A Musical Theater Common Bond Trivia Quiz

Answer: phantom

A phantast is a person with an overactive imagination who may be unable to differentiate between dreams and reality.
Phantasmagoria is an old type of horror theater that used magic lanterns to project frightening images of ghosts and other creatures on the wall. The term is still widely used in pop culture, e. g. as the title of a computer game or a music album.
A phanerophyte is a type of perennial plant.

Answer: train

The Orient Express a legendary luxury train that ran between Paris and Istanbul (when it was still called Constantinople). It has been immortalized in Agatha Christie's novel "Murder on the Orient Express."
The Intercity Express, or ICE, is the highest class of long-distance train in Germany. The Shinkansen is the famous Japanese bullet train. And the California Zephyr is a panoramic long-distance train that operates between San Francisco and Chicago in the US.

Answer: football (soccer)

As of 2024, when this quiz was written, the reigning World Champion was Argentina, with Brazil being record holder for most titles (5). The 2024 European Championship ended with a title for Spain, also the most successful team with 4 titles in total.

Answer: Judas

A Judas goat is a trained goat that leads the flock of sheep or cattle it is associated with to a destination, including slaughter.
The kiss of Judas is how, in the Bible, Judas Iscariot identified Jesus to the soldiers, leading to the latter's arrest and eventual trial and crucifixion.
Judas Priest is, of course, a British band hailed as one of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time.

Answer: Argentina

With a total area of 2,780,400 square kilometers (1,073,500 square miles), Argentina is the second-largest country in South America and the fourth largest in the Americas as a whole as well as the eighth largest in the world.

Answer: John Profumo

In what became known as the "Profumo Affair," Secretary of State for War John Profumo (who was married at the time) became involved with a 19-year-old model, Christine Keeler. What made it worse, there were reports that Christine Keeler may also have had relations with a Soviet naval attaché, Yevgeni Ivanov, at the same time.

This being the early 1960s, in the middle of the Cold War, that fact posed a potential security threat. The common denominator in all that was the osteopath Stephen Ward, a friend and mentor of Keeler's, who introduced them all. The Profumo Affair and its implications eventually led to the resignation of Harold Macmillan as Prime Minister and the defeat of the Conservative Party by Labour in the subsequent General Election.

Answer: Cinderella

Thanks to Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, and Walt Disney, it is probably safe to say that practically everyone in the Western world is familiar with the tale of Cinderella. But did you know that a somewhat similar tale (featuring a shoe and a royal's search for its owner) can be found in an ancient Greek story called "Rhodopis" traced back to the 6th century BCE?

Answer: cat

The Cheshire Cat and Dinah are both from "Alice in Wonderland." Cartoon cat Tom is the nemesis of mouse Jerry (and vice versa). Peg Leg Pete (a.k.a. Bad Pete or Black Pete) is a villain and the antagonist of Mickey Mouse. Crookshanks and Mrs. Norris both hail from the "Harry Potter" books. And Winston Churchill a.k.a. Church is the cat from Stephen King's "Pet Sematary."

Answer: Jim Steinman

Also described as "Wagnerian rock," Jim Steinman's style heavily characterized the music of Meat Loaf in particular. He wrote all the songs for Meat Loaf's 1977 album "Bat Out Of Hell," which to this day ranks in the top ten best-selling albums of all time.

Answer: Andrew Lloyd Webber

The common bond is musical composer ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, and all nine answers point to his musicals:
Phantom: "The Phantom of the Opera" is one of Lloyd Webber's most famous, most popular musicals.
Train: Trains are the main characters in "Starlight Express."
Football (soccer): Football is what brings the characters in "The Beautiful Game" together (and is also the game referenced by the title).
Judas: He serves as the narrator and central character in "Jesus Christ Superstar."
Argentina: "Evita" details the life and career of Eva Perón, wife of former Argentinian president Juan Perón.
John Profumo: The musical "Stephen Ward" details the events around the Profumo Affair, a political scandal in the 1960s.
Cinderella: "Cinderella" (produced on Broadway as "Bad Cinderella") is a 2021 Lloyd Webber musical.
Cat: Cats are the main characters in what is arguably Lloyd Webber's most widely known musical, "Cats".
Jim Steinman: Andrew Lloyd Webber collaborated with Jim Steinman on the musical "Whistle Down the Wind," which features a few songs written in a style that clearly mirrors Steinman's (most notably, "Tyre Tracks and Broken Heart" and "A Kiss Is A Terrible Thing To Waste").