Show Tunes Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Music Man

Meredith Willson was responsible for the book, music and lyrics of this hit, as well as being a co-author of the original story on which it was based. Opening in 1957, 'The Music Man' won five Tonies, including Best Musical (beating 'West Side Story'), and the Original Cast album won a Grammy and spent over five years on the Billboard charts. Robert Preston originated the title role, and reprised it for the 1962 movie adaptation.

Harold Hill is a scam artist, traveling from town to town and selling instruments and uniforms for a town band which never arrive - and he makes sure to be well out of sight before the realisation sinks in. In River City, however, he falls in love with the librarian, and comes unstuck. 'Till There Was You' is first sung by Marian, who knows he is a fraud but is in love with him anyway; it is reprised by Harold when he hears her singing 'Goodnight My Someone', and realises how he feels about her. (Aside: The Beatles recorded 'Till There Was You', with Paul McCartney on vocals, in 1962. It was the only song from a Broadway musical that they recorded. The royalties from that song paid to Meredith Willson's estate exceeded his earnings from the original.)

Answer: West Side Story

This musical was the brainchild of Jerome Robbins, as 'East Side Story', a conflict between Jewish and Irish Catholic families living on the lower east side of Manhattan. It evolved into the form we now know, with the conflict between two youth gangs, one Puerto Rican and one Anglo, set on the upper west side, and many of the parallels to 'Romeo and Juliet' removed for greater dramatic tension. The songs, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics from Stephen Sondheim, include some of the real classics of popular musical theatre: 'Tonight', 'Maria' and 'Somewhere' especially have become part of the repertoire. The dance sequences choreographed by Jerome Robbins were also spectacular; the show won a Tony for Best Choreography, one of five nominations received by the show.

At the start of the second act, Maria (sister to Bernardo, leader of the Sharks, the group with a Puerto Rican background) is getting ready to meet Tony (one of the leaders of the Jets), and sings 'I Feel Pretty' as her girlfriends help her prepare for the date. Then she gets news that Tony has killed Bernardo, in retaliation for the death of Riff, and that things are falling apart.

Answer: Oliver!

With book, lyrics and music by Lionel Bart, 'Oliver!' opened in London in 1960 and hit Broadway in 1962, before being adapted to film in 1968. Charles Dickens' 1838 novel 'Oliver Twist' needed considerable trimming to fit into a coherent musical, but it became the first successful Dickens musical adaptation to that time. The outline of a young orphan being abused, running away to a life on the streets, getting involved with a criminal gang and being rescued by the beneficent Mr Brownlow.

After Oliver runs away from the undertaker to whom he was sold by the manager of the workhouse where we saw him at the start of the show, he meets up with the Artful Dodger, a member of a gang of pickpockets who welcome Oliver to their ranks in song with 'Consider Yourself'. For players of a certain age, it is interesting to note that Davy Jones (later in the Monkees) played the Artful Dodger in both the London (in rotation with some others) and New York productions.

Answer: Fiddler on the Roof

The origin of this musical in a collection of stories by Sholem Aleichem about life in the Russian Pale around 1905 is clear from the somewhat fragmentary plot structure - but what a chance to create musical magic from a fundamentally tragic situation! The show opened on Broadway in 1964 (with Zero Mostel featuring as Tevye, the milkman with five daughters to worry about), in the West End in 1968 (with Chaim Topol in the role), and was adapted to film in 1971 with Topol again the star.

The show features a number of memorable songs, including 'Do You Love Me?', a song between Tevye and his wife Golde, as he is considering their arranged marriage in contrast to the insistence of his three oldest daughters that they will marry the man they love. This difficulty in coming to grips with the changing times provides the rationale for several of the other songs, from the opening 'Tradition', through 'Matchmaker, Matchmaker' and Sunrise, Sunset' to the closing scene when Tevye, Golde and their two youngest girls leave Anatevka after the other three girls and their husbands have already departed.

Answer: Jesus Christ Superstar

Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber had difficulty getting backing for a proposed rock opera (all song, no spoken words) that investigated the relationships between the followers of Jesus of Nazareth as depicted in the Gospels, but interpreted with a modern understanding of psychology. So they first produced a concept album, whose success led to a 1971 Broadway production. the subsequent London production became the longest-running West End musical until 'Cats' came along.

The first song, following the Overture, is 'Heaven on Their Minds', sung by Judas Iscariot, the central figure of the show. He reflects that the frenzied adulation of Jesus' followers is creating a politically dangerous situation, and questions whether he is starting to believe in the mythology that is being created. This theme is picked up more fully in the better-known song 'Superstar', sung by the spirit of Judas after his suicide and immediately before the crucifixion of Jesus.

