Extreme Musical Quiz - "Phantom"s

Answer: Man of La Mancha

"Man of La Mancha" was the block-buster musical which first opened in 1965 with music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion. It starred Richard Kiley and Joan Diener and ran for 2,328 performances. "Man of La Mancha" has since been revived four times, twice (1972, 1977) starring Kiley in the title role, once (1992) starring Raul Julia ("Nine") and most recently (2002-2003) starring Brian Stokes Mitchell.

Answer: Dulcinea

"Man of La Mancha" is the musical adaptation of Miguel Cervantes' story of Don Quixote, the famous romantic, mentally-unstable knight. "Dulcinea" is sung by Don Quixote to Aldonza, a prostitute whom Quixote believes is "his lady, Dulcinea" in whose honor he will dedicate all of his chivalrous deeds. "Dulcinea, Dulcinea/I have sought thee, sung thee, dreamed thee Dulcinea!"

Answer: Don Quixote

"Man of La Mancha" begins with author Miguel de Cervantes and his servant in jail after being arrested by the Spanish Inquisition. Thus, Cervantes begins to tell the story of Don Quixote and suddenly Cervantes' world transforms into Quixote's. Cervantes himself becomes the gallant knight and his servant becomes Sancho Panza, Quixote's faithful companion.

Answer: Richard Kiley

Richard Kiley was born on March 31, 1922 in Chicago and died on March 5, 1999 in Warwick, New York after a battle with bone marrow disease. During his long Broadway career, he won two Tony Awards for Best Actor; first, in 1959 for "Redhead" (in which he co-starred with Gwen Verdon), and second, in 1966 for the title role in "Man of La Mancha."

Answer: Kismet

Besides three Broadway productions of "Man of La Mancha" (Don Quixote), Richard Kiley also starred in "Redhead" (Tom Baxter) and "Kismet" (the Caliph). Terrence Mann originated the role of Rum Tum Tugger in "Cats," David Bryant appeared in the 1994 revival of Show Boat (Pete), and Michael Crawford originated the role of "The Phantom" in "The Phantom of the Opera" and the role of "Count von Krolock" in "Dance of the Vampires." Both Terrence Mann and David Bryant also appeared in the Original Broadway Cast of "Les Miserables," Mann as Inspector Javert and Bryant as Marius.

Answer: Pippin

Stephen Schwartz began writing "Pippin" while he was still in college, but it was not until the success of "Godspell" (1971) that he could find someone to produce it. With Stuart Ostrow as producer and the one-and-only Bob Fosse as director/choreographer, "Pippin" opened on October 23, 1972 starring Ben Vereen as the Leading Player, John Rubinstein as Pippin, and Eric Berry as Charlemagne.

It ran for 1,944 performances.

Answer: Morning Glow

"Pippin" tells the story of self-discovery of Pippin, the son of King Charlemagne. Pippin has all the wealth anyone could want, but he yearns for something deeper. After Pippin assassinates his father, he sings "Morning Glow," promising a new beginning for his people, joined by the chorus. "Morning glow by your light/We can make the new day bright/And the phantoms of the night/Will fade into the past/Morning glow is here at last."

Answer: The Leading Player

Pippin, though he seemingly has all the contentments of life, yearns for something more profound. Meanwhile, the second wife of Charlemagne (Pippin's step-mother), Fastrada, is scheming to win the throne for her own son Lewis (Charlemagne's second born).

When war beckons, Pippin begs to fight alongside his brother and father, though he soon realizes the bloody horror of battle and returns to searching for the meaning of life.

Answer: Ben Vereen

Ben Vereen was born in Miami, Florida on October 10, 1946. He began his Broadway career as Judas in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Jesus Christ Superstar" in 1972. He has also appeared in "Jelly's Last Jam" and "Fosse." He won a 1972 Drama Desk Award for his performance in "Jesus Christ Superstar," as well as a 1973 Tony Award for "Pippin."

Answer: Stroke

Ben Vereen suffered a stroke while he was walking in Malibu, CA, shortly after a car accident. Despite this debilitating occurrence, he was performing again within 10 months. His quick recovery was definitely a remarkable one.

Answer: The Scarlet Pimpernel

"The Scarlet Pimpernel" opened on Broadway on November 9, 1997. After a run of more than three years and 772 performances, the show closed on January 2, 2000. "The Scarlet Pimpernel" was written by Frank Wildhorn and Nan Knighton and starred Douglas Sills (Sir Percival Blakeney/The Scarlet Pimpernel), Christine Andreas (Marguerite) and Terrence Mann (Chauvelin).

Answer: The Falcon in the Dive

Based on the classic novel by Baroness Orczy, "The Scarlet Pimpernel" tells the story of Sir Percival Blakeney (aka Percy) and his journey to save citizens of France from the guillotine. Complicating matters is the fact that his wife, Marguerite, was convicted of being a spy.

In "The Falcon in the Dive," Chauvelin, Frenchman who was once involved with Marguerite, sings about his drive to capture the Pimpernel. "Piercing into the sky, and higher!/And the strong will thrive!/Yes, the weak will cower/While the fittest will survive!/If we wait for the darkest hour/'til we spring alive/Then with claws of fire/We devour like a falcon in the dive!" This is a very powerful song.

Answer: Chauvelin

Throughout its Broadway run, "The Scarlet Pimpernel" was revised many times. The original Broadway cast ("The Scarlet Pimpernel 1.0") featured 25 songs. Many revisions were made by the 2001 national tour ("The Scarlet Pimpernel 4.0")including cutting the songs "Believe", "Vivez!", and "Only Love" and adding the song "I'll Forget You," sung by Marguerite.

