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The 97th Academy Awards will air on March 2, with the ceremony set to begin at 4:00 Pm Pt/7:00 Pm Et on ABC and Hulu. The night holds the potential for records to be set, surprises in major categories, and international recognition for films that have gained momentum throughout the season.

Best Picture Contenders

Anora could become the third film in history to win both the Palme d’Or at Cannes and the Academy Award for Best Picture, a feat previously achieved by Parasite and Marty. Emilia Perez, which has earned 13 nominations, enters the night among a select group of films that have reached that number.

Of the previous 12 films with 13 nominations, only three failed to win Best Picture. If Conclave wins, it will be one of the few films to take the top prize without its director receiving a nomination, a distinction shared by Wings, Grand Hotel, Driving Miss Daisy,...

Time to do your homework to get ready for the 97th annual Oscars. Records can be broken, anyone can win, frontrunners can be toppled, and Brazil and Latvia just might go crazy. Here are 15 moments to look for during the three-and-a-half-hour Oscar telecast, which begins at 4 p.m. Pt/7 p.m. Et on Sunday live on ABC and Hulu.

Best Picture: Front-runner Anora would become only the third film in history to win the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or and also go on to win the Best Picture Oscar. Previously, Parasite in 2019 and Marty in 1955 did it. Before the fest’s top prize was called Palme d’Or, 1945’s Best Picture winner The Lost Weekend also won the top prize on the Croisette.

Mikey Madison in ‘Anora’

Best Picture: Emilia Pérez is not only the international film with the most Oscar nominations ever with 13, it is also in...

Congratulations are in order for Yura Borisov and the Anora cast, who have landed multiple Oscar nominations Thursday.

But perhaps no one will be more delighted than the previously relatively unknown star, Borisov, who has become the first Russian actor to earn an Oscar nomination in a performance category since 1977.

The full list of nominations was presented by actors Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott from the Film Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater with Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain), Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice), Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown) and Guy Pearce (The Brutalist) rounding out the competition in the supporting actor category.

The last Russian nominated for an Academy Award in an acting category was Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1977 for The Turning Point. The last to win was Lila Kedrova in 1964 for Zorba the Greek.

Borisov starred in Sean Baker’s twisted Cinderella story about a sex worker and stripper Anora (Mikey Madison,...

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Apartment 7A is a psychological horror thriller film directed by Natalie Erika James who also co-wrote the film with Christian White and Skylar James. Based on the 1967 novel titled Rosemary’s Baby by author Ira Levin, the Paramount+ film serves as a prequel to the iconic 1968 film by Roman Polanski. Apartment 7A is set in 1965 in New York City and it follows the story of a young dancer who rents a room from an elderly couple after suffering from a serious injury that ends her career. Apartment 7A stars Julia Garner, Dianne West, Kevin McNally, Jim Sturgess, Marli Siu, Rosy McEwen, Amy Leeson, Scott Hume, and Andrew Buchan. So, if you loved the psychological horror, edge-of-the-seat thrills, and compelling characters in Apartment 7A here are some similar movies you should check out next.

Rosemary’s Baby Credit – Paramount Pictures

Rosemary’s Baby...

Few creative talents have the breadth of a career equal to Lee Grant. The 98-year-old director, actor, and writer has a storied body of work, debuting on screen in 1951 in William Wyler’s Detective Story, for which she received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination and Cannes Best Actress win, while also receiving a Supporting Actress Oscar for Shampoo. Grant, who has also appeared in Mulholland Drive, Valley of the Dolls, and In the Heat of the Night, has also set a few records: she’s the oldest living film director, while 1980’s Tell Me a Riddle was the first major American film to be entirely written, produced and directed by women, and she’s the only Academy Award-winning actor to also direct an Academy Award-winning documentary with 1986’s Down and Out in America.

Among the most revelatory repertory cinema I saw last year, the much-deserved 4K restorations of Grant...

Since the inception of the Academy Awards, the U.S.-based organization behind them has always strived to honor worldwide film achievements. Their extensive roster of competitive acting winners alone consists of artists from 30 unique countries, three of which first gained representation during the 2020s. The last full decade’s worth of triumphant performers hail from eight countries, while 42.1% of the individual actors nominated during that time originate from outside of America.

