Skip to main content

Exploring Musical Theatre: A Quiz on Its History and Influences

Test your knowledge of musical theatre history, its influential works, and key figures with this engaging quiz.

#Musical Theatre #History #Quiz #Theatre #Performing Arts

1 The story concerns couples who honeymoon in China and inadvertently break the kissing laws (shades of ________).

2 Other musical theatre forms developed by the 19th century, such as vaudeville, British music hall, ________ and burlesque.

3 Other writers who have attempted to bring a taste of modern rock music to the stage include ________.

4 The ________ saw these forms evolve into commedia dell'arte, an Italian tradition where raucous clowns improvised their way through familiar stories, and from there, opera buffa.

5 The popular ________ metaseries has had twenty-nine Sailor Moon musicals, spanning thirteen years.

6 Which of the following titles did Musical theatre have?

7 Elsewhere in Asia, the Indian ________ musical, mostly in the form of motion pictures, is tremendously successful.

8 ________'s autobiographical film 8½ became Maury Yeston's Nine.

9 [21] Blow was followed by ________ and a brief period of English opera.

10 Towards the end of the Golden Age, several shows tackled Jewish subjects and issues, such as Fiddler on the Roof, Milk and Honey, ________ and later Rags.

đź’ˇ Interesting Facts

  • for 25 years, Jack O'Brien conducted two parallel directing careers: Broadway musicals in New York City and Shakespeare in San Diego.
  • actress Jamie Sorrentini was directed by Harold Prince in the U.S. national tour of the musical Parade.
  • The Wolves in the Walls, a book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean that went on to become an off-Broadway musical, was inspired by a nightmare had by Gaiman's youngest daughter.
  • the 1892 farce Charley's Aunt has been the basis of at least six different films, as well as the successful 1950s Broadway and West End musical, Where's Charley.
  • the manga Astra was originally conceived as a theatrical musical by American comic book artist Jerry Robinson.
  • the documentary film Most Valuable Players was inspired when the producer accidentally found YouTube clips of The Freddy Awards, which honor high school musical theatre in the Lehigh Valley.
  • the Theatre on Terazije is a Broadway-style theatre in Belgrade where the Serbian version of Chicago, Kiss Me, Kate, A Chorus Line and other musicals are performed.
  • the musical Foxy was a total flop in Dawson City in 1962, costing its producers their $400,000 investment, but was revived on Broadway in 1964.
  • The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman, the 22nd album by Sparks and their first pop musical, was commissioned by Swedish national radio.
  • The Addams Family, an upcoming musical by Andrew Lippa, features an original story based solely on the cartoons of Charles Addams, rather than the subsequent television series and films.
  • Fred Thompson, who wrote the book for many hit musical comedies between World War I and World War II, once had three shows running on Broadway simultaneously.
  • Edward Laurillard produced musical comedies in London and New York in the early 20th century, in partnership with George Grossmith, Jr..
  • Arthur Wimperis, after a career as a songwriter and librettist for British musical comedies, became an Academy Award-winning screenwriter in Hollywood, surviving a torpedo attack to get there.
  • Hassard Short was born into the English landed gentry but moved to New York as an actor in 1901 and later became one of Broadway's greatest musical theatre directors and lighting designers.
  • Joseph Anthony directed The Rainmaker, its 1956 film adaptation, and the musical version 110 in the Shade.
  • Cinderella, as broadcast on CBS in March 1957, is the only Rodgers and Hammerstein musical written for television.
  • tab shows—cut-down versions of Broadway and other musicals, with portable scenery—often shared the bill with early 20th-century vaudeville and burlesque shows in the USA.
  • Lionel Monckton, the most popular musical theatre composer of the Edwardian period, after dropping into obscurity by the end of the 20th century, recently has had two albums of his music released.
  • musical theatre star Phyllis Dare (pictured) published her autobiography in 1907, but continued to perform in Edwardian musical comedy and on stage until 1951.
    • Previous Quiz Next Quiz

    Related Quizzes

    Key Events and Figures of the 13th Century: A Quiz

    #13th century #history #Mongol Empire #Crusades #European culture #Franciscan order #Cambridge #Boyana Church

    Discovering the 14th Century: A Historical Quiz

    #14th Century #History #Renaissance #Ming Dynasty #Hundred Years' War #Petrarch #Military History

    Exploring the 16th Century: Events, Figures, and Discoveries

    #history #16th century #exploration #Renaissance #Conquistadores #art #politics #religion

    Exploring the 17th Century: Key Events and Figures

    #17th century #history #empires #Mughal Empire #Ottoman Empire #Persian Empire #Taiwan #Hudson's Bay Company #Kara Mustafa #French history

    Exploring the 18th Century: A Historical Quiz

    #18th century #history #quiz #education #literature #philosophy #politics

    Significant Events of 1904

    #1904 #history #events #quiz #education

    Significant Events and Figures of 1906

    #1906 #history #chess #astronomy #civil rights #swimming #biochemistry

    Significant Events and Figures of 1911

    #1911 #history #events #figures #Nobel Prize #aviation #fire incidents #education #composers