Wednesday's Walk Down Memory Lane - Tradition!

It's Wednesday, and time to go for another walk down memory lane.
If you would like to know more, click on the link above, join in, or just read other's contributions.

I have a pop quiz for you! What movie/stage play is the following quote from?

Perchik: Money is the world's curse.
Tevye: May the Lord smite me with it. And may I never recover.

Last Thursday Jim and I went to see the play "Fiddler on the Roof". Tickets to this performance was our anniversary gift to each other. We had decided not to buy tickets because they were on the pricey side, but the opportunity to see the actor who starred in the original movie reprise his role for a "final" tour was to hard to pass up. Topol has been performing in "Fiddler on the Roof" for a very, very long time!!

This is a review that I found about the performance that we went to see. It discribes the feeling at the performance accurately.

"When Chaim Topol stepped on stage during opening night of "Fiddler on the Roof" on Wednesday, the audience's enthusiastic applause set the tone for the night. For three hours, the house pulsed with energy for this outstanding production at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.
The story is set in the Russian village of Anatevka. The year is 1905, and the Jewish community thrives despite growing social tension and czarist edicts forcing Jews in other villages to leave their homes.
Tevye, the milkman who clings to traditions in a changing world, peddles dairy products from a cart to support his wife and five daughters. One by one, his three eldest girls test his resolve as they break customs with the men they marry. Despite the initial jolt that change brings, Tevye's goodness and reason help him adjust to the realities of a new world.
The show has been billed as Topol's farewell performance as Tevye. It has been more than 40 years since he first played the role, and he's as fresh and funny as ever. His deep, rich singing voice brought import to the opening song "Tradition," powering the words across the theater with conviction. It was clear then that the audience was in for a treat.
Topol seemed to feed off the room's positive response, and he became more and more animated, if not a bit of a ham. He conveyed his character's sardonic wit with endearing mannerisms and facial expressions.
At the end of the evening, when it was time to take a bow, the audience fairly jumped to its collective feet in praise and admiration. The little smile on Topol's face suggested he knew he had charmed the pants off us.
As exciting as it was to see a veritable legend perform live, his great stage presence didn't overshadow the show's overall excellence, which included a phenomenal cast
If tradition tells us anything, it's that the good stuff sticks around for a long time, like tradition."

The first time I saw "Fiddler on the Roof" I was around 8-years-old. Going to see this performance last Thursday bought back some good memories for me. In 1971 I went to see this show with my Mum and Dad. It was the first time I went to the movies at night, that was very exciting to me! I had a bit of a laugh to myself the other day, we all got dressed up in our best clothes to go to the movie. Everyone there was dressed similarly. How often does that happen now days?? Not often, except for a movie premier with the stars! It was also the only time that I remember my Mum and Dad ever going to the movies together.

I have included the opening scene from the movie - Tradition. I am big on tradition. I was also quite surprised at myself at the end of the play. The part where Tevye, his family and others in the village are driven from their homes. The play was very light-hearted, but the end was a reminder that history has some very sad chapters in it, and I found myself wiping a tear or two from my eyes.

Sally-Ann