Kenneth Turan’s film pick of the week: Sing-along ‘Fiddler on the Roof’

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If you’re looking for something counterintuitive to do on Christmas Eve -- and why not -- nothing fits the bill as snugly this year as a ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ sing-along dreamed up by the Laemmle chain.

Starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Royal Theatre, 11523 Santa Monica Blvd., in West Los Angeles, the Norman Jewison-directed adaptation of the Broadway musical will unspool for your vocal pleasure. Based on the classic Tevye stories by preeminent Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem, the musical, with songs by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, was the first to go over 3,000 performances and was Broadway’s longest-running tuner for nearly 10 years.

The film version, with Isaac Stern playing violin on the soundtrack, won Oscars for Oswald Morris’ cinematography and John Williams’ score. Sing along with the irrepressible Topol and the irreplaceable Molly Picon on classics like ‘Tradition,’ ‘Sunrise, Sunset’ and ‘Matchmaker, Matchmaker’ with lyric sheets provided by the theater. Tell the truth, doesn’t ‘If I Were a Rich Man’ feel especially appropriate this year?

-- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times film critic