Broadway Leading Men Trivia Quiz

Answer: Michael Crawford

Michael Crawford (born 1942 as Michael Patrick Smith) is a thorough all-rounder as far as his career goes. His skills at comedy are unquestioned; he is equally at home on the stage and in film or television, in drama or lighter roles, and his skills as a dancer and a top class tenor are impeccable. He first hit the footlights in a series of operas and light comedies at the same time he was featuring in hundreds of radio productions, before moving into film and television. The man's energy and artistic outpouring was incredible. Then of course there was his long running and very popular TV series "Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em" in which he played a lovable, but extraordinarily clumsy dill creating havoc wherever he went - in a role that was turned down by both Ronnie Barker and Norman Wisdom.

His follow up musical role in 1981 as famous American showman P.T. Barnum (in which he also learned how to walk on a tightrope and juggle) was next, running for 655 performances. Then came perhaps Michael's most famous role of all, that of the tortured Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's long running "Phantom of the Opera". He played this role for three and a half years in 1,300 performances until 1990, and made it his own. Who could ever forget that beautiful solo, "The Music of the Night" delivered in Michael's exquisite voice? And to think that this brilliant performer, in his earlier role as the hapless Frank Spencer, once became stuck, head first, down a toilet.

Answer: Colm Wilkinson

Recognised as one of the world's greatest Broadway stars, Colm Wilkinson (born in Ireland, 1944) has starred in "Les Miserables" and "The Phantom of the Opera" and appeared in early recordings of such popular shows as "Evita" and "Jekyll and Hyde" . In 1985, while working on Andrew Llloyd Webber's production of "Phantom of the Opera", Wilkinson was offered the chance of taking that show to the West End, but instead opted for the new role of Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables".

Wilkinson almost didn't make it to Broadway for this incredible show, as Actors Equity there had a standing policy of only hiring American performers unless an overseas performer was considered an international star. How snooty. However, the producer of the show refused to open the show unless Wilkinson played Valjean, and thankfully won the day. One of the most exquisite numbers from this show - "Bring Him Home" - which was written especially for Wilkinson, and in which, as Valjean, he begs God to save the life of Marius, is just beautiful. It moves me to tears - and Colm's incredible tenor delivery of the high notes in this number is worth every single teardrop.

Answer: Nathan Lane

Nathan Lane (born in 1956) is equally at home playing comedic and dramatic roles, and such is his skill at both, that the New York Times, in 2010, awarded him the compliment of being "the greatest stage entertainer of the decade". Nathan's stage career over the years has been long and varied, and, just to name a few, includes pivotal roles in the revival of 1982 of Noel Coward's "Present Laughter"; "Guys and Dolls" (1992); "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (1996) - for which he won the Tony Award; "The Odd Couple" (2005); and "The Addams Family" (2006) in which he played the hilarious Gomez Addams. It was his role as the crooked producer, Max Bialystock, in Mel Brooks' 2001 musical, "The Producers", a show that won an amazing 12 Tony Awards, that saw Nathan also take out another one of those coveted accolades.

For those of you who can't make it to any stage production featuring the multi-talented Nathan Lane, however, perhaps you could hire yourself a copy of the 1996 film, "The Birdcage", one of the funniest films to ever hit the big screen, and in which a stage production is featured within a movie. Nathan's skills in that film are displayed to full effect. His role was two-fold in this show. He plays the gay, very flamboyant, Albert/Starina, a highly emotional sweetly effeminate partner of a sedate Armand (Robin Williams), the gay owner of a drag club in Florida. Starina is the main attraction in the club's nightclub shows and has been for years. While that characterisation is very funny, it is when Starina switches to his off-stage character of Albert, that he presents to us a vulnerable, rather insecure at times, gay man, who just wants to be loved and acknowledged, both as a life partner of Armand and loving step mother of Armand's son, Val. Nathan plays both aspects to perfection.

Answer: Both

Robert Cuccioli was born in New York State in 1958, and initially planned a career in finance, after graduating from St John's University with a degree in that field. However, the gleam of footlights proved more alluring to Robert than the gleam of dollars, and after working as a financial consultant for several years, he turned to the stage. With earlier roles in "The Merry Widow", and "The Pirates of Penzance" and "H.M.S. Pinafore", Robert's first leading role was as Lancelot in "Camelot" in 1987. After that production was over, he became the villainous Javert in "Les Miserables" in 1993. And his stage career has expanded at a rate of knots from there.

His most famous role, which could be said to reflect his own duality of nature, was in the musical "Jekyll & Hyde", playing the two roles of that split personality with ease. For this he was nominated for a Tony Award, and won the Thomas Jefferson Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Fany Award and the Drama Desk Award. The multi-talented Robert Cuccioli has also appeared in film and assorted television shows, and tried his hand at directing as well. Yet, his true love is the stage, and at the time of writing this quiz (2022), he has a very impressive of 57 musicals to his credit. That list includes several revivals over the years of "Jekyll and Hyde". One wonders if his wife keeps the carving knife safely locked away.

