Singing Along the Great White Way (Before 1960) Quiz

Answer: Showboat

With music by Jerome Kern, and Oscar Hammerstein's book and lyrics based on Edna Ferber's novel 'Show Boat', this musical is considered a milestone in American stage history, as it introduced the concept of dealing with serious issues, rather than just providing Vaudeville-style razzle dazzle.

The story of life on a Mississippi riverboat, and the difficulties encountered because of differences in age and race, has had a number of details changed with subsequent productions and for the movie, but the message of the ability of the human spirit to triumph in the face of adversity remains central.

The song 'Ol' Man River' was specifically written to be performed by Paul Robeson, but he was unavailable for the first production, as it had been delayed so long in development that he had other commitments to fulfill.

He did appear in the 1932 revival as Joe, and was in the 1936 movie version.

Answer: Oklahoma!

The first musical collaboration of Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II, which made its Broadway debut on 31 March 1943, opens with Curly wandering onto the stage, singing this song about his anticipation of the coming day. Set in the Oklahoma Territory just before Oklahoma became a state in 1906, the show involves a number of intertwined love stories, as well as evoking some of the more serious issues being faced at the time ('The Farmer and the Cowman').

Other songs you might have been humming as you left the show include 'The Surrey with the Fringe on Top', 'Kansas City', 'People Will Say We're in Love', 'I Cain't Say No' and the title song. If you're a fan of choreography, then you might have been as much inspired by Agnes de Mille's famous dream ballet sequence as by the songs.

The show has seen numerous revivals, and the 1955 film adaptation, which followed the musical fairly closely, won several Academy Awards, including one for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.

Answer: Carousel

Rogers and Hammerstein combined for a second time in this 1945 adaptation of the play 'Liliom', now set in Maine instead of Budapest. The tragic love between Billy Bigelow, a carousel worker, and Julie Jordan forms the central story for the musical that Richard Rogers has called his personal favourite. Like most of this pair's collaborations, it has had numerous revivals, and was adapted into a movie, released in 1956, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, who had also co-starred in the 1955 movie of 'Oklahoma!'. Memorable songs from the show include 'If I Loved You', 'June is Bustin' Out All Over', 'This Was a Real Nice Clambake', 'What's the Use of Wond'rin'?' and 'You'll Never Walk Alone'.

The last song will be familiar to many who have never seen either the show or the movie through the version recorded in 1963 by Gerry and the Pacemakers.

The Liverpool Football Club (soccer for US players) adopted it as their anthem, playing it before home games as fans sang along. It has since been adopted by a number of other sporting clubs.

Answer: Annie Get Your Gun

This fictionalised version of the life of Annie Oakley, and her romance with Frank Butler, opened on Broadway in 1946, and was adapted for film in 1950. Dorothy Fields wrote the show with her friend Ethel Merman in mind, and a number of the Irving Berlin songs chosen for inclusion will be familiar from her performance of them, both in this show (and the original cast recording) and in her subsequent stage performances.

She was not chosen to play Annie in the film - producers felt her presence was more suited to stage than screen, and signed Judy Garland (who was unable to complete the contract), then finally settled on Betty Hutton.

The show has any number of highlights, including 'There's No Business Like Show Business', 'Doin' What Comes Natur'lly', 'You Can't Get a Man with a Gun' and 'Anything You Can Do'.

Answer: South Pacific

In 1947 James Michener won a Pulitzer Prize for 'Tales of the South Pacific', which was selected by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II for development into a musical that could deliver a strong message about racism while entertaining the audience. Joshua Logan worked with Hammerstein on the book, which tells the story (set on an island in the South Pacific during World War II) of a young nurse's love for a widowed French plantation owner, and her difficulty in coming to terms with his mixed-race children. One of the sub-plots involves a sailor who is in love with a Tonkinese woman, but is afraid of the future their children might face. These issues are explicit in the song 'You've Got to be Carefully Taught', but also permeate much of the rest of the show. There are plenty of more traditional show numbers, too: 'Bali Ha'I', 'I'm Gonna Wash that Man Right Outa My Hair', 'Some Enchanted Evening', 'There is Nothing like a Dame', 'Happy Talk', 'Younger Than Springtime' and 'I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy', to name a few.

The original production, which starred Mary Martin as Nellie Forbush and Ezio Pinza as Emile de Becque, won ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Libretto. (No wonder we left the show singing!) The 1958 film version, which starred Mitzi Gaynor and Rossano Brazzi, was not quite as successful, winning only one of the three Academy Awards for which it was nominated.

