calimac

with director Jerome Robbins and star Zero Mostel

Robbins said little to Mostel by way of direction and that was plenty since Mostel, endlessly inventive, needed little prodding. When they argued at all, it was over substance, and often over Jewish substance. "What are you doing?" Robbins demanded at one rehearsal as Mostel touched the doorpost of Tevye's house and then brushed his fingers over his lips. Mostel offered the obvious answer: "I'm kissing the mezuzah." Robbins responded bluntly, "Don't do it again." But Mostel insisted that Tevye, like the Orthodox Jews with whom the actor had grown up, would never neglect to make the customary gesture of devotion that acknowledges the case of sacred parchment affixed to doorways of Jewish homes. Robbins bristled. Mostel held firm and kissed the mezuzah again. Without raising his voice - in fact, the more emphatic he became, the more firmly and calmly he spoke - Robbins demanded that Mostel stop. The actor relented. And then, when he walked through Tevye's doorway once more, he crossed himself. He'd made - and won - his point. The mezuzah kissing stayed in.

- Alisa Solomon, Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof