Here’s another quiz for all you
students of the Golden Age of Broadway musicals. But even if you haven’t
a clue about show tunes and have never bought an original cast album in
your life, these Broadway quizzes put together by Kenn Harris will
entertain. And you never know when you might be able to dazzle at a
cocktail party with this information. This quiz is all about
composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim—a gay icon if ever there was one.
All Sondheim, All the Time...
1. One of Stephen Sondheim’s first jobs
was not in the musical theatre, but in the Hollywood television industry.
He wrote the first, highly regarded episodes of a TV sitcom. Which one? It
had a delectably ectoplasmic performance by theatre star Ann Jeffreys.
Identify the show.
2. The following songs come from which
Sondheim shows? Who introduced each song on Broadway?
a. “I’m Calm”
b. “Me and My Town”
c. Being Alive”
d. “That Dirty Old Man”
e. “The Ladies who Lunch”
f. “Send in the
Clowns”
3. One of Sondheim’s most delightful
musicals has roles for two leading ladies playing mother and daughter. In
the original Broadway company, the women who played these roles throughout
the run had a sporadic but vicious feud. Fans who went to the show always
hoped that they’d be there when the “Daughter” exclaimed, “Mother,
you’re so bitchy tonight in tones that were probably heard as far away
as Sardi’s. Identify the show and the two brilliant actresses involved.
4. Shortly before the opening of this
Sondheim hit, the young man who played the central character asked to be
relieved of his duties, claiming health problems. Reluctantly, the
producers tore up the contract, but asked the actor, a handsome but rather
bland performer, whose chief virtue was the way he looked in his jockey
shorts, if he would stay on a few weeks until his replacement could be
rehearsed. The actor did so, before fading to oblivion in Hollywood. Name
the show, the star, and the replacement, who, by the way found this
role one of the highest points of his career—and if you thought the
other star looked fantastic in jockeys, you should have seen this boy.
Name the musical, the departing star,
the replacement, and the role they shared.
5. The production of Saturday Night,
Sondheim’s first musical intended for Broadway was aborted shortly
before the play was to go into production. What happened? What was the
eventual fate of the show?
6. Film and TV actress Yvonne DeCarlo had
been touring in stock when she got the call to audition for a Sondheim
musical, in which she scored a tremendous personal triumph, introducing
one of Sondheim’s most stunning ballads. Name the show, the song, and
the character that Miss DeCarlo portrayed.
7. Who were the performers who introduced
these songs in Follies?
a. “Broadway Baby”
b. “Losing My Mind”
c. “The Road You Didn’t Take”
d. ”The Ballad of “Jessie and Lucy”
e. “The Right Girl”
f. “Paris”
8. In Sweeney Todd what is the delicacy that everyone is
singing, dancing, and dying over? What is
the secret ingredient (you don’t wanna know!)
9. Angela Lansbury once confided that the director of Sweeney
Todd neglected her during staging rehearsals and that therefore Lansbury
directed herself in the role—she did a pretty decent job, too!
10. How does Mrs.Lovett make her final exit
in Sweeney Todd?
Answers:
1. Topper, about a couple of ghosts.
2.
a. A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To the
Forum; Jack Guilford
b. Anyone Can Whistle; Angela Lansbury.
c. Company; Dean Jones
d. Forum; Ruth Kobart
e. Company; Elaine Stritch
f. A Little Night Music; Glynis Johns.
3. A Little Night Music; stars Glynis Johns as Desiree Arnfeldt
and Hermione Gingold, the Countess Arnfeldt (the mother)…sparks flew!
4. Company; Dean Jones bowed out, and Larry Kert played Bobby.
Dean who?
5. The producer, Lemuel Ayers, died suddenly and the financial
backing disappeared. It took almost 50 years until it became a minor hit
in London and on Broadway.
6. The show was Follies, the song: “I’m
Still Here,” and the character was Carlotta Campion.
7.
a. Ethel Shutta
b. Dorothy
Collins
c. John McMartin
d. Alexis Smith
e. Gene Nelson
f. Fifi
D’Orsay.
8. Mrs. Lovett’s Hot Meat Pies were made
from (ugh) human flesh!
9. Acclaimed director Hal Prince ignored his leading lady. She
rose above it.
10. Sweeney waltzes her into her oven,
which he closes and locks while Lovett frantically pounds on the door to
get out. No such luck. On film, Johny Depp waltzed Mrs. Lovett (Helena
Bonham-Carter) into the oven.
Kenn
Harris is a NYC theatre and music critic and author of the biography of
opera diva Renata Tebaldi, and The Ultimate Opera Quiz Book. Kenn is both
an opera devotee and big time collector of original cast albums from
Broadway and around the world. And he loves to dish. Contact him at kharris106@nyc.rr.com
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