Winding our Way through Broadway Quiz

Answer: Evita

thE VITAlity...

"Evita" is based on the life of Eva Peron, the wife of Argentine president Juan Peron, who herself went on to play an important role in the country. The successful combination of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice provided the music and lyrics for the show respectively. "Evita" was the first British musical to win the Tony Award for Best Musical.

Answer: Wicked

"Wicked" is based on a novel by Gregory Maguire which itself is inspired by L. Frank Baum's book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". The plot pitches two witches against each other with one emerging as the 'Good Witch' and the other as the 'Wicked Witch'. There are several references to the original book from which it draws inspiration.

The original Broadway production won three Tony Awards including the one for Best Actress.

Answer: Hairspray

"Hairspray" is the musical retelling of John Waters' film of the same name. Tracy Turnblad is the lead character who looks for fame as a dancer on a local television show, "The Corny Collins Show". The musical was a hit and won multiple Tony Awards including Best Musical. In turn it inspired another film, a musical also called "Hairspray" which released in 2007.

Answer: Cats

The word initially in the sentence is a clue that taking the first letters of subsequent words will spell out the musical.

"Cats" is based on T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats". The Jellicles are a tribe of cats and as the musical opens, Old Deuteronomy, the elderly leader must decide which cat should be selected to go up into the Heaviside Layer, the tribe's idea of heaven, and be born again in a new life.

Answer: Fiddler on the Roof

"Fiddler on the Roof" is one of the longest running musicals, and has enjoyed popularity in different parts of the world since it was first performed in 1964. The musical is set in a village in Imperial Russia at the turn of the 20th century. Based on the stories of Yiddish author, Sholem Aleichem, the plot follows the daily life of a Jewish man Tevye and his attempts to retain his culture and traditions in a changing world.

Answer: Cabaret

"Cabaret" is set in the city of Berlin in the early 1930s, when the Nazis are slowly rising to claim all the top echelons of power. The main plot follows an American writer and his love interest, a cabaret dancer called Sally who performs at the Kit Kat Klub.

The original Broadway performance swept the Tony Awards, winning eight in all, including Best Musical, Best Original Score and Best Choreography.

Answer: Grease

Agree + S = Grease

"Grease" is set in the late 1950s in a fictional American high school called Rydell. Two students meet during a summer vacation and have a passionate fling little expecting to find themselves attending the same high school! With hit numbers like "Summer Nights", "We Go Together" and "Greased Lightnin'", the musical quickly climbed the popularity charts, even inspiring a hit movie of the same name starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the lead roles.

Answer: Show Boat

A showboat was a floating theater that travelled along major waterways in America putting on performances in different locations. In the musical "Show Boat", the 'Cotton Blossom' is one such floating theater, and the show follows the lives of the various people involved in running the place, from the performers to the stagehands, over a forty year period from 1887 to 1927.

It was one of the first musicals to focus on serious issues relating to racial diversity and integration, and had a mixed race cast.

Answer: Chicago

"Chicago" is set in America of the Prohibition Era and draws inspiration from real-life crime and criminals of the time. When Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart, both accused of murder, find themselves in the same jail as they await trial, they make every attempt to steal the limelight, hoping that this new-found fame will save them from a death sentence. One of the most popular numbers from the musical is the opening song, "All That Jazz".

Answer: A Chorus Line

"A Chorus Line" is centered on the auditions held for positions in the chorus line for a Broadway musical. What begins as a routine audition for a spot on the stage soon evolves into deep understanding of each of the seventeen formerly nameless dancers and their past as the director seeks to know them better before making his final selection. Popular songs from the musical are "I Hope I Get It", "At The Ballet" and "What I Did For Love".