Musicals That are Going Places Quiz

Answer: Kansas City

"Everything's up to date in Kansas City," sings Will. While Kansas City did have a major population boom in the early 20th century, it was still at 51,000 in 1900.

Chicago has a massive boom in the decades after the Great Fire and had 1.7 million people by 1900, making it one of the world's largest cities. It also had numerous skyscrapers.

Saint Louis was also a huge city by 1900, with 575 thousand people. It hosted the World's Fair and Third Olympics in 1904.

Dallas's population doubled in the early 20th century, but it was still under 100,000. Everything would not be up to date in Dallas for several decades.

Answer: Montfermeil

Monterfermeil is a commune on the eastern suburbs of Paris. In 1823, when Valjean was rescuing Cosette, it would have been a small community of only around 1000 people.Today, a lot of soccer players, many of African origin, have their roots in Montfremeil.

Versailles is home to the elaborate palace of Louis XIV. Orly is south of Paris, home of the city's second major airport. Saint-Denis is just north of Paris, and is named after the first Bishop of Paris.

Answer: Germany

The song notes that Evita was a huge hit in Spain, fell flat in Italy because Juan Peron was a little too much like Mussolini and did well in France until her rainbow started to fade. Evita also visited Switzerland and England (where she didn't fare too well). Germany is not mentioned in the song - because she didn't visit.

The real Rainbow Tour took place in June of 1947.

Answer: Havana

Sky takes Sarah to Havana on a wager with Nathan Detroit. Sky promises Sarah "one dozen genuine sinners" in exchange for her going to Havana with him. Faced with the prospect of losing her mission, Sarah agrees to the date. Per the way of Broadway musicals, they fall in love (and out of love) several times, but everything works out in the end.

Answer: New York - London

"Anything Goes" is the classic Cole Porter musical set aboard the S.S. America, traveling from New York to Los Angeles. It is about a stowaway named Billy Crocker, who is seeking to win the heart of heiress Hope Harcourt. He is assisted by singer Reno Sweeney and gangster "Moonface" Martin.

The musical includes many classic songs by Cole Porter, including the title song and "You're The Top". Everything works out in the end as Billy marries Hope and Reno marries Hope's former fiancé.

Many of Broadway's biggest stars have played Reno Sweeney, starting with Ethel Merman. Other notable names include Patti LuPone, Elaine Paige and Sutton Foster.

Answer: RMS Titanic

"The Unsinkable Molly Brown" is a 1960 musical by Meredith Willson, based on the life of Margaret Brown, one of the survivors of the RMS Titanic. The show was a modest success, running 532 times from late 1960 to February 1962. Tammy Grimes won a Tony Award for playing Molly Brown.

The musical is a love story between Molly and her husband Johnny "Leadville" Brown. Much of the story is set in Colorado, but the couple does travel to Europe and Molly's return on the Titanic is an important plot point. The song "Dolce Far Niente" (the sweetness of doing nothing) is sung aboard the Titanic.

Answer: Minneapolis

The show starts in Cincinnati and moves to Minneapolis. It is based on the life of Annie Oakley, the famous sharpshooter in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Much of the play is about the romance between Oakley and her fellow sharpshooter, Frank Butler

The original play opened in 1946 with Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton. It has been revived many times in the decades since.

Answer: Nevis

Hamilton was born on Nevis in 1755, and spent his youth in Charlestown. He sailed to Boston in October 1772, when he was either 15 or 17. He moved to New York (The Greatest City in the World) shortly afterward.

Nevis is part of the nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, a former British colony which became independent in 1983. Saint Kitts and Nevis ranks among the world's smallest, both in area and population, with fewer than 50,000 people on a 100 square mile island.

Answer: Thailand

Anna Leonowens traveled to Siam, today Thailand, to tutor the children of the King. The ruler starts as a tyrant, and mellows under the influence of Leonowens. Popular songs from the musical include "Getting to Know You", "Shall We Dance" and "Hello Young Lovers".

"The King and I" is the fifth musical by Rogers and Hammerstein and is based on the 1870 memoirs of Leonowens, who taught the children of King Mongkut from 1862 to 1867. As in the play, Mongkut died in 1868. Leonowens did help inspire many of the reforms that Mongkut and his son instituted.

Answer: Bangkok

Much of the second act of Miss Saigon takes place in Bangkok. Kim has moved from Vietnam to Thailand, where she is working as a dancer for The Engineer. Chris is reunited with his son Tam, while Kim commits suicide once she knows her son is reunited with his father.

"Miss Saigon" first opened in London in 1988 and on Broadway in 1991. The play was written by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, the creators of "Les Misérables" (1985). It ran on Broadway for almost a decade, with over 4000 performances. The play is based on the Puccini opera "Madame Butterfly."