<P> References to the musical on television have included a 2005 episode of Gilmore Girls titled "Jews and Chinese Food", involving a production of the musical . A skit by The Electric Company about a village fiddler with a fear of heights, so he is deemed "Fiddler on the Chair". In the Family Guy episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" (2003), William Shatner is depicted as playing Tevye in a scene from Fiddler . The second episode of Muppets Tonight, in 1996, featured Garth Brooks doing a piece of "If I were a Rich Man" in which he kicks several chickens off the roof . "The Rosie Show", a 1996 episode of The Nanny, parodied the dream scene, when Mr. Sheffield fakes a dream to convince Fran not to be a regular on a TV show . A 2011 episode of NBC's Community, entitled "Competitive Wine Tasting", included a parody of Fiddler titled, "Fiddler, Please!", with an all - black cast dressed in Fiddler on the Roof costumes singing "It's Hard to Be Jewish in Russia, Yo". Chabad.org kicked off their 2008 "To Life" Telethon with a pastiche of the fiddle solo and bottle dance from the musical . </P> <P> Broadway references have included Spamalot, where a "Grail dance" sends up the "bottle dance" in Fiddler's wedding scene . The Producers (2001) includes a musical number in the style of Jerry Bock that features an actual fiddler on a roof . Also in 2001, Chicago's Improv Olympic produced a well - received parody, "The Roof Is on Fiddler", that used most of the original book of the musical but replaced the songs with 1980's pop songs . The original Broadway cast of the musical Avenue Q and the Broadway 2004 revival cast of Fiddler on the Roof collaborated for a Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS benefit and produced an approximately 10 - minute - long show, "Avenue Jew", that incorporated characters from both shows, including puppets . </P> <P> Songs from the musical have been covered by notable artists . For example, in 1964, jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley recorded the album Fiddler on the Roof, which featured jazz arrangements of eight songs from the musical . AllMusic awarded the album 4 stars and states "Cannonball plays near his peak; this is certainly the finest album by this particular sextet". That same year, Eydie Gormé released a single of "Matchmaker". In 1999, Knitting Factory Records released Knitting on the Roof, a compilation CD featuring covers of Fiddler songs by alternative bands such as The Residents, Negativland, and The Magnetic Fields . Indie rock band Bright Eyes recorded an adaptation of "Sunrise, Sunset" on their 2000 album Fevers and Mirrors . Allmusic gave the album a favorable review, and the online music magazine Pitchfork Media ranked it at number 170 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s . In 2005, Melbourne punk band Yidcore released a reworking of the entire show called Fiddling on Ya Roof . </P> <P> Gwen Stefani and Eve covered "If I Were a Rich Man" as "Rich Girl" for Stefani's 2004 debut solo album Love . Angel . Music . Baby . in 2004 . The song was inspired by the 1993 British Louchie Lou & Michie One ragga version of the same name . Stefani's version reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it remained for over six months . It was certified gold by the RIAA and nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap / Sung Collaboration . It was also covered in 2008 and 2009 by the Capitol Steps, poking fun at Illinois politics, especially then - Governor Rod Blagojevich . The Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps performs the "Bottle Dance" from Fiddler as a "recurring trademark", including at the Drum Corps International World Championships . </P>

List of characters in fiddler on the roof