Magical Musical Characters; Can You Guess Them? Quiz

Answer: Mamma Mia

Donna Sheridan runs a hotel on a Greek islands, and she is preparing for her daughter's wedding with the help of two good friends. Meanwhile Sophie, her daughter, has a plan. She secretly invites three men from Donna's past in the hope of discovering which is her real father so he can escort her down the aisle on her big day.

"Mamma Mia" is what is known as a Jukebox musical, that is a stage or film musical whose musical score uses previously released popular songs; in this case the songs of the Swedish pop group ABBA.

Producer Judy Cramer first had the idea for a musical using ABBA songs, and she met with former ABBA band members and songwriters Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson back in the early 1980s to discuss the concept. Although not thrilled with the idea, they didn't rule it out.

In 1997 Cramer asked Catherine Johnson, a British playwright, to write the book for the musical. In 1998 Phyllida Lloyd came on board as the director and the musical opened in 1999 in London's West End.

It opened on Broadway in 2001, and after 5773 performances it closed in 2015.

In 2008 a movie based on the musical was released starring Meryl Streep as Donna Sheridan.

Answer: Phantom of the Opera

"The Phantom of the Opera" is a musical based on the novel "Le Fantome de l'Opera" by Gaston Leroux, which was published in the early 1900s. The story revolves around a beautiful singer, Christine Daae, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured man living in the sewers beneath the Opera House.

Madame Giry is the choreographer of the corps de ballet at the Opera House, and her daughter is a good friend of Christine's.

The music was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe also wrote the musical's book.

It premiered in 1986 at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End. It had its Broadway premier in 1988. Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman starred in both of these productions.

Answer: Guys and Dolls

"Guys and Dolls" tells the overlapping stories of Sky Masterson, who falls in love with mission worker Sarah Brown, and Nathan Detroit, engaged for 14 years to Miss Adelaide. Nathan runs a famous floating crap game, and he needs to find a safe place to hold the game. Meanwhile, Sarah, mistakenly believes that Sky set up the illegal game at the mission, and doesn't want anything to do with him.

The music and lyrics for "Guys and Dolls" was written by Frank Loesser and the book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows.

The musical is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure" two short stories published in the 1930s by Damon Runyon. The plot also borrows other characters and plot lines from other Runyon stories.

The musical premiered on Broadway in 1950. It ran for 1200 performances and won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1951, along with four other Tony Awards in that year.

"Guys and Dolls" has had several Broadway and London revivals, as well as being adapted into a film in 1955 starring Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Jean Simmons and Vivian Blaine.

Answer: The Boy from Oz

"The Boy from Oz" is another jukebox musical using the songs written by singer/songwriter Peter Allen. The book was written by Nick Enright.

The story is based on the life of Peter Allen.

The musical premiered in Australia in 1998 at Her Majesty's Theatre in Sydney and it starred Todd McKenney. It ran throughout Australia for 766 performances over the next two years.

A revised version (adapted for the American audiences by playwright Martin Sherman),opened on Broadway in 2003 starring Hugh Jackman as Peter. Jackman won a 2004 Tony Award for his portrayal.

Answer: My Fair Lady

"My Fair Lady" is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's play "Pygmalion". The plot revolves around a bet between phonetics professor Henry Higgins and linguist Colonel Pickering. Henry must transform a Cockney working-class girl, Eliza Doolittle, into someone who can pass for a cultured member of high society.

The musical premiered on Broadway in 1956, and after over two thousand seven hundred performances it closed in 1962.

The London premiere was in 1958, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It closed five and a half years later after over two thousand two hundred performances.

The original Broadway, London and film versions all starred Rex Harrison as Professor Henry Higgins. Julie Andrews played Eliza Doolittle in the original Broadway and London shows, but Audrey Hepburn was cast for the 1964 film version.

Answer: Carousel

"Carousel" follows the romance of Billy Bigelow, a carousel barker, and Julie Jordan, a girl from a nearby mill. When they get married, they both suddenly lose their jobs, which puts a strain on their relationship. When Billy finds out that Julie is pregnant, he resorts to extreme measures to get money, which have tragic consequences.

