Which Musical Are We In? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Oliver!

The famous 1960 musical version of Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist" was the work of Lionel Bart, who wrote music, lyrics and book. Its original London production ran for 2,618 performances, which was at that time a record for a West End musical, and it has been the subject of at least three major West End revivals in the decades since then. The 1968 film adaptation, directed by Carol Reed, won the Oscar for "Best Picture".

Mr Bumble is the beadle who is in charge of the workhouse where Oliver is living at the start of the musical. Fagin is the elderly Jewish criminal who runs a gang of young boys who he trains as pickpockets, into whose clutches Oliver falls. Bill Sikes is a violent thuggish burglar who works alongside Fagin.

Answer: Kiss Me Kate

"Kiss Me Kate" is a 1948 musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Bella and Samuel Spewack. The plot is based around a cast of players rehearsing a musical version of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew".

Fred Graham is the director who is also playing the role of Petruchio, the play's hero, while Lili Vanessi is the actress playing Katharine (Kate), and who also happens to be Fred's ex-wife. The bickering between the characters of Fred and Lili is intended, of course, to mirror that between Petruchio and Katharine on stage. Lois Lane (no relation to Superman's girlfriend) is the name of the actress playing Bianca, Kate's sister.

Answer: The Lion King

"The Lion King" started life in 1994 as a Walt Disney animated film. In 1997 it was adapted for the stage in a hugely successful production directed by Julie Taymor, which was still running on Broadway in 2023. A London production which opened in 1999 was also still running in 2023. Elton John and Tim Rice, who had written the songs for the original film, wrote some new pieces for the stage version, and other composers and writers also contributed.

The lion Simba is the hero of the story. The warthog Pumbaa serves as comic relief, along with Timon the meerkat, and Rafiki is a mandrill who introduces the cub Simba to the other animals at the start of the show.

Answer: Aida

The musical version of "Aida" is by Tim Rice and Elton John and is based on the 1871 opera by Giuseppe Verdi. It had its Broadway premiere in March 2000, and ran until 2004.

Radames is the leader of the Egyptian army, who falls in love with the captured slave girl Aida. Amneris is the princess to whom Radames is betrothed in marriage, and Amonraso is the King of Nubia and Aida's father.

Answer: Follies

Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" opened in New York in 1971. Sondheim wrote both the music and lyrics, with the book written by James Goldman. This original Broadway production was very expensive and made a loss, despite running for over 500 performances.

The story is based around a 1970s reunion of a group of performers who were part of a 1930s/40s stage revue, "The Weismann Follies", inspired by the real-life "Ziegfeld Follies". Sally Plummer and Phyllis Stone are two of the showgirls who appeared there as youngsters, and Benjamin Stone is Phyllis's husband (although Sally is still in love with him).

Answer: The Phantom of the Opera

"The Phantom of the Opera" has music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Charles Hart and book by Richard Stilgoe and Lloyd Webber. It opened in London in 1986 to great acclaim and was still running in the West End in 2023 (having reopened in July 2021 in a slightly reduced production after its forced closure in March 2020 owing to the Covid pandemic). The Broadway production was almost as successful, running from 1988 until April 2023.

Christine Daaé is the heroine of the show, a young singer who is coached by the Phantom. Raoul de Chagny is the young nobleman who falls in love with Christine, and Meg Giry is Christine's friend and confidante.

Answer: My Fair Lady

"My Fair Lady" is closely based on the 1913 play "Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw. Frederick Loewe wrote the music, with lyrics and book by Alan J Lerner, and the musical was first performed on Broadway in 1956. It was a critical and popular successful, winning the Tony award for "Best Musical", and the film version which followed in 1964 won the Oscar for "Best Picture".

Henry Higgins is the professor of linguistics who accepts a bet to teach a cockney flower girl (Eliza Doolittle) to speak "proper English" sufficiently well for her to pass as an English aristocrat. The plain-speaking dustman Alfred Doolittle is Eliza's father, and Freddy Eynsford-Hill is a young man who falls in love with Eliza.

Answer: Beauty and the Beast

"Beauty and the Beast" is a 1994 stage musical based on the 1991 Walt Disney animated film. Alan Menken, who wrote the music for the original film, composed six new songs for the stage version. Sadly, the film's original lyricist, Howard Ashman, had died in 1991, so well-known lyricist Tim Rice collaborated with Menken on the new songs. The musical ran on Broadway from 1994 until 2007, notching up over 5000 performances, and has also been performed around the world.

Mrs Potts is the head cook of the Beast's castle, who has been transformed by magic into a teapot. Belle is the eponymous "Beauty", whose love for the Beast transforms him back into human form at the end of the show. Gaston is the arrogant and selfish youth who fancies Belle, without appreciating her true qualities.

Answer: Les Misérables

The musical version of "Les Misérables" began life as a French "concept album" with music by Claude-Michel Schönberg and lyrics by Alain Boublil, and a version was first staged in Paris in 1980. The producer Cameron Mackintosh worked with the UK's Royal Shakespeare Company to produce an English-language version, which opened at the Barbican Theatre (then the RSC's London base) in October 1985. The critical reception was initially fairly negative, but audiences disagreed, and by the end of its short Barbican run the production transferred to the West End, where it was still resident in 2023, having become London's longest-running musical.

Fantine is a single parent and the mother of Cosette, who dies in poverty during Act 1. Marius Pontmercy is the young idealistic student who falls in love with Cosette, and Gavroche is the street urchin who joins the student revolutionaries but is shot dead by soldiers at the barricades.

Answer: Annie Get Your Gun

The stage musical "Annie Get Your Gun" was written by Irving Berlin (music and lyrics), with the book by Dorothy and Herbert Fields. It is inspired by the life of Annie Oakley (1860-1926), a famous sharpshooter who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in the late nineteenth century. The musical opened on Broadway in 1946 and was a considerable success, being made into a film in 1950 and revived many times since.

Frank Butler is the sharpshooting male star of the Wild West Show who has a friendly rivalry with Annie, that ends (predictably) in their marriage. Chief Sitting Bull is the Native American Chief who is also a performer with Buffalo Bill's troupe, while Pawnee Bill is the owner of a rival Western Show.