Thoroughly Modern Musicals Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tango

"Cell Block Tango" was a sensual and intoxicating song written for the film by John Kander and Fred Ebb. It was a key part to the plot as it described why six of the female inmates at Cook County Jail were imprisoned, including the character Velma Kelly who had murdered her sister and her husband after discovering they were having an affair. The film also centered around the character Roxie Hart, who had killed her lover in a fit of jealousy. Velma and Roxie were played by Catherine Zeta Jones and Renee Zellweger.

"Cell Block Tango" included these catchy lyrics:

"Pop! Six! Squish! Uh uh! Cicero! Lipschitz!
He had it coming, he had it coming, he only had himself to blame.
If you'd have been there, If you'd have seen it, I betcha you would have done the same!"

Answer: Into The Woods

"Into The Woods" was a 2014 musical which included many well loved fairy tale characters, including Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Jack (Daniel Huttlestone), Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy) and the Wicked Witch (played with much gusto by Meryl Streep). It also included two new characters, The Baker and The Baker's Wife, played by James Corden and Emily Blunt. They all entered the deep, dark woods for their own personal reasons, but it was the baker and his wife who had been promised a child by the witch if they could find "The cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold".

The film was directed by Rob Marshall, and was based on the musical written by Stephen Sondheim who had earlier written the lyrics for "West Side Story" and "Gypsy".

Answer: Burlesque

"Burlesque" was a musical that not only starred the two leading ladies, but came with a strong supporting cast including Alan Cumming, Peter Gallagher, Kristen Bell and Stanley Tucci. Newcomer to Los Angeles, Ali (Christina Aguilera) looked everywhere for a job until stumbling by accident into a seedy burlesque nightclub ran by Tess (Cher).

It was here that Ali started work as a waitress, until she proved her worth by auditioning as a burlesque singer and dancer. The film featured the songs "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me", "Something's Got a Hold on Me" and the burlesque anthem "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend".

Answer: The Little Sparrow

"La Vie en rose" literally translates as "life in pink", but a more apt translation would be "life through rose tinted glasses". The film, "La Vie en rose", was about the life of optimistic French singer, Edith Piaf, best known for her song, "Non, je ne regrette rien". Her meteoric rise to fame could not bring her any relief from arthritis and instead she turned to pain relief which led to drug abuse. This along with becoming a self-destructive alcoholic led to her early demise aged just 47 years old from liver cancer.

Marion Cotillard won a well deserved Oscar for her portrayal of Edith Piaf, the French national treasure who was also known as "The Little Sparrow". Her co-star Gerard Depardieu introduced her on stage as coming "from the sidewalk to Gerny's, the Little Sparrow" (Le Gerny's being the name of a former Parisienne nightclub). Cotillard had to undergo complete transformation during the film, from a young 19 year old to a chronically ill and frail woman in her late forties.

Answer: Think of Me

The Phantom was obsessed with his beautiful protegee Christine to such great extent that he killed and tortured others to lure her within his power. One of the female stars quit after a piece of scenery nearly fell on her, and Christine was persuaded to take over the lead role, singing the hauntingly beautiful "Think of Me" on stage in front of a packed audience. The dress and diamonds sparkled under the stage lights which gave her an ethereal appearance.

The actress who played Christine was Emmy Rossum, and the beautiful dress she wore was in fact an exact replica worn by Empress Elisabeth of Austria in an 1865 painting by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, as shown in the image.

Answer: Pitch Perfect

"Pitch Perfect" starred Anna Kendrick, Skylar Astin and the very comedic Rebel Wilson in the lead roles. The story told of the fictional Barden University, and two of its a capella groups who were rivals; the all girl Barden Bellas, and the all boy Treblemakers. Freshman Beca Mitchell (Anna Kendrick) was reluctant to join any clubs, but she was forced to, to appease her father. Although her love was in music production, Beca joined the Barden Bellas, a hotchpotch of different characters who do not fit in any stereotypical mould.

Songs in the film included the cover version of "Let's Talk About Sex" (Salt-n-Pepa), "Eternal Flame" (The Bangles) and "Party in the U.S.A." (Miley Cyrus). It also featured the catchy "Cups (When I'm Gone)", a popular a capella instrumental using cups as a rhythmic percussion.

Answer: Let it go, let it go

Princess Elsa (Idina Menzel) had the ability to create ice and snow and this caused a split between her and her younger sister, Princess Anna (Kristin Bell). An eternal winter gripped the kingdom and Elsa ran away to live in an ice palace where she sang "Let It Go". Anna, along with her snowman, Olaf (Josh Gad), tried to find her sister with the help of a mountain man and his reindeer, Sven. Also assisting was a group of trolls led by Grand Pabbie the Troll King (Ciaran Hinds).

"Tell me more, tell me more" were lyrics from "Grease". "Come what may, come what may" were lyrics from "Moulin Rouge!", and "Snow, snow, snow, snow" were lyrics from "White Christmas".

Answer: All You Need Is Love

"Moulin Rouge!" was a musical directed by Baz Luhrmann, and told of the ill-fated love story between two young lovers, Satine (Nicole Kidman) and Christian (Ewan McGregor). They admitted their love while singing "Elephant Love Medley" on the windmill at the famous Paris landmark.

In order of when they were sung, these are the covers which featured in "Elephant Love Medley":

"Love Is Like Oxygen" by Sweet
"Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing" by Frank Sinatra
"Up Where We Belong" by Buffy Sainte-Marie
"All You Need Is Love" by The Beatles
"Lover's Game" by Chris Isaak
"I Was Made For Loving You" by KISS
"One More Night" by Phil Collins
"Pride (In The Name Of Love)" by U2
"Don't Leave Me This Way" by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
"Silly Love Songs" by Wings
"Heroes" by David Bowie
"I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton
"Your Song" by Elton John

Answer: Cole Porter

The image shows many words included in another Cole Porter classic, "Night and Day", which he wrote for the 1932 "Gay Divorce".

The film "De-Lovely" was named after his song "It's De-Lovely", which featured the lyrics, "It's delightful, it's delicious, it's delectable, it's delirious, it's dilemma, it's delimit, it's deluxe, it's de-lovely!". The 2004 film was a biopic about Cole Porter's life, his marriage, his sexuality, his extra-marital affairs, his work and eventually his death. Kevin Kline, who played Cole Porter, was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, but he lost out to eventual Oscar winner Jamie Foxx for his part in the Ray Charles biopic "Ray".

Answer: Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood took one look at the script for "Jersey Boys" and loved it. To get an idea of the format, he visited three slightly different shows that were running at New York, San Francisco and Las Vegas and used the leading stars from the stage to act in his film. He quoted during an interview, "It seemed logical to use people that had this tremendous amount of experience playing it." The film starred John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen, Michael Lomenda and Vincent Piazza as the popular 1960s group, The Four Seasons. The musical biopic featured many well known songs, including "My Eyes Adored You", "Sherry", and "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)".

The photo in the image shows a person holding "A Fistful of Dollars", which also happens to be the title of a film synonymous with actor/director, Clint Eastwood.