The academy’s history of recognizing acting talent on a global scale dates all the way back to the inaugural Oscars ceremony in 1929, when Swiss-born Emil Jannings (who was of German and American parentage) won Best Actor for his work in both “The Last Command” and “The Way of All Flesh.” Over the next three years, the Best Actress prize was exclusively awarded to Canadians: Mary Pickford (“Coquette”), Norma Shearer (“The Divorcee”), and Marie Dressler (“Min and Bill...

The Bloody Disgusting-powered Screambox is home to a variety of unique horror content, from originals and exclusives to cult classics and documentaries. With such a rapidly-growing library, there are many hidden gems waiting to be discovered.

Here are five recommendations you can stream on Screambox right now.

The Collector

If the triumphant return of the Saw franchise has you in the mood for more trap-laden horrors, look no further than The Collector — which was originally conceived as a prequel to Saw that would show Jigsaw’s original story. When producers passed on the idea, writers Patrick Melton & Marcus Dunstan (Saw IV-vii) reworked it into an original script, which Dunstan directed in 2009.

A slasher/home invasion hybrid for the so-called “torture porn” era, The Collector stars Criminal Minds‘ Josh Stewart as struggling ex-con Arkin. A planned heist at his new employer’s home to repay a debt becomes deadly when he...

As time goes on, the wants and needs that emanate from the human soul distance themselves farther and farther away from the actual limitations of the human body. Our bodies naturally get weaker as we age, and we just can’t go about doing things like we used to. This is especially seen through the rugged but sweet dynamic of the older Jewish couple featured in actress and director Lee Grant’s Tell Me a Riddle. Unfortunately, the mangled roots of this marriage reach far beyond the normalities of marriage and responsibilities.

Released theatrically in 1980 and firmly recognized for being written, produced, and directed by women, this drama is one of the more authentic and gritty looks at the American dream and the long-term stability therein. Through the eyes of David and Eva, we can see that this dream is no longer serving them. Actor Melvyn Douglas and Russian-born French actress Lila Kedrova,...

To the short list of ‘classic’ nuclear horror on Blu-ray we can now add the one that hits closest to home. Lynne Littman’s harrowing film stays small-scale and Big Emotion, enduring a slow extermination for an innocent family. A little California town loses contact with the rest of the world, and hope fades as the awful reality sinks in. Jane Alexander, Lukas Haas, and William Devane star in a TV movie so affecting that Paramount gave it a theatrical release. The disc has two commentaries and a selection of 20th anniversary features.

Testament

Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 170

1983 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 90 min. / Street Date October 26, 2022 / Available from [Imprint] / au 34.95

Starring: Jane Alexander, William Devane, Ross Harris, Roxana Zal, Lukas Haas, Philip Anglim, Lilia Skala, Leon Ames, Lurene Tuttle, Rebecca De Mornay, Kevin Costner, Mako, Lila Kedrova.

Cinematography: Steven Poster

Production Designer: David Nichols

Art Director: Linda Pearl

Costume Design: Julie Weiss

Film...

Myles Frost became the latest addition to the list of people who have taken home a Tony Award for their Broadway debut. His win makes him the 98th member of this particular winners’ club.

Frost, who won Best Actor in a Musical for playing Michael Jackson in “Mj,” is the 13th person to win that category for their first time stepping into a character on a Broadway stage. He joins:

Ezio Pinza, “South Pacific” (1950)

Robert Alda, “Guys and Dolls” (1951)

Robert Lindsay, “Me and My Girl” (1987)

Brent Carver, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (1993)

Alan Cumming, “Cabaret” (1998)

Hugh Jackman, “The Boy From Oz” (2004)

John Lloyd Young, “Jersey Boys” (2006)

Paulo Szot, “South Pacific” (2008)

David Álvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish (joint nomination), “Billy Elliot” (2009)

Douglas Hodge, “La Cage aux Folles” (2010)

See 2022 Tony Awards: Every winner (and nominee) in all 26 categories

Below are the Broadway debuts in the seven other acting categories that have...

Terror strikes in paradise as Academy Award-winning actors James Earl Jones, José Ferrer and Lila Kedrova star in this thrilling tale of sea monsters and sacrificial virgins, from the people that brought you the notoriously gruesome Island of Death!

