The 2015 Broadway University Mid-Term Exam Answers
My hat is off to Peter Alfano, Mel Atkey, AnyaToes, Susan Berlin, Tristan Blakely, Brigadude, Annie Breslin, Jon Allen Conrad, Ilene Nancy Cooper, Lorraine Ford DeMan, Andrew Duxbury, Christopher P. Ertelt, Noah Erin Fleischaker, Catherine Francoise, Laura Frankos, Ingrid Gammerman, Ed Glazier, John Griffin, Noel Katz, Daniel Kochanowicz, Jack Lechner, Marc Miller, Daryl Orts, Charles Prentiss, Ken Raskoff, Arthur Robinson, Donna Saady, Ron Schroeder, Don Solomon, Donald Tesione, Rob Wills and Ted Zoldan.
They’re the ones who took on the task of taking The 2015 Broadway University Mid-Term Exam. It asked students to identify 50 lines and lyrics that centered on nationalities, and that had graced musicals that had been produced between 1930 to 2014. The test included both Broadway and off-Broadway shows, and were listed in the order that they had opened.
Oh, some participants did better than others, but it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. Start studying for the final in May!
Here are the answers:
1. “You and you alone bring out the Gypsy in me.” (“Embraceable You” – GIRL CRAZY)
2. “Give it back to the birds and bees and the Viennese.” (“Down with Love” – HOORAY FOR WHAT!)
3. “Mother’s a Swede and father’s a Scot and so Irish I’m not and never have been.” (“My Darlin’ Eileen” – WONDERFUL TOWN)
4. “If in Lesbos, a pure Lesbian can.” (“Can-Can” – CAN-CAN)
5. “Then he’d make his usual reply: that old reliable Andalusian rhyme.” (“Keep It Gay” – ME AND JULIET)
6. “The kind of confection to drive a man out of his Mesopotamian mind.” (“Rahadlakum” – KISMET)
7. “Italians hate Yugoslavs; South Africans hate the Dutch.” (“The Merry Minuet” – JOHN MURRAY ANDERSON’S ALMANAC)
8. “And furthermore, the Pygmy tribes in Africa may have a war.” (“Small Talk” – THE PAJAMA GAME)
9. “Arabians learn Arabian with the speed of summer lightning.” (“Why Can’t the English?” -- MY FAIR LADY)
10. “Napkin on the floor, ashes in the cup and one Canadian dime.” (“I Know How It Is” -- THE MOST HAPPY FELLA)
11. “‘Cuz every Puerto-Rican’s a lousy chicken.” (“Jet Song” -- WEST SIDE STORY)
12. “Even if you can quote Balzac and Shakespeare and all them other hi-falutin’ Greeks.” (“Piano Lesson” – THE MUSIC MAN)
13. “A stately Scandanavian type; a buxom, blue-eyed blonde.”
(“Gliding through My Memoree” -- FLOWER DRUM SONG)
14. “The Finns and Lapps were reduced to a helpless stammer.” (“Useful Phrases” – SAIL AWAY)
15. “No Trojan horse – and a happy ending, of course.” (“Comedy Tonight” -- A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM)
16. “Egyptian, Persian -- only one version; no other stands a chance.” (“The Only Dance I Know” -- MR. PRESIDENT)
17. “Listen to an old Hungarian’s philosophy.” (“Perspective” – SHE LOVES ME)
18. “I’m through and through red, white and blue-ish. I talk this way because I’m British.” (“Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat” -- FUNNY GIRL)
19. “The Germans! Today! Heil!” (“Simple” -- ANYONE CAN WHISTLE)
20. “No middle-class Brazilians who somehow never pay.” (“This Week, Americans” -- DO I HEAR A WALTZ?)
21. “Why does he claim he’s Castilian? He thayth that he’th Cathtilian.” (“The Boy from …” – THE MAD SHOW)
22. “I can hear Hawaiian breezes blow.” (“It Couldn’t Please Me More” -- CABARET)
23. “The forties burn because the trumpets blare. The Yanks are coming, coming over there.” (“Marathon” – JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS)
24. “Mau Mau … and President of the United States of Love.” (“Colored Spade” – HAIR)
25. “I could tell he was a Turk, but I liked him, anyway.” (“The First Time” -- ZORBA)
26. “Those Siamese twins from faraway Peru.” (“Where Did It Go?” – CELEBRATION)
27. “Ashanti! Ibo! Ibo! Ibo! Ibo!” (“Molasses to Rum” – 1776)
28. “An Indian word meaning ‘hate.’ But the people smile all the time there and the cultural advantages are great.” (“Land of Betrayal” – TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA)
29. “We’ll find a million buck surprise to light those little Polish eyes.” (“Sugar” – SUGAR)
30. “In the castle of the King of the Belgians, we would visit through a false chiffonier.” (“Liaisons” – A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC)
31. “Comes the monkey wrench! Smell that awful stench. Probably the French.” (“Please, Hello” -- PACIFIC OVERTURES)
32. “Here’s an example: ‘Two-down: A Peruvian poison dart.’” (“Crossword Puzzle” – STARTING HERE, STARTING NOW)
33. “If what the Puritans forbid just ev’ry now and then we did.” (“Sexually Free” – I LOVE MY WIFE)
34. “Kill the Bosche!” (“Veronique” – ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY)
35. “With a gesture so gentle, or do it again ‘til it’s near Oriental.” (“It’s an Art” -- WORKING)
36. “That’s all very well, but what are we going to do about the Eye-talian?” (“A Little Priest” -- SWEENEY TODD)
37. “The first case I defended – a poor old Muscovite – got 14 years for forging checks.” (“Samovar the Lawyer” -- A DAY IN HOLLYWOOD / A NIGHT IN THE UKRAINE)
38. “Number One genius and Number One fan … Daughter if well-to-do Florentine clan.” (“My Husband Makes Movies” – NINE)
39. “Fifty years from now, they’ll still be arguing about the grassy knoll, the Mafia, some Cuban crouched behind a stockade fence.”
(“November 22, 1963” -- ASSASSINS)
40. “That’s it! No more Vietnamese! Get in!” (“The Fall of Saigon” -- MISS SAIGON)
41. “Every girl in the chorus line is a genuine Philistine.” (“This Time Next Year” – SUNSET BOULEVARD)
42. “His hair, though – is it Cherokee? It’s black enough to be.” (“Surprised” – VIOLET)
43. “It’s ze only kind of music zat ve Huns und our honeys love to sing.” (“Haben Sie Gehürt das Deutsche Band?” – THE PRODUCERS)
44. “I’m your Hebrew slave, at your service.” (“Shiksa Goddess” – THE LAST FIVE YEARS)
45. “Where you been? The term is Asian-American.” (“Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” – AVENUE Q)
46. “Not a tree or a Jew to block the lovely view.” (“Oklahoma?” – DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS)
47. “And don’t bother me with Moliere; those Russians never pay.” (“It’s a Business” – CURTAINS)
48. “Is he gay or European?” (“There! Right There!” – LEGALLY BLONDE)
49. “I’m Chile-Domini-Curican, but I always say I’m from Queens.” (“Carnaval Del Barrio” – IN THE HEIGHTS)
50. “The shy ones, the spry ones, the grey ones, the fey ones, the oldish, the newish, the Irish, the Jewish.” (“They Go Wild, Simply Wild over Me” – BULLETS OVER BROADWAY)
— Peter Filichia |