Answer: The King and I

When Gertrude Lawrence's agent was looking for a suitable starring vehicle for her client, she was inspired by the 1946 film 'Anna and the King of Siam', based on the 1944 novel 'Anna and the King of Siam', itself a highly fictionalised adaptation of the diaries of Anna Leonowens, and their description of her life as governess to the children of King Mongkut in the 1860s.

She then contacted Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II, who ultimately agreed to make this their fifth collaboration. Rex Harrison had played the role of the king in the film, but since he was unavailable, they cast Yul Brynner in the role.

The show opened on 29 March 1951, and ran for over three years. Gertrude Lawrence died about halfway through the run, so was not available for the 1956 film adaptation.

The part of Anna went to Deborah Kerr, with Yul Brynner reprising his performance as Mongkut. As well as twirling your way out of the theatre while you sang 'Shall We Dance' under your breath, you might have found 'I Whistle a Happy Tune', 'Hello Young Lovers' or 'Getting to Know You' running around your head for days.

Answer: My Fair Lady

The story of the relationship between the relatively-misanthropic phoneticist Henry Higgins and the Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle, based on the play 'Pygmalion' by George Bernard Shaw, opened in 1956 with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews in the lead roles.

The Lerner and Loewe musical became the longest-running show on Broadway up to that time, and was adapted into a 1964 film (starring Harrison and Audrey Hepburn, with vocal support from Marni Nixon) which won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

It's hard to pick a favourite song: 'Wouldn't It be Loverly?', 'With a Little Bit of Luck', 'The Rain in Spain', 'I Could Have Danced All Night', 'On the Street Where You Live', 'Get Me to the Church on Time' and 'I've Grown Accustomed to His Face' are all strong contenders.

Answer: The Music Man

Meredith Willson was responsible for the book, lyrics and music of this tale of a travelling con man named Harold Hill, who finds himself falling in love with the librarian of a small Midwest town whose residents he has convinced to purchase the instruments for a marching band. 'Seventy-Six Trombones' is the number in which he persuades them all to buy instruments, as a way of solving the problems he has predicted they will face from the opening of a pool room in town ('(Ya' Got) Trouble').

The part of Harold Hill was played by Robert Preston in the original production, a performance he repeated in the 1962 film. Memorable songs from the show include 'Goodnight My Someone', 'The Wells Fargo Wagon' (remember Ron Howard singing it in the movie?), 'Pickalittle (Talk-a-Little)', 'Gary, Indiana' and 'Till There Was You'.

The last song has been recorded by many artists, including the Beatles, who included a version sung by Paul McCartney on their album 'With the Beatles' (UK) / 'Meet the Beatles!' (US).

It has been reported that Willson's estate earned more income from the royalties on that version than from the original musical.

Answer: West Side Story

With music from Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by a young Stephen Sondheim, this 1957 musical was always going to have memorable songs. 'Tonight' is sung by Maria and Tony, whose romance is doomed because of the gang rivalry that dominates their lives in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Jerome Robbins's original idea, which had been titled 'East Side Story', focused on conflict between an Irish Catholic family and a Jewish family during the Easter/Passover season. When it was shifted to the new area, the groups became youth gangs, one composed of Puerto Rican immigrants, the other with "white" youths. As well as 'Tonight', the show featured 'Something's Coming', 'Maria', 'America', 'I Feel Pretty', 'Gee, Officer Krupke', 'Jet Song' and 'Somewhere'.

'West Side Story' was nominated for a number of Tony Awards, with Robbins winning for Best choreography, but lost out to 'The Music Man' for Best Musical. The 1961 film adaptation won ten Academy Awards, the most at that time for a musical. (It actually received 11 Oscars, with the presentation of a special award to Jerome Robbins for Brilliant Achievements in the Art of Choreography on Film.)

Answer: The Sound of Music

It's our old friends Rogers and Hammerstein, back with another memoir-based musical, this one about the Trapp Family Singers. The historical accuracy may not be perfect, but those songs! As Maria is deciding on whether or not the life of a nun is the right choice for her, she takes on the role of governess to Baron von Trapp's children. Of course, she falls in love, first with the children, then with their father.

The 1959 Broadway production, which starred Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel, won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

The 1965 film adaptation, which starred Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Overall, this final collaboration between Rogers and Hammerstein (who died of cancer less than a year after the show opened) was quite a triumph. I chose the closing number as the one to sing, since it would have been the final one to make an impression, but equally singable are 'The Sound of Music' (too much of a giveaway to choose the opening number!), 'Maria', 'My Favorite Things', Do-Re-Mi', 'Sixteen Going on Seventeen', 'The Lonely Goatherd', 'So Long, farewell' and 'Edelweiss'.