot that Fiddler on the Roof was not a happy, light little musical.

So the other night when we went to see it at Hale Theatre, I was happily tapping my foot through all of the merry tunes like "Tradition," "Matchmaker, Matchmaker Make Me a Match," "Sunrise, Sunset," "If I were a Rich Man",  on and on, . . . then things began to take a nasty turn.

Cossacks?  I didn't remember them exactly.  Pogroms?  What?  Threats?  "Three days and you better be off your land!"  NO!!!  That's not right, is it?

I did see the movie on the big screen in a theatre, so it was along time ago, but hey, I wasn't that stupid, was I?  I didn't miss the whole section on current events and I do remember having to watch Judgement at Nuremburg in high school.  I even had to bring a note from my mother.  I do remember that part.

Maybe the thing that threw me was how accepting they seemed of their fate.  I was young, you know.  I would have been in my sulky stage, perhaps, and would have been stomping around, complaining it wasn't fair, that I know my rights then would have started right in calling people names and kicking and screaming, pinching and scratching until I got my way.

I don't know.   All I know is that the whole second half came as a big surprise to me.  I really got my money's worth, don't you think?