Eggheads Musical Melodies Trivia Quiz

Answer: Razzle Dazzle

The music and lyrics to "Chicago" were written by John Kander and Fred Ebb who also wrote songs for the 1966 stage musical, "Cabaret". The film satirises all the seamier sides of life in the jazz age in Chicago in the 1920s era. It's replete with brilliant song and dance numbers, including a magnificent display of tap-dancing by Richard Gere, who plays a shady lawyer. He learned how to tap in three months for this role and you'd swear he'd been doing it all his life. None of the characters in the film are particularly likable as they're all either criminals or people on the take, but they're all, to the last, eminently watchable. One of the best musicals to be made in recent years, this film won six Academy Awards, every one thoroughly deserved.

(Question and additional information provided by Creedy)

Answer: Somewhere

"Somewhere" was written by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and was first heard on stage in the 1957 Broadway production of "West Side Story". The film was released in 1961 and starred Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno and George Chakiris. It was subsequently the recipient of ten Academy Awards, including that of Best Picture. The setting is downtown New York in the 1950s, and focuses on the rivalry between two teenage gangs the Jets and the Sharks. The Jets are native white youths whilst the Sharks are immigrants from Puerto Rico, hence the similarity to Romeo and Juliet.

The emotive song "Somewhere" has since been recorded by numerous artists including The Supremes, Barbra Streisand, P.J.Proby, Johnny Mathis, Aretha Franklin, Kylie Minogue and Celine Dion.

(Question and additional information provided by moonraker2)

Answer: Feed the Birds

"Feed the Birds" was written for the film "Mary Poppins" by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman. One point of the film featured an elderly lady selling breadcrumbs for tuppence a bag to feed the pigeons by which she was surrounded. It was a melancholy song, but even so, Walt Disney rated it as his favourite melody and Julie Andrews featured it prominently in her selection of the best Disney tunes.

(Question and additional information provided by Airmale)

Answer: Stop the World - I Want to Get Off

"Stop the World - I Want to Get Off" was a musical written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse. It opened in the West End, London, in July 1961. The story told of a character called Littlechap who was unhappy with his life working at the circus. "What Kind of Fool Am I?" won a Grammy Award for song of the year in 1963. Since Newley first sang it, it has been covered by numerous singers including Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr and Shirley Bassey.

(Question and additional information provided by veronicavee)

Answer: Hushabye Mountain

"Hushabye Mountain" was written by Robert and Richard Sherman who also wrote the songs for "The Jungle Book" and "Mary Poppins". It was sung by the marvellous Dick Van Dyke in his role as Caractacus Potts in the 1968 film, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". His children, Jemima and Jeremy, were sent to sleep by the lullaby and then later in the film, the same song was sung to the children of Vulgaria.

(Question and additional information provided by peewee2)

Answer: Ya Got Trouble

"Professor" Harold Hill, played by Robert Preston in the 1957 Broadway production, plans to get the townspeople to give money for musical instruments and band uniforms. By the time the instruments and uniforms arrive, Hill will have left town with their money. During the several years of development it took to develop the musical, close to forty songs were written with twenty-two finally being cut. "Ya Got Trouble" was written for the musical by Meredith Willson, who also wrote the very popular "Seventy-Six Trombones"

(Question and interesting information provided by unterkircher)

Answer: Do-Re-Mi

The Schloss Mirabell in Salzburg is a Baroque palace built in 1606. The surrounding gardens featured in "The Sound of Music", with Maria and the children cycling through the hedge tunnel. They also danced around the fountain and climbed the musical scale to the top of the stone steps. Written by the musical team, Rodgers and Hammerstein, "Do-Re-Mi" is used worldwide by children who learn how to use the musical scale.

(Question and interesting information provided by Plodd)

Answer: We Kiss in a Shadow

Tuptim is also from Burma and is expected to become one of the King's wives, but she is in love with Lun Tha which gives a certain poignancy to the title of this song! Doretta Morrow and Larry Douglas performed the song in the original production on Broadway, but many versions have since been recorded, notably by Doris Day, Barbra Streisand, Vic Damone, Neil Sedaka, Frank Sinatra and Cliff Richard.

(Question and additional information provided by moonraker2)

Answer: I Dreamed a Dream

When Boyle arrived on stage, her unassuming, slightly cheeky old-maid character masked what was to occur when she hit the first note and launched into the now-famous stunning performance of a diva. It launched her, too. In the musical, the song was a solo sung by the character Fantine which was really a lament about the dire straits that she found herself in, and yet Susan Boyle made it sound like an exultation. A star was born.

(Question and additional information provided by Airmale)

Answer: Boy for Sale

Mr Bumble oversees the orphanage where Oliver lives. The musical opens with a scene in the workhouse, as the orphans are eating their gruel. Oliver plucks up the courage to ask for more. He is told to gather up his belongings and is offered for sale by Mr Bumble. With song and lyrics written by Lionel Bart, the musical featured other popular songs such as "Consider Yourself" and "Food, Glorious Food"

(Question and additional information provided by peewee2)