When treasure hunter Frye (James Earl Jones) accidentally awakens an ancient sea monster that has been lying dormant on a Greek island, the inhabitants are forced to resume the practice of sacrificing virgins in order to placate the demonic creature. Meanwhile a couple, Neil and Sherry, arrive on the island in search of Neil’s missing sister, Madeline.

Written and produced by Nico Mastorakis – the man behind such genre favourites as the aforementioned Island of Death, The Zero Boys, The Wind and many others – and directed by Richard Jefferies, Blood Tide is a suspense-filled creature feature surging with blood, nudity and beachside aerobics!

Special Edition Contents:

Brand new restoration from a...

Stars: Martin Kove, James Earl Jones, Jose Ferrer, Mary Louise Weller, Deborah Shelton, Lila Kedrova, Lydia Cornell, Sofia Seirli, Spyros Papafrantzis | Written by Richard Jeffries, Nico Mastorakis | Directed by Richard Jeffries

Arrow Video’s line of Niko Mastorakis releases continues with early 80s exploitationer Blood Tide, a film that has more behind the scenes pedigree than you’d imagine or expect!

The sheer names connected with the film – which is produced and co-written by Mastorakis, with Brian Trenchard-Smith, credited a creative consultant And Richard Jeffries (who’d later go on to direct the fantastic Scarecrows and The Vagrant) behind the camera – is remarkable. It’s a veritable who’s who of genre filmmaking in the 70s and 80s, all coming together to make a film that feels fantastically Lovercraftian.

Set on another Greek island, in much the same manner as Mastorakis’ Island of Death, Blood Tide sees a couple, Neil...

May’s home media releases are ending on a high note, as we have a ton of great titles hitting Blu-ray, DVD and 4K Ultra HD, so I hope genre fans have their wallets ready for all the killer selections coming out this week. If you happened to miss it in theaters, Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man is heading to various formats on Tuesday, and if you’re a fan of Japanese filmmaker Shinya Tsukamoto, you’ll definitely want to pick up Arrow Video’s Solid Metal Nightmares Collector Set.

Arrow is also keeping busy with two other titles this week – Lucky McKee’s The Woman, Blood Tide (1982) – and Blue Underground is bringing to cult classics to the world of 4K finally with their new releases of Maniac and Lucio Fulci’s Zombie. And as if all of that wasn’t enough, Vinegar Syndrome is resurrecting both Dolly Dearest and Pale Blood this week,...

“My Fair Lady” vs. “Mary Poppins.” Audrey Hepburn vs. Julie Andrews. It could have been the biggest rivalry in Academy history, but with two of the classiest stars and two beloved musicals involved, this “rivalry” has just become a memorable side note to the 37th annual Academy Awards. The ceremony, which took place April 5, 1965, also saw a few firsts for the awards show. But when it came right down to it, Andrews got her sweet revenge (in spoonful of sugar style)!

Although it’s become one of her most iconic roles, Hepburn was a controversial choice for the role of Eliza Doolittle in “My Fair Lady.” Producer Jack Warner (reluctantly) kept much of the Broadway cast for the film version, but opted not to cast stage star Andrews, who originated the role of Eliza. He chose Hepburn based on her star power (hoping to recuperate the enormous cost of production), then against her wishes,...

What can one say about a comedy that just limps along, even when an attractive cast does fine work every step of the way? Even the bit parts are creatively cast in this odd romp infected with a really bad case of The Cutes. Natalie Wood is at her best, but in service of dumb gags: let’s blow bubble gum bubbles! The result so upset Natalie that she ditched her studio contract. The roster of engaging talent includes Peter Falk (in suave leading man mode!), Dick Shawn (less grating than usual), Lila Kedrova & Lou Jacobi (showing real style), Jonathan Winters (wasted) and, of all people, Ian Bannen as Natalie Wood’s uncomprehending husband. Bannen is so good, he drags a real laugh or two from the material. The show has been beautifully remastered.

Penelope

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1966 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date January 26, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Natalie Wood,...

Alexander Mackendrick’s exhilarating pirate adventure mixes accurate history with a fine story of innocence corrupting the corrupt: Anthony Quinn’s pirate goes soft for a 12 year-old girl, and jeopardizes his highly insecure professional standing. James Coburn is superb as the first mate trying to keep the skullduggery on course with a passel of interfering kids on board. And young Deborah Baxter offers an un-sentimentalized portrait of the ordinary magic of childhood. No Summer Magic this! Region-Free German disc.