The music for "Carousel" was written by Richard Rodgers and the book and Lyrics were written by Oscar Hammerstein. After the success of their first collaboration "Oklahoma!", this their second musical had a lot to live up to.

It was adapted from the play "Liliom", written by Ferenc Molnár's in 1909. They moved the setting from Budapest to Maine, and a musical was born.

It opened on Broadway in 1945, and was an immediate hit with both critics and audiences. It ran for 890 performances. It opened in London's West End in 1950.

It has had many revivals, and has been recorded several times. Time magazine named "Carousel" the best musical of the 20th century in 1999.

Answer: Fiddler on the Roof

"Fiddler on the Roof" is a musical with book by Joseph Stein, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and music by Jerry Bock.

It is set in Russia in 1905, and is based on the book of short stories called "Tevye and his Daughters", or "Tevye the Dairyman" by Sholem Aleichem, published in 1894. The story centres on Tevye, the father of five daughters, and his attempts to maintain his Jewish traditions during a time of great change. The Russian Tsar is evicting Jews from their villages, and his daughters wish to break with tradition and marry for love.

The original Broadway production, which opened in 1964, had the first musical theatre run in history of over 3,000 performances. It held this record for almost 10 years until Grease surpassed it. The production won nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, score, book, direction and choreography.

The original London West End production opened in 1967, and played for over 2,000 performances. It starred Topol as Tevye, a role he reprised in the 1971 film adaptation.

Answer: Les Miserables

"Les Miserables" it is the story of Jean Valjean, a French peasant, who is released on parole after serving nineteen years in jail for having stolen a loaf of bread. Valjean decides to break his parole and start his life anew after a kindly bishop takes mercy on him, and doesn't turn him in for stealing. However, he is relentlessly pursued by a police inspector named Javert. Along the way, Valjean and a host of characters are embroiled in a revolutionary plot, which sees its climax with a fight at a street barricade.

"Les Miserables" is a sung-through musical, which means there is no spoken dialogue, it is all sung. It is based on the five-part novel of the same name written by Victor Hugo and first published in 1862.

The music was composed by Claude-Michel Schonberg and the original French lyrics were written by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel. The English libretto and lyrics were written by Herbert Kretzmer.

Premiering in Paris in 1980, it closed after only three months.

The London production premiered in 1985 and was still running to celebrate its twenty fifth anniversary in 2010. Initially critics weren't kind, but the show sold out its initial three month run and didn't look back.

The Broadway production opened 1987 and ran for over 6600 performances until 2003.

There have been many films based on the "Les Miserables" story, and one adaptation of the stage musical released in 2012.

Answer: The Sound of Music

"The Sound of Music" is another musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, but the book was written by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers", released in 1949.

The musical tells the story of Maria, who takes a job as governess to the large Von Trapp family while she decides her future. She falls in love with the children, and eventually their widowed father. Captain von Trapp is ordered to accept a commission in the German navy, but he opposes the Nazis. He and Maria concoct a plan to flee Austria with the children.

The original Broadway production opened in 1959. It won five Tony Awards including Best Musical. The first London production opened in 1961.

The show has had many revivals and it was adapted as a film musical in 1965. The movie starred Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer and won five Academy Awards.

Nine months after the Broadway premiere of the show, Oscar Hammerstein died of cancer. "The Sound of Music" was the last musical written by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Answer: Annie

"Annie" is a Broadway musical based upon the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie", written and illustrated by Harold Gray. The music was by Charles Strouse, the lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan.

The musical revolves around a little orphan who ends up living in the luxurious home of billionaire Oliver Warbucks. Unlike most of the other children at Miss Agatha Hannigan's orphanage, Annie believes that her parents are still alive and will return to claim her eventually. So when Mr Warbucks offers to adopt her, she asks him to help find her real parents instead. Warbucks' huge reward for Annie's parents comes to the attention of con artists Rooster, Lily and the wicked Miss Hannigan, who hatch a plot to kidnap Annie and take the $50,000 reward.

The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years. It was nominated for eleven Tony Awards and won seven, including the Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Book.

It premiered in the West End in London in 1978. Annie closed in 1981, after over 1400 performances.

It has had many revivals over the years and three film versions in 1982, 1999 and 2014.