Answer: Chuck Wagner

Chuck Wagner has many strings to his bow. Not only is he a more than accomplished singer (baritone) with a long career in stage musicals, he is also an actor, a recording artist, director, historian and teacher. Born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1958, his early musical roles included "My Fair Lady" and "Carousel" with a stop along the way to play a straight role in "Inherit the Wind".

This leading man was the very first actor, in 1990, to ever play the title roles in "Jekyll & Hyde"', roles he also performed in the 1999-2000 Equity Tour of the show. Just a few of his other many roles include Rapunzel's Prince in "Into the Woods'; the Beast in "Beauty and the Beast"; Javert in "Les Miserables"; and Fred in "Kiss Me Kate". With a height of six-foot-four, and, at last count, weighing in at 250 lbs, one imagines that, in his roles as a musical villain, Wagner would be just a tad terrifying.

Answer: Douglas Sills

American performer, Douglas Sills, was born in Detroit in 1950. Apart from his musical roles, he is particularly known for his overall ability to meld his personality into the character he is portraying on screen or stage. Of his multi-faceted roles, these include Freddie in "Chess", Danny in "Grease", Rapunzel's Prince in "Into the Woods", and Archibald Craven in "The Secret Garden".

Over time, he had also considered the idea of studying law at Stanford Law School for a time (his LSAT score was in the 99th percentile), and was indeed heading in that career direction, when performing won out instead when he was offered the lead role in "The Scarlet Pimpernel" in 1997, the role he originated on Broadway. He hasn't looked back since, appearing in a wide range of plays, musicals, tv shows, and a few films.

Answer: Anthony Warlow

Anthony Warlow (born 1961) is an Australian actor and classically trained opera singer also known for his impressive roles in stage musicals. Apart from the Phantom, a few of his other major roles include Archibald Craven in "The Secret Garden", Sky Masterson in "Guys and Dolls", Daddy Warbucks in "Annie", Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady", and Don Quixote in "man of La Mancha". His career suffered a short hiatus in 1992 when he took time off to deal with a devastating illness, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, but since then, he has returned to the stage better than ever.

Anthony has a beautiful lyric baritone voice and displays this to perfection with a more than impressive vocal range. A member of the Order of Australia (for services to the performing arts), he has released twenty albums and DVDs in between times. These include "Centre Stage", "On the Boards", and "Back in the Swing". It goes without saying that the works of Gilbert and Sullivan are part of his repertoire as well.

Answer: Philip Quast

Born in Australia in 1957, Philip Quast is an actor, singer and teacher. A graduate from the Australian Institute of Dramatic Art in 1979, this humble man who hates a fuss being made over him, firmly established himself as a fine actor at home, before branching out overseas as well in various roles. His ability in many fields of acting has seen him win the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical an impressive three times, a record unequalled for many years. These were for his role as Georges and George in "Sunday in the Park with George" (1991), Grahame Chandler in "The Fix" (1998), and Emile de Becque in "South Pacific" (2002).

In addition to his role as Javert in "Les Miserables", which he introduced to Australian audiences in 1987, a few of Philip's other notable roles include Neville Craven in "The Secret Garden", the Wolf and Cinderella's Prince in "Into the Woods", and George Banks in "Mary Poppins". This multi-talented performer has also appeared as a regular for 17 years in Australia's most loved children's show "Play School", and, I confess, is a joy to watch in that as well. He has an endearing ability to speak directly to the child within us all.

Answer: Rob Evan

American born Rob Evan (birth date unknown) is notable for playing the lead role in numerous musicals on Broadway, for his many international tours, and for more than fifteen albums of various shows. His performance in "Jekyll & Hyde" alone has been presented more than 600 times - and that's enough to give anyone a split personality. He is also regularly featured with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra, and, somewhat strangely, the Trans-Siberian orchestra as well.

The long list of Rob's other performances include appearances in "South Pacific", "Hello Dolly", "Chess", "Dance of the Vampires", "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Tarzan". Interesting choices indeed. It would seem he has the ability to switch personalities in an instant, resurrect the dead, drink blood as a matter of course, extract teeth - and wrestle crocodiles. Steve Irwin would be impressed.

Answer: Terrence Mann

Born in 1951, Terrence Mann has many strings to his bow. He is an actor, singer and theatre director, performed in countless musicals, plays, movies, and tv shows, received several Tony Award and Emmy nominations, and, just to swell his repertoire, is also described as a distinguished professor at Western Carolina University. His musical theatre directing credits include "1776", "Pirates of Penzance", "Sweeney Todd", "Show Boat", "Sound of Music", "Gypsy", "My Fair Lady", and "Camelot".

From his debut Broadway role as Chester Lyman in "Barnum" to his mischief making Rum Tum Tugger in "Cats", Terrence has played them all to perfection. Oh, and did I forget to mention this immensely talented performer has appeared in almost 40 films as well? He must learn his lines and songs on the gallop.