A High Wind in Jamaica

Blu-ray Caution This May be Region B only see below

Explosive Media GmbH

1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 106 min. / Street Date July 20, 2018 / Sturm über Jamaika / Available at Amazon.de

11.99 Euros Starring: Anthony Quinn, James Coburn, Deborah Baxter, Dennis Price, Lila Kedrova, Nigel Davenport, Isabel Dean, Kenneth J. Warren, Gert Fröbe, Vivienne Ventura

Cinematography: Douglas Slocombe

Art Director: John Hoesli

Film Editor: Derek York

Original Music: Larry Adler

Written by Stanley Mann,...

Viola Davis in ‘Fences’ (Courtesy: Paramount Pictures)

By: Carson Blackwelder

Managing Editor

Viola Davis just caused a major shakeup in the best actress and best supporting actress Oscar races by deciding to compete in the latter, rather than the former, for her role as Rose Maxson in Denzel Washington’s directorial debut, Fences. This is mostly surprising because the How to Get Away With Murder star won the lead actress Tony Award in 2010—but has this switcheroo ever happened before?

Over the course of awards show history, there have been a grand total of nine actors and actresses that have won both a Tony and an Oscar for the same role from the same source material—so let’s take a look through these historic wins.

When looking at the actresses who have accomplished this, there have been three. The first was Shirley Booth for the role of Lola in Come Back,...

Marc Allégret: From André Gide lover to Simone Simon mentor (photo: Marc Allégret) (See previous post: "Simone Simon Remembered: Sex Kitten and Femme Fatale.") Simone Simon became a film star following the international critical and financial success of the 1934 romantic drama Lac aux Dames, directed by her self-appointed mentor – and alleged lover – Marc Allégret.[1] The son of an evangelical missionary, Marc Allégret (born on December 22, 1900, in Basel, Switzerland) was to have become a lawyer. At age 16, his life took a different path as a result of his romantic involvement – and elopement to London – with his mentor and later "adoptive uncle" André Gide (1947 Nobel Prize winner in Literature), more than 30 years his senior and married to Madeleine Rondeaux for more than two decades. In various forms – including a threesome with painter Théo Van Rysselberghe's daughter Elisabeth – the Allégret-Gide relationship remained steady until the late '20s and their trip to...

The Supporting Actress Smackdown of '64 is just 8 days away. So it's time to get your votes in on the nominees that year. Readers, collectively, are the sixth panelists, so grade the nominees (only the ones you've seen) from 1 to 5 hearts. Your votes count toward the smackdown win!

Lila Kedrova Zorba the Greek Gladys Cooper for My Fair Lady Dame Edith Evans The Chalk Garden

Agnes Moorhead Hush... Hush Sweet Charlotte

Grayson Hall Night of the Iguana

But before we here at Tfe get to that particular metaphorical musical-horror mishmash of films with one of the most senior lineups the Academy ever offered up in this category, let's meet our panelists for this 50th anniversary retrospective competition.

The Panel

Special Guest

Melanie Lynskey

Melanie Lynskey is an actor from New Zealand. She made her film debut in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures (1994) and is currently starring in Joe Swanberg's...

When I announced that The Film Experience would be the new home of the long departed series Stinky Lulu's Smackdown last summer I figured you would be thrilled. It's our kind of party. I promised Stinky we'd do at least six smackdowns if we brought it back. With four battles already behind us -- pie throwing 1952, shady and sinister 1968, warm and kooky 1980, and troubled histrionic 2003-- let's wrap it up with four more. 

Rather than announce at the end of each month, I figured we'd give you all four lineups in case you'd like more time to catch up over the hot months and cast your votes in the reader polling that accompanies each battle. Those votes count toward the final outcome, so more of you should join in. 

These annums were chosen after comment reading, dvd searching, handwringing, and also to rope in prospective panelists (to be announced later...

