Broadway Classics Trivia Quiz

Answer: "Green Grow the Lilacs"

"Green Grow the Lilacs" was featured on Broadway early in the year of 1931. It was written by Lynn Riggs who was an accomplished American author, poet, playwright and screen writer. His career ended prematurely when he died from complications of stomach cancer in 1954, at the age of 54.

"Green Grow the Lilacs" was one of his most well known works and it certainly received more recognition after the success of "Oklahoma!". Much of its plot revolved around the male lead (a cowboy named Curly) who vied for the attention and affection of a local farm girl named Laurey. Curly needed fifty dollars to prove his worth for her - and, thus his struggles.

Although "Green Grow the Lilacs" faded into almost non-existence, the original production of "Oklahoma!" was immediately very popular and considered widely successful. Well into the 21st century it remained a favored choice for many community theater productions.

Answer: "Annie Get Your Gun"

Irving Berlin had been writing musical scores for decades when "Annie Get Your Gun" debuted but his work had remained innovative and appealing - for both stage and screen productions. As mentioned in the question the show was considered to have been (loosely) based on the life of sharp-shooter, Annie Oakley. The show told of her talent, her international travels with a "wild west" show and her romance with the show's male lead, Frank Butler.

The amazing Ethel Merman was the first female lead of "Annie Get Your Gun" - in 1946. She was only the first of an incredible list of "Annies" who followed her on Broadway; among those were Dolores Gray, Mary Martin, Bernadette Peters, Marilu Henner and Reba McEntire.

Answer: "Guys and Dolls"

The Tony Awards were very young - only the fifth year of those annual presentations - when "Guys and Dolls" won the Best Musical Award. The music and lyrics for "Guys and Dolls" was written by Frank Loesser. It characters and its plot are said to have been amalgamations of short stories that had been written by Damon Runyon brought together by theater producers, Cy Feuer and Ernest Martin. The male lead is Nathan Detroit, a gambler, whose troubles not only included evading the police but evading the ever-pending marriage to his long-time girlfriend, nightclub singer, Adelaide. Nathan's "partner in crime" was Sky Masterson, a vagabond gambler who, uncharacteristically, became attracted to local missionary, Sarah Brown.

The show featured the songs, "Luck Be a Lady", "A Bushel and a Peck" and "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat".

Answer: "Fiddler on the Roof"

The initial Broadway production of "Fiddler on the Roof" played more than 3,200 performances - which made it the longest running musical in Broadway's history - at that time. As "Fiddler" did its final performance in July of 1972, "Grease" had only been seen on Broadway for a few months; it would take the more than eight year run of "Grease" to usurp "Fiddler" from its afore mentioned pedestal.

"Fiddler on the Roof" told the story of a Jewish milkman, his wife and their five daughters who lived in Russia in the early 1900s. Much of the play told of their struggles to maintain traditional mores while changing with the world around them. It earned the Tony Award in 1965 for Best Musical.

Answer: "Hair"

If "Hair" had been produced forty or more years later, theater goers may regard it differently but in the late 1960s it was most controversial. One of the first musicals to be labeled "rock opera", "Hair" smacked theaters-goers right in the face with profanity, nudity, sex, illegal drug use, war protest and using a racially integrated cast. The scene where the American flag was destroyed was most upsetting to many. Rough stuff for then - even for the arts. With all its controversy considered, "Hair" was nominated for Best Musical at the 1969 Tony Awards.

In addition to the song mentioned in the question, "Hair" featured: "Easy To Be Hard", "Good Morning Starshine" and its title song, "Hair". Its initial Broadway production stayed there for more than four years and more than 1,700 shows.

Answer: "Evita"

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice had collaborated for years before they wrote the musical story of Eva Perón together. The two of them told of a poor young girl who rose to a position of power, devotion and acclaim. She would become the second wife of the President of Argentina and a constant in his political machine. Their story continues until immediately after her death and is masterfully told - even if not totally historically accurate.

The Tony Awards earned by "Evita" in 1980 included: Best Musical, Best Original Score and Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical.

Answer: "Rent"

Jonathan Larson was said to have written and re-written what would become the rock-opera, "Rent", for more than seven years. In his own words he described his final revision as: "'Rent' is about a community celebrating life, in the face of death and AIDS, at the turn of the century."

"Rent" was (in 1996) said to have been the first musical in decades to attract a younger audience by bringing to the stage struggles of that generation. Its characters portrayed those who were facing low-paying jobs, fear and understanding of AIDS, discrimination and utter helplessness yet in this anguish some found loyalty and hope among their peers.

Very, very sadly, Jonathan Larson did not live to enjoy the eventual success of his "Rent". He died the night before it opened for its Off-Broadway preview performance. He was thirty-five years old.

Answer: "Footloose"

Ah, "Footloose" - fun story line, foot-tapping songs and a lot of action (i.e., dancing, whether legal or not!) on the stage. "Footloose" made its way to Broadway in 1998 - the film of the same name had its first run in movie theaters in 1984 - and was received with mixed reviews. Many of the popular songs from the film were a part of the story line of the play. "Holding Out For a Hero", "Let's Hear It for the Boy" and "Almost Paradise" are some of those.

Although "Footloose" did not enjoy an extremely long stay on Broadway, its story line about high school students and their response to authority - and, thus a cast of predominantly younger actors and actresses -made it a popular choice for school productions and community theater for many years after its début.

Answer: "Mamma Mia!"

The musical "Mamma Mia!" is based on the songs of ABBA, one of the most popular singing groups to have hits in the 1970s and 1980s. The title itself is a copy of their song that topped the charts in 1975. Two of the members of ABBA, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus are credited with the music and lyrics of the play that British playwright, Catherine Johnson, used to masterfully tell the story of Sophie and her upcoming wedding with many of ABBA's songs.

In the play, Sophie invited three of her mother's former lovers to her wedding in a effort to determine paternity - hers. As anyone may imagine things do not go so smoothly for Sophie or her mother.
Proving that music from prior times can find a revitalized and appreciated place in theater, "Mamma Mia!" remained on Broadway (initially) for almost fourteen years, from October 2001 to September 2015.

Answer: "Wicked"

As of the early 21st century, only a few Broadway shows had surpassed $1 billion in revenue - "Wicked" did. The music and lyrics for "Wicked" were written by Stephen Schwartz. Schwartz has said after he read the Gregory Maguire novel, "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West", he knew he wanted to make a drama from the story. His working title became: "Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz" and risking a terrible cliché, the rest is history.

The telling of the story of Elphaba and Glinda was told from such a fresh perspective that life long fans of "The Wizard of Oz" could enjoy it. It was told with such captivation that those who had no allegiance to "The Wizard of Oz" could relate to it. The story's main characters, Elphaba and Glinda, were two young girls who met in the Land of Oz and became close friends in spite of their differences. Yet they quickly learned they were destined for two very different paths in life. Several of the fabulous songs from "Wicked" became instantly a part of popular culture.