Answer: Terrence Mann

Terrence Mann is an amazing actor and one of my personal favorites. He was born on July 1, 1951 in Kentucky. He made his Broadway debut in 1980 as Chester Lyman in "Barnum" starring Jim Dale and Glenn Close. In 1982, he appeared as Rum Tum Tugger in the blockbuster musical "Cats." He also appeared on the big screen as Larry in the better-off-forgotten movie version of "A Chorus Line." He was twice nominated for a Tony Award, once as Javert in "Les Miserables" (1987) and once for Beast in "Beauty and the Beast" (1994).

Answer: Steve Barton

Steve Barton was born in 1954 and died tragically in 2001 of a heart failure. He originated the role of Raoul in "The Phantom of the Opera" and at one time played the role of The Phantom as well. His only other Broadway stage credit is "The Red Shoes," a musical that ran for exactly five performances in 1993.

He was not nominated for a Tony for either role. Len Cariou has been nominated for a Tony three times and has won once (for "Sweeney Todd"). Terrence Mann has been nominated twice ("Les Miserables" and "Beauty and the Beast") and Robert Cuccioli has been nominated once in 1997 for his performance in "Jekyll and Hyde."

Answer: The Phantom of the Opera

"The Phantom of the Opera" is based on the 1911 novel by Gaston Leroux of the same name. The music was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and the lyrics were written by Richard Stilgoe and Charles Hart. It opened on January 26, 1988 and is still running (as of August 2004) and shows no sign of slowing. Currently, it is the second longest running show in Broadway history behind "Cats" (also by Andrew Lloyd Webber).

The original cast included Michael Crawford as The Phantom, Sarah Brightman (then Mrs. Andrew Lloyd Webber) as Christine and Steve Barton as Raoul.

Answer: Masquerade

"Masquerade" directly follows the entr'acte as the characters celebrate the new year. Following the famous crashing chandelier that ends act I, all present are relieved that they have seen nothing of the Phantom since. Also in the song, it is revealed that Christine and Raoul are engaged to be married. Raoul tries to comfort Christine but she is still plagued by the presence of the Phantom.

Answer: M. Firmin

"The Phantom of the Opera" is about a musical genius disfigured at birth, who is shunned by all and lives in the depths of the Paris Opera House. Enter Christine Daae, an opera chorus girl and the daughter of a late violin master. The Phantom falls in love with Ms. Daae and lures her into his underground lair so that he may train her voice and share with her his "music of the night."

Answer: Nicholas Wyman

Prior to "The Phantom of the Opera," Nicholas Wyman also appeared as a replacement in "Grease" (1972) as Vince Fontaine and as a replacement Thenardier in "Les Miserables" (1987).

Answer: Thenardier

Both Leo Burmester and Nicholas Wyman have played the slimy, sleazy innkeeper Thenardier. Leo Burmester was Broadway's original Thenardier and can be heard on the Original Broadway Cast Recording (also known as the 'OBC'). Nicholas Wyman was Broadway's final Thenardier when "Les Miserables" closed on May 18, 2003.

Answer: Les Miserables

"Les Miserables" is based upon the massive novel by French author Victor Hugo. Its rich storyline centers around Jean Valjean, a man who was imprisioned for nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread. Upon his release, he breaks his parole to start over as a new person.

He is hotly pursued by the law-obsessed Inspector Javert. A musical by the French duo, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg, "Les Miserables" opened on March 12, 1987 and ran for 6,680 performances, closing on May 18, 2003.

Answer: Empty Chairs at Empty Tables

"Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" is a haunting song sung by Marius, the only one of the students to survive the uprising. He is injured but is rescued by Jean Valjean because he is the beloved of his adopted daughter, Cosette. Marius sings in remembrance of his friends and their dreams. "Here they talked of revolution/here it was they lit the flame/here they sang about 'tomorrow'/and tomorrow never came."

Answer: Marius Pontmercy

"Les Miz" opened in New York starring Colm Wilkison (reprising his London role) as the hero, Jean Valjean, an escaped convict, Terrence Mann as Javert, the fanatical police inspector who is searching for Valjean, Judy Kuhn as Jean Valjean's adopted daughter Cosette, Randy Graff as Cosette's mother who dies when Cosette is young, David Bryant as the young student Marius who falls in love with Cosette, Frances Ruffelle as the street-wise Eponine, and Michael Maguire as Enjolras, the leader of the student revolutionaries. "Les Miz" won 8 Tonys in 1987, including Best Musical, Best Featured Actress (Ruffelle), and Best Featured Actor (Maguire). Both Colm Wilkinson and Terrence Mann were nominated for their roles but Robert Lindsay won for his role in "Me and My Girl."

Answer: David Bryant

Prior to "Les Miserables" David Bryant also appeared as an ensemble member in "Amadeus" and as a replacement in "Sunday in the Park with George." More recently, he was seen as Pete in the 1994 Hal Prince revival of "Show Boat"

Answer: Show Boat

David Bryant played Pete in Hal Prince's successful 1994 revival of "Show Boat." Michael Crawford was seen in the highly unsuccessful "Dance of the Vampires" as Count von Krolock in 2002. In 2003-2004, Douglas Sills performed as the sadistic dentist, Orin Scrivello, D.D.S. in "Little Shop of Horrors" (the role immortalized by Steve Martin in the 1986 movie). Congratulations, you have successfully completed my "Phantoms" quiz! I would love to hear your comments. Please rate this quiz! Thanks.