Since the Oscars introduced the supporting awards at the 9th annual ceremony in 1936, there have been only two years when all four acting winners hailed from outside the United States. The first was back in 1964 when the winners were three Brits -- Rex Harrison ("My Fair Lady"), Julie Andrews ("Mary Poppins") and Peter Ustinov ("Topkapi") --  and Russian-born Lila Kedrova ("Zorba the Greek"). And the second came at the 80th ceremony in 2007, when two Brits -- Daniel Day-Lewis ("There Will Be Blood") and Tilda Swinton ("Michael Clayton") -- were joined by Marion Cotillard ("La Vie en Rose"), who made Oscar history by giving the first French language performance to be so honored, and Javier Bardem ("No Country for Old Men"), the first Spanish actor to win an Oscar. Could this year mark the third time that happens? Australian Cate Blanchett ("Blue...

So, um, as you probably already know, Skyfall—the acclaimed 23rd James Bond film, which has already raked in more than $1 billion worldwide—wasn't nominated for Best Picture as some of us 007 die-hards had not-so-secretly hoped and/or pipe-dreamed it might. It was, however, nominated in five other categories (Best Original Song, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Cinematography), which is more than you can say of any previous Bond adventure: over the course of a half century, the Bond series has only garnered 7 total nominations, with just 2 wins in technical categories.

Previously… The Oscars To Feature A 50th Anniversary James Bond Tribute

Why no love for the world's greatest secret agent? I'm guessing The Academy has been secretly infiltrated by the dastardly criminal masterminds of Spectre and that, as we speak, Ernst Stavro Blofeld is evilly petting his white cat, cackling over this year's nominees.

I've waited a few days to collect my thoughts and weigh in on the most important YouTube video since Corgis Enjoy A Treadmill, so here goes: A fast-yapping vlogger who goes by the name The Doomsday Diaries (and the Twitter handle @Diariesofdoom) zeroed in on The Academy Awards' Best Supporting Actress category -- the greatest Oscar category, by the way -- and toasted it by reenacting scenes/moments from all 75 winning performances since 1936.

Let me be clear: This is a staggering feat. This guy has democratized everyone from Eva Marie Saint and Lila Kedrova to Gale Sondergaard and Helen Hayes in the clippiest, hippest way possible. It's explosive. It's gigantic. It's a pink diamond. And so much of it is amazingly good. It's like a version of "The Snatch Game"from RuPaul's Drag Race, except with dignified actresses up for satire and not, say, Snooki.

I thought we'd have a little debate.

Actor-director-producer-screenwriter Zalman King, among whose credits are "scandalous" sex dramas such as Nine 1/2 Weeks, Two Moon Junction, and Wild Orchid, died of cancer earlier today. King reportedly was 69 years old. Born Zalman Lefkovitz in Trenton, New Jersey, King began his show business career as an actor, appearing in small roles and bit parts in about 20 television shows during the 1960s, including Gunsmoke, The Man from the U.N.C.L.E., Bonanza, and The Munsters. In the '70s and early '80s, he had supporting roles and a handful of leads in about a dozen movies, among them James B. Harris' provocative variation on the Sleeping Beauty theme, Some Call It Loving (1973), with Carol White; Jeff Lieberman's horror thriller Blue Sunshine (1975), as an innocent man accused of murdering several women; and Lee Grant's family drama Tell Me a Riddle (1980), starring Melvyn Douglas and Lila Kedrova. In the early '80s,...

Francesco Quinn, son of Anthony Quinn and Dino's voice in Michael Bay's Transformers: Dark of the Moon, has died. Quinn collapsed, apparently from a heart attack, while jogging with his son Max in Malibu's La Costa neighborhood on Friday evening (Aug. 5). He was 48. One of Mexican-born, two-time Oscar winner Anthony Quinn's 13 children, Francesco Quinn was born in Rome on March 22, 1963. His mother was costume designer Jolanda Addolori. An actor for 25 years, Quinn was featured in more than 30 movies. His film debut took place in Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning Platoon (1986), in which he played the drug-dealing character Rhah. Among his other credits, usually in minor fare, were Casablanca Express (1989), Cannes Man (1996), and Man vs. Monday (2006). According to the IMDb, he has one movie coming out: Giuseppe Ferrara's Roma nuda. Charles Leinenweber and Thadd Turner's Buttermilk Sky was in pre-production for a possible 2012 release. Additionally, Quinn had roles...

