My Top 50 Broadway Songs, Part 2 Quiz

Answer: "My Fair Lady"

From "On the Street Where You Live." "My Fair Lady" is a musical version of the play "Pygmalion," where a professor of phonetics attempts to teach proper English to Eliza, a flower girl. This song is sung by Freddy, who has fallen in love with Eliza. Here he sings about how just being on the street where she lives is wonderful to him.

Answer: "Into the Woods"

From "Giants in the Sky." "Into the Woods" is a Sondheim musical combining five different fairy tales into one amazing show. This song is sung by Jack about his experiences in the beanstalk.

Answer: "Les Miserables"

From "I Dreamed A Dream." "Les Miserables," based on the novel by Victor Hugo, gives an account of French life in the 1800's. This song is sung by a woman who laments how her dreams have all died.

Answer: "Beauty and the Beast"

From "If I Can't Love Her." This song is sung by the Beast, realizing that Belle could never love him as a hideous monster, and that his life without her is nothing.

Answer: "Song and Dance"

From "Song and Dance." This song gives a detailed account of how a woman would want her boyfriend to go about dumping her.

Answer: "Miss Saigon"

From "Bui-Doi." "Miss Saigon" is the story of a young Vietnamese girl who falls in love with an American soldier in the midst of the Vietnam War, but then they are separated. This song is sung by a man who is lecturing on how we have to take responsibility for all the children they fathered while in Vietnam.

Answer: "Fiddler on the Roof"

From "Sunrise, Sunset." "Fiddler on the Roof" is the story of a Jewish village in Russia and their lifestyle. This song is a wedding song and, in my opinion, absolutely gorgeous.

Answer: "West Side Story"

From "A Boy Like That/I Have A Love." "West Side Story" is a modern day Romeo and Juliet, about two young lovers who defy everyone around them and plan a life together. This song has Maria (Juliet) and her friend Anita debating whether Maria's boyfriend is worth all the killing and hatred.

Answer: "Les Miserables"

From "At the End of the Day." This cynical tune is sung by the peasants of France, musing on the general hopelessness of life.

Answer: "Into the Woods"

From "Last Midnight." In this song, the Witch scoffs at the others who are unwilling to sacrifice Jack to save their own lives.

Answer: "Sunset Boulevard"

From "As If We Never Said Goodbye." This song has ex-actress Norma Desmond exclaiming how wonderful it is to be back in Hollywood.

Answer: "Into the Woods"

From "Children Will Listen." Yes, another from "Into the Woods." This song concludes the musical, instructing us that even if they may not show it, what we do and say heavily influences other people.

Answer: "West Side Story"

From "Somewhere." This song probably belongs higher up on the list for me, because I love it. It has Tony (Romeo) and Maria (Juliet) looking forward to what their love will be like once they've gotten away from the terror around them.

Answer: "Miss Saigon"

From "I Still Believe." This song is a duet between Kim and Ellen, a sweet song of faith - Kim's faith that Chris will come back to her, and Ellen's faith that her husband's emotional scars will be healed.

Answer: "Sunset Boulevard"

From "Sunset Boulevard." This song talks about how the character started out trying to make a living for himself, but somehow spiraled down into something almost deadly.

Answer: "Les Miserables"

From "A Little Fall of Rain." This song is sung by the dying Eponine as she is, for the only time in her life, in the arms of her beloved Marius.

Answer: "Miss Saigon"

From "Now That I've Seen Her." In this song, Ellen realizes that Chris could still be in love with Kim, and says that he must make a choice between them.

Answer: "Cats"

From "Memory." This song is a true Broadway classic, sung by an elderly cat who recalls how life was so much easier when she was young and beautiful.

Answer: "A Little Night Music"

From "Send in the Clowns." In this song, a woman laments that she has only realized how much she loves someone after he is gone.

Answer: "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"

From "Close Every Door." This song, sung by Joseph while in jail, finds him challenging his attackers to hurt him, he doesn't matter.

Answer: "Company"

From "Being Alive." This song states that life really isn't life if no one is loving you.

Answer: "Chess"

From "I Know Him So Well." This song has two women restating that old adage: "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never love at all."

Answer: "A Chorus Line"

From "What I Did For Love." This song is sung by a young actress about her life in the theater, and how even though it has been difficult, it was all worth it, and she couldn't imagine living her life without the theater.

Answer: "Les Miserables"

From "Stars." This is sung by Javert, a police officer determined to do his duty and hunt down escaped convict Jean Valjean.

Answer: "Phantom of the Opera"

From "Music of the Night." This song is sung by the Phantom (Erik) about his music, encouraging Christine to just let herself be carried away by the beauty of it -- as am I when I listen to this song! Well, I hope you've enjoyed my 2-part quiz... Good-bye and may showtunes still give you chills up and down your spine.