Answer: Annie

In 1885 James Whitcomb Riley wrote a poem about 'Little Orphant Annie', based on the stories told by an orphan who had lived with and worked for his family when he was a child. In 1924 Harold Gray had an idea for a comic strip about a young orphan for which he proposed the title 'Little Orphan Otto', a title that his editor changed to 'Little Orphan Annie', with a consequent change of gender for the central character. Over the years the activities of Annie, her dog Sandy, and her benefactor Daddy Warbucks have appeared in numerous newspapers, and been adapted to a range of media, including the 1977 musical 'Annie'. As well as winning the Tony Award for Brest Musical, is generated a seemingly endless string of touring companies and international versions.

'Maybe' is the opening number of the show, sung by Annie and the other orphans to comfort young Molly. They fantasize about what their parents may be doing, and hope for them to come save them from the hardships of the orphanage. In the original production it was reprised three times: at the end of the first act, at the start of the second act, and again near the end, when Annie believes that her parents have come, but wonders whether a life with them (they weren't very nice!) would be as good as the one she would have led if the plan for Daddy Warbucks to adopt her had taken place. Don't worry - Daddy Warbucks and his wealthy friends do end up adopting all of the orphans.

Answer: Evita

A 1976 concept album from the successful pair of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber became a full-blown musical that opened in London's West End in 1978, and has had a performance running somewhere pretty much ever since. The 1996 film adaptation starred Madonna in the title role, which had been taken on by Julie Covington in the original album, Elaine Paige in London, and Patti Lupone on Broadway.

'Evita' tells the story of Eva Duarte, whose yearning for a better life leads to her relationship with Juan Peron, a powerful military and political Argentine figure. The song 'Another Suitcase in Another Hall' is sung near the end of the first act, by the girl whose position as Peron's mistress is taken over by Eva. After the couple are married and Peron is elected president, Eva sings the show's most familiar number, 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina', as she claims to realise that she cares more about improving the lives of the people than she does for personal glory.

Answer: Les Miserables

'Les Misérables', commonly referred to as 'Les Miz', is an adaptation by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg of a book by Victor Hugo. Boublil was also one of the lyricists, along with Jean-Marc Natel; Claude-Michel Schönberg provided the music. The English adaptation by Cameron Smith (with English lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer) became one of the longest-running musicals in London, New York, and a number of other cities around the world. A 2012 film version won multiple awards, including an Academy Award for Best supporting Actress won by Anne Hathaway.

Set in turbulent post-Napoleonic Paris, the story is of an ex-thief trying to redeem himself, and the lives of some of the people whose paths cross his. There is love, heroism, chicanery, death - something for everyone! The song 'Do You Hear the People Sing?' is performed twice in the English language version: once near the end of the first act as the students decide it is time to start the active revolution they feel is desperately needed, and again by the full company at the end of the show.

Answer: Singin' in the Rain

All right, the title song, with its famous scene of Don (Tommy Steele in the West End in 1983, Don Correia on Broadway in 1985, Gene Kelly in the film on which the musical is based) is the highlight of the show, but that would have made a pretty boring match challenge. All three of these productions, along with subsequent revivals, use different musical selections (either from old Broadway shows or in that style), so it is hard to select a song title that will be familiar no matter which you saw.

One of the songs that is a part of all three productions is 'Moses Supposes', a humorous song based on a tongue twister which Don has to deal with during a diction lesson, part of the plan to help him transfer his acting talents from silent film to talkies. Playing around with the already nonsensical words ("Moses supposes his toeses are Roses, / But Moses supposes Erroneously, / Moses he knowses his toeses aren't roses, As Moses supposes his toeses to be!" is the tongue twister which forms the opening of the song) leads to a dance routine that leaves the elocution coach speechless.

Answer: Fame - The Musical

Here's a show that reverses the usual pattern - based on a 1980 film that was followed by a successful television series, the musical had its first production in Miami in 1988, opened in the West End in 1996, and made it to an Off-Broadway production in 2003, under the slightly different title 'Fame on 42nd Street'. Just about the only thing the musical had in common with the original film was the setting (High School of the Performing Arts in NYC) and the title song.

The song 'Hard Work' comes near the start of the show, as the students who are going to become the protagonists are auditioning for entry to the school, and acknowledge that they will need a lot more than just talent to succeed. They are a diverse lot, and various productions change the character details (ethnicity, musical talent, etc.) to suit the local cast.