In response to:
Fiddle Shtick from the December 18, 2014 issue
To the Editors:
In his put-down of Fiddler on the Roof [“Fiddle Shtick,” NYR, December 18, 2014], Robert Brustein said that the pogrom in the show was “largely an extension of the choreography.” To me, this indicates either that he has never seen the show or that he doesn’t understand the meaning of the word “choreography.” There has never, to my knowledge, been a production of Fiddler in which the pogrom was choreographed. Surely such a wildly inaccurate description of a key moment in the show disqualifies Mr. Brustein from writing a critique of it.
Sheldon Harnick
Lyricist, Fiddler on the Roof
New York City
Robert Brustein replies:
In respect to Sheldon Harnick’s letter (and I do respect him), anything staged by Jerome Robbins, then chief ballet master at the New York City Ballet, was a form of choreography.
