All Day Long I’d Biddy, Biddy Bum…

Sheldon Harnick

This short piece originally appeared as a sidebar alongside “Inventing Language” in the print edition of The Dramatist.

Aug 28, 2023

Craft

Adobe Firefly AI generated watercolor illustration of Tevye the milkman dancing with his arms over his head

Illustration generated by Adobe Firefly

While Jerry Bock and I were working on the score for Fiddler on the Roof, we happened to attend a benefit for the Hebrew Actor’s Union. On the program, a mother and daughter sang a Chassidic chant. Instead of lyrics, they chanted what I assume were Chassidic syllables. Jerry Bock was enthralled. Inspired, he went home and worked all night. Early the next morning, he called and asked me to meet him at our publisher ‘s office, where he played me what he had written. This time, I was enthralled.

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Sheldon Harnick

(1924-2023) was a lyricist and composer probably best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on musicals including Fiddler on the Roof (Tony Award), Fiorello! (Tony Award, Pulitzer Prize), and She Loves Me (Grammy Award). His career began in the 1950s with songs in revues such as “The Boston Beguine” and “The Merry Little Minuet.” Some of his other musicals with Jerry Bock include Tenderloin, The Apple Tree, and The Rothchilds. Other collaborations include Rex (with Richard Rodgers), A Christmas Carol (with Michel Legrand), A Wonderful Life (with Joe Raposo), The Phantom Tollbooth (with Arnold Black and Norton Juster), and The Audition (with Marvin Hamlisch). He wrote three musicals himself: Dragons, A Doctor in Spite of Himself, and Malpractice Makes Perfect. He also contributed songs to the films The Heartbreak Kid, Blame It on Rio (with Cy Coleman), and Aaron’s Magic Village (with Michel Legrand). In the world of opera, he provided librettos for Jack Beeson’s Cyrano, Dr. Heidegger’s Fountain of Youth, and Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines; Henry Mollicone’s Coyote Tales, Lady Bird: First Lady of the Land; and Thomas Z. Shepard’s Love in Two Countries. Sheldon was the recipient of two Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, three gold records, and a platinum record. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Dramatists Guild in 2010, of which he was a member for more than 60 years, serving on Council for over 50 of those years. Additionally, he served as President of the Dramatists Guild Foundation from 1992-2005. He died June 23, 2023, at the age of 99.