Chel's Favorites-White Way Songs Quiz

Answer: Oliver!

"Oliver!" is based on the Dickens novel "Oliver Twist", about an orphan, Oliver, who runs away to London and falls in with a gang of young robbers. He befriends the Artful Dodger, one of the robbers, and Nancy, the girlfriend of Bill Sikes, a very cruel man indeed.

But Nancy believes that he needs her, as she explains in the song "As Long As He Needs Me." Poor Nancy, though, is rather incorrect; in fact, it is Sikes who kills her as she defends Oliver.

Answer: Chicago

"Chicago" is a musical that knows human nature well. It's set in Chicago (where else?) in the Roarin' 20s, and tells the story of two of the city's famous murdering mistresses - Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart. After killing her husband and sister when she found out they were seeing each other, Velma was the toast of the town, until Roxie murdered her lover and stole the headlines. And Roxie was willing go to great lengths to stay there.

The lyric is from "The Cell Block Tango," in which the women of Murderers' Row talk about why they killed their lovers.

Answer: The Rocky Horror Show

From the opening song "Science Fiction Double Feature", "Rocky Horror", with music and lyrics by Richard O'Brien, is definitely one of the strangest - and coolest - shows to grace a stage. It starts out like an average sci-fi/horror movie: two college kids, Brad and Janet, get stuck on the road in a rainstorm and go to a castle for shelter. That's when it gets strange. Residing in the castle is Dr. Frank N. Furter, an insane alien scientist who has created the perfect man. Madness, perversion, and hilarity ensue. I could go on and on about this show, but I'll stop now...

Answer: Mamma Mia!

"Mamma Mia!" is based on the works of ABBA. The story is about Sophie Sheridan, a young woman about to get married. She always wanted her dad to walk her down the aisle - but she has three possible dads. Sophie sends out invitations to them all without her mother Donna's knowledge, and Donna is more than a little surprised when she sees them all.

The song the lyric is from, "The Winner Takes It All", is sung by Donna as she reflects.

Answer: The Phantom of the Opera

"The Phantom of the Opera", one of my absolute favorites, is based on Gaston Leroux's novel that tells of Erik, disfigured from birth, the mysterious Phantom of the Opera Garnier. Under the guise of the "Angel of Music", Erik has helped Christine Daae become the opera's new star.

He has also fallen in love with her, but Christine is torn between him and Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, a childhood friend of hers. Erik causes the chandelier to come crashing down, and then kidnaps Christine, prepared to kill Raoul when he comes to rescue her. Christine sings the lyric in the question after Erik has kidnapped her, close to the end. Very heart-wrenching, it is.

Answer: Cats

This is from the reprise of the famous "Memory", sung near the end of the show. "Cats", another great favorite of mine, is based on T. S. Eliot's poetry book "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats". It tells the stories of the Jellicle Cats, gathered for the Jellicle Ball.

The faded glamour cat, Grizabella, returns on that night, hoping to be accepted back into the tribe. She is shunned until the end, when the kittens Jemima (who sings the lyric in question) and Victoria welcome her after her plea in "Memory."

Answer: Hello, Dolly!

These lines are from the song "Elegance." "Hello, Dolly!" is a classic show of Broadway, about the ambitious widow Mrs. Dolly Gallagher Levi. As a "hobby", she matchmakes, and she has decided that Horace Vandergelder would be perfect for her - and no matter what he says, she isn't going to let him go without a fight! Along the way, she manages to match up some more couples, including Cornelius Hackl and Irene Molloy, who sing "Elegance" with Minnie Fay and Barnaby Tucker.

Answer: Wicked

"Wicked" is a take on what happened in Oz before Dorothy's arrival. It's about Elphaba, the Witch of the West, and how she and Glinda were friends. Elphaba wasn't born wicked, but through a string of good deeds gone wrong, that's all people see her as.

It also tells how Nessarose, Elphaba's little sister who was confined to a wheelchair, became the Witch of the East. Nessarose sings the lyric in the song "The Wicked Witch of the East", as she realizes that Boq, her love interest who would become the Tin Man, never loved her back, and that she's as wicked as her sister, just as Boq claimed she was.

Answer: Sweeney Todd

"Sweeney Todd" tells the tale of Benjamin Barker, who was falsely accused of a crime by the twisted Judge Turpin and sent to Australia. Judge Turpin knew that Barker was innocent and falsely accused him in order to get his hands on Barker's wife Lucy. Fifteen years later, Barker returns as Sweeney Todd.

He learns from his old neighbor Mrs. Lovett that Lucy was raped by Turpin, and that she then swallowed poison. He also learns that Turpin adopted Barker's daughter Johanna, and is prepared to do the same thing to her. Todd swears revenge and ends up murdering Turpin, as well as a crazy beggar woman who constantly says she recognizes him.

When Mrs. Lovett finds out about the second murder, she is horrified, and confesses that the beggar was Lucy. Todd then pushes Mrs. Lovett into an oven for keeping it from him.

Answer: A Chorus Line

The lyrics come from the song "At The Ballet." "A Chorus Line" is about several dancers trying out for spots in a new Broadway show's chorus line. The director, Zach, presses each one for details about their life. "At The Ballet" is sung by three women - Sheila, Bebe, and Maggie.

Sheila's father never truly loved her or her mother, but she found the love she had missed at home at ballet class. Maggie's father left her family, and she would dance around the living room, in a fantasy world. Bebe, who sings the lyric in the question, was always told by her mother that she'd be different, "with a very, very personal flair." Bebe knew that different wasn't pretty, but she always felt beautiful when she was dancing.