Broadway During the 2010s Trivia Quiz

Answer: Book Of Mormon

"Book of Mormon" opened on Broadway in 2011. It was co-written by "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, so you can imagine there is language, crude humour and satirical content. Robert Lopez, who has written songs for "Frozen" and "Avenue Q", collaborated with them on this musical.

It tells the story of a pair of Mormon missionaries who are sent to Uganda to try to bring the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to that country. The show was incredibly successful and opened in London, England in 2013.

It toured the US, Canada, Australia, the UK and Ireland. It won a number of awards including several Tonys, Drama Desk Awards, a Grammy Award, Laurence Olivier Awards in the UK and Helpmann Awards in Australia.

Answer: Waitress

"Waitress" made its Broadway debut in 2016. It was based on an indie film of the same name starring Keri Russell, and is about a waitress and pie baker who is in an unhappy marriage. She finds out that she is pregnant and enters a pie baking contest to try and win money and change her life.

The music was written by Sara Bareilles and the book was written by Jessie Nelson. It was nominated for several awards and won a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award. Since its Broadway debut it has been produced in several countries including the Philippines, the UK, Canada, Poland and Finland. I saw the play in Toronto and was delighted to see a pie in a jar available as a keepsake.

Answer: Dear Evan Hansen

"Dear Evan Hansen" made its Broadway debut in December 2016 and was nominated for nine Tony Awards, winning six of them including Best Musical. The musical is about a socially anxious teenager who writes letters to himself as advised by his therapist to deal with his daily life.

In a squabble with another teenager named Connor, who ends up taking his own life, a letter that Evan has written to himself gets mistaken for a suicide note from Connor to Evan. The musical is an emotional ride as the families navigate their sadness and Evan tries to deal with his issues and the lie he is wrapped up in.

The musical was adapted into a movie in 2021.

Answer: Mean Girls

Based on the movie of the same name, "Mean Girls" made its Broadway debut in 2016. Both the movie and the musical book were written by Tina Fey. The musical was nominated for twelve Tony Awards, winning zero. The musical is about Cady Heron, a teenager who returns to the US from Africa and has to try to fit in at high school after having never attended a typical school.

At school she meets the mean girl clique and a couple of outsiders as she tries to find her place. The musical received OK reviews, part of the criticism being the ability to mix the sly humour of the movie with song and dance.

Answer: Come From Away

"Come From Away" was first produced at a college in Toronto before making its Broadway premiere in 2017. It is set in the small town of Gander, Newfoundland in the week following the 9/11 attacks and is based on real residents and the strangers who came to be stranded there following the attacks.

The musical is a lovely reminder of the kindness of strangers and was nominated for several Tony Awards, winning for Best Direction of a Musical. The musical was also produced in Toronto, Winnipeg, Dublin, London, Australia and throughout the United States.

Answer: Hadestown

"Hadestown" made its Broadway debut in 2019. It tells the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, Eurydice being enticed to join Hades in the underworld. Orpheus travels to the underworld to rescue her. Originally the musical premiered in Vermont and was also produced in Massachusetts and London.

The Broadway musical was nominated for fourteen Tony Awards, winning eight, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. It also won Drama Desk Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

Answer: Something Rotten!

"Something Rotten!" debuted on Broadway in 2015 and was nominated for ten Tony Awards. It won one, for the performance of Christian Borle as Shakespeare. It tells the story of the Bottom brothers, who want to be writers but have the bad luck of having to compete with William Shakespeare.

There is a very funny song called "A Musical" that introduces the idea of plays with music, which is seen as absurd. The song has a tap dance sequence, makes reference to other works, including "Les Miserables", "All That Jazz", "Annie" and a nod to the Rockettes.

Answer: Newsies

"Newsies" is based on a 1992 movie musical that was based on an actual newsboys strike that took place in New York City in 1899. The musical debuted on Broadway in March 2012 and played for two years, closing in August 2014. It was nominated for several awards, winning two Tonys and two Drama Desk Awards.

The newsies are young orphaned boys who sell newspapers for a living. The greedy newspaper publisher decides to increase profits by increasing the price of the newspapers. This makes it more difficult on the young boys to sell and they decide to fight back by going on strike.

Answer: Fun Home

"Fun Home" originated as a graphic novel, and was made into a musical that was workshopped and developed over a number of years. It premiered on Broadway in 2015 and is about a young woman grappling with her sexuality and her relationship with her father.

The Broadway version was nominated for twelve Tony Awards and won five, including Best Musical. It was also nominated for two Theatre World Awards, winning both. A national US tour followed the Broadway production as well as productions in various other countries including the UK.

Answer: Hamilton

What to say about this incredibly famous and successful musical? "Hamilton" received the highest number of Tony nominations of any musical before it, at sixteen. It won eleven. It originally premiered off-Broadway in February 2015 and moved to Broadway in August of that same year. Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda it is an entirely sung production, using rap, hip hop, R&B and traditional music tunes to tell the story of Alexander Hamilton. Non-white actors and actresses were cast in the show including Miranda himself as Hamilton.

The show also opened in Chicago, toured the US and opened in London, England. Plans were in place for Hamburg, Toronto and Australia but were sidelined or delayed due to the COVID pandemic. A recording was made of the Broadway production and released to the Disney+ channel.