Zero Mostel Performs "If I Were a Rich Man," By Bock, Harnick and Stein (Video)

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Stage to Page Zero Mostel Performs "If I Were a Rich Man," By Bock, Harnick and Stein (Video) In tribute to Jerry Bock, the composer of Fiddler on the Roof who died Nov. 3 at age 81, and to that seminal musical's librettist, Joseph Stein, who passed away Oct. 24 at 98, we thought it would be fitting to bring you Zero Mostel, Fiddler's original Tevye, in a classic performance of the Bock and Harnick masterpiece "If I Were a Rich Man"; a piece of Stein's script starts it off. ("I realize it's no great shame to be poor, but it's not great honor, either.")

By Thomas Peter

November 03, 2010

Mostel's performance comes from the 1971 Tony Awards.

Bock's other musicals included The Rothschilds, The Apple Tree, She Loves Me, Tenderloin, Fiorello! and Mr. Wonderful. He wrote all except the last with lyricist Sheldon Harnick; he wrote music and contributed lyrics to Mr. Wonderful.

Stein co-wrote the libretto to Mr. Wonderful and to Bock and Harnick's first show together, The Body Beautiful. He also wrote the play Enter Laughing and the libretto for its musical version, So Long, 174th Street (recently revised and revived by the York Theatre Company with the play's title). Other credits included Rags, Carmelina, Zorba, Take Me Along, Juno and Plain and Fancy.

To watch Mostel perform "Rich Man," look below: