Theatrical Songs of the 1950s Trivia Quiz

Answer: Luck Be a Lady

"Guys and Dolls" ran for 1,200 performances and the songs (both music and lyrics) were written by Frank Loesser. The show was based on the short stories of Damon Runyon. In the play, the song "Luck Be a Lady" is sung by the character of Sky Masterson. Sky is a gangster and a gambler who is involved in a game of craps with a number of other gangsters.

He has a reason to especially hope that he wins this particular game but you should see the musical to find out for yourself. Although the song is sometimes associated with Frank Sinatra, it is actually sung in the movie adaptation of "Guys and Dolls" by Marlon Brando.

Answer: They Call the Wind Maria

For the songs in "Paint Your Wagon", the lyrics were written by Alan Jay Lerner and the music was composed by Friedrich Loewe. The original Broadway run of the show was 289 performances. Set in 1850s California, most of the action of the musical takes place in and around a mining camp. "They Call the Wind Maria" is sung in the show by a miner named Steve leading a chorus of his fellow miners. The song describes the longings of the lonely men for their past and future romantic partners. This song was supposedly the inspiration for the naming of US pop star Mariah Carey.

There was one original question that I am not able to use. In the quiz, you were supposed to identify that "Getting to Know You" came from "The King and I" (1951). Since there were two 1951 musicals/songs in the original quiz I chose to go with the other option.

Answer: Where Did the Night Go?

Set at an adult summer camp in the Catskill Mountains, "Wish You Were Here" originally ran for 598 performances. The songs (music and lyrics) were written by Harold Rome. The song "Where Did the Night Go?" appears in the first act and is reprised in the second.

In the song's first appearance, it is sung by Teddy (a female camper) who is dancing with Chick (a camp waiter) at a camp dance.

Answer: I Am In Love

The songs for "Can-Can" were written by Cole Porter (both music and lyrics). The show initially ran on Broadway for 892 performances. The musical focuses on the experiences of dance girls in the Paris dance halls of the 1890s. The song "I Am In Love" is sung in the musical by a judge who has traveled undercover to dance hall to investigate the new "can-can" dance for himself. Nat King Cole's cover of the song reached Number 19 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1953.

Answer: Hernando's Hideaway

Richard Adler and Jerry Ross wrote the songs (working together on both the lyrics and music) for "The Pajama Game". The musical, which was adapted from Richard Bissell's novel "7 1/2 Cents", ran for 1,063 performance on Broadway. The show is set at a pajama factory where tension between management and the union is on the rise.

The song "Hernando's Hideaway" is sung by Gladys, the secretary of the factory's boss while she is at the titular, invitation-only night club. The Johnson Brothers reached Number One on the UK Singles chart with their 1955 cover of the song.

Answer: Heart

"Damn Yankees" would be the last show for which Richard Adler and Jerry Ross wrote the music and lyrics since Ross died several months afterwards. The musical ran for 1,019 performances and was based on Douglas Wallop's novel "The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant".

The musical focuses on the struggling Washington Senators. In the song "Heart", the team's manager--Benny Van Buren--is trying to bolster up the hopes of his team and inspire them into improved performance.

Answer: On the Street Where You Live

When "My Fair Lady" closed on Broadway in 1962, its 2.717 performances was the longest run of a musical on Broadway to that date. The lyrics were written by Alan Jay Lerner and the music was composed by Frederick Loewe. Based on George Bernard Shaw's play, "Pygmalion", the musical tells about the attempt by Professor Henry Higgins to reshape people's perception of the flower girl Eliza Doolittle.

The song "On the Street Where You Live" is sung by Freddy Eynsford-Hill, a young socialite who has taken an interest in the transformed Eliza.

Answer: America

"West Side Story" takes William Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers in "Romeo and Juliet" and transposes them to New York City in the 1950s. The show features music composed by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics written by Stephen Sondheim. The musical featured two gangs at odds--the "American" Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks. Anita--the girlfriend of the leader of the Sharks--sings "America" with others who offer contrasting views of life in Puerto Rico vs. the American mainland.

Answer: I Enjoy Being a Girl

"I Enjoy Being a Girl" is the song most associated with Linda Low and celebrates the traditional value of being a woman. It was part of the musical "Flower Drum Song", which ran for 600 performances and featured music composed by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein. Based on a 1957 novel of the same name, "Flower Drum Song" tells of a Chinese family's trials and tribulations in San Francisco's Chinatown. Though reasonably successful at the time, "Flower Drum Song" is not frequently revived in recent decades.

Answer: My Favorite Things

"The Sound of Music" was the last collaboration of Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein (lyrics) before the latter's death. Running for 1,443 performances, the musical is a somewhat fictionalized account of the Von Trapp family. The original cast album held the Number One spot on the US Billboard Albums chart for sixteen weeks in 1960.

In the Broadway version Maria and the Mother Abbess sing "My Favorite Things" at the abbey. In the 1965 film version, however, Maria sings it to the Von Trapp children to calm their nervousness during a thunderstorm.