Director best known for the visually splendid and energetic Zorba the Greek

Although the first Greek films appeared in 1912, long periods of war and instability crippled any attempts at forming a national film industry. This meant that few features were produced until the 1950s, when the director Michael Cacoyannis, who has died aged 90, became the embodiment of Greek cinema, giving it an international reputation which reached a peak of popularity with his Zorba the Greek (1964).

Based on Nikos Kazantzakis's novel, the film burst on to the screen with extraordinary energy and visual splendour. It brilliantly combined the rhythmic music of Mikis Theodorakis and the Oscar-winning black-and-white cinematography of Walter Lassally with indelible performances by Anthony Quinn, Alan Bates, Irene Papas and Lila Kedrova (who won the Oscar for best supporting actress).

The film celebrated joie de vivre, yet there was an underlying pessimism and an echo of Greek tragedy...

Michael Cacoyannis, best known for the 1964 Oscar-nominated drama Zorba the Greek, died of complications from a heart attack and chronic respiratory problems early Monday at an Athens hospital. He was either 89 or 90, depending on the source. Born in Limassol, Cyprus, on June 11, 1921 or 1922, the young Cacoyannis (Mihalis Kakogiannis in Greek) was sent to London to study Law, but later turned to the theater, studying Drama at the Old Vic and playing various roles on the British stage, including the lead in Albert Camus' Caligula. Unable to find work in the British film industry, he eventually moved to Athens. Cacoyannis' directorial debut took place in the early '50s, with the breezy comedy Windfall in Athens (1955), whose production lasted two years. International acclaim followed the release of Stella (1955), which was screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. This drama about a free-spirited young woman (Melina Mercouri) torn by her...

Acclaimed Zorba The Greek director Michael Cacoyannis has died in Athens, Greece, aged 89.

The Cyprus-born filmmaker passed away in hospital on Monday after suffering complications from a heart attack and respiratory problems.

Cacoyannis made his directorial debut with Windfall in Athens in 1954 and, just two years later, his movie Stella picked up a Golden Globe for best foreign language film.

He went on to work with stars including Katharine Hepburn, Vanessa Redgrave and Candice Bergen, but is best known for his 1964 classic Zorba the Greek, starring Anthony Quinn.

The big screen adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' novel received two technical Academy Awards as well as the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Lila Kedrova in 1965.

Paying tribute to Cacoyannis, Greece's Culture Minister Pavlos Geroulanos says, "His movies received awards at the most important film festivals in the world. His work became the vehicle that took Greek culture to every corner of the earth, and served as a source of inspiration for Greek and foreign artists."

Cacoyannis is survived by his sister Giannoula, according to the Associated Press.

Ja from Mnpp here, continuing Tennessee Williams Centennial Week with a look at John Huston's 1963 film The Night of the Iguana. I chose Iguana because it's one of the few adaptations of Williams' work that I hadn't seen already, and because IMDb's summary made it sound torrid in the best Williams way. Defrocked priests and wanton teen girls and sapphic spinsters all flitting about a Mexican beach cut off from civilization? Yes please.

But truth be told, I found the film a little wanting, not wanton. Richard Burton's in full bluster, screaming and sloshing about as the drunken ex-man-of-the-cloth Shannon, Deborah Kerr barely registers as the sexless traveling painter he's too big a mess to end up with, and not a whole lot seems to gel.

 

I was fond of Grayson Hall as the lesbian intent upon Shannon's destruction (she was nominated for an Oscar, but lost to...

Broadway musical theatre writer who wrote the libretto for Fiddler on the Roof and the screenplay for the 1971 film

Joseph Stein, who has died aged 98, was the last of the great Broadway musical theatre writers coming out of New York revue and television comedy after the second world war. Most famously, he wrote the book, or libretto, for Fiddler on the Roof (1964) and Zorba (1968). "There are no limitations to the subject for a musical," Stein once said, "just as there are no limitations to the subject for a play or a novel. The only limitation that I can see is that it has to have an honesty about the relationship of people to each other."

He cast his net wide, shaping not only the Ukrainian shtetl stories of Sholom Aleichem into the tale of Tevye the milkman and his five daughters in Fiddler on the Roof, but also drawing, perhaps surprisingly,...