The Answers to the 2012 Broadway University Final Exam
Congratulations to Susan Berlin and Steve Rosenthal, the couple that was the first to answer The 2012 Broadway University Final Exam. Marc Castle was next, followed by Jack Lechner, Donald Tesione, Brigadude, Ian Ewing, Ed Weissman, Braden Mechley, AnyaToes, Ron Schroeder, Don Gibbs, Thom Snode, Fred Abramowitz, Davey Kanter,
They’re the ones intrepid enough to attempt the 2012 Broadway University Final Exam.
I gave two clues for each of the 25 questions. The first told of a theatrical personality – be it performer, writer, director, composer, or even a character. The second referenced a musical.
“But,” as I wrote last week, “in each case, the initial(s) used for the each performer’s name will be the same as the one(s) for the musical.”
For example:
1a. He was the third-billed star of The Apple Tree.
1b. In this musical, two sisters played characters named Elsie and Wynne.
The answer to the first question was Alan Alda; the answer to the second was Ankles Aweigh. You see, both had the same initials: A.A.
I also noted that that such tag lines as “The Musical” and, God help us, “The New Mel Brooks Musical” were not included. I just went with what was the generally accepted name of the show.
What’s more, all the musicals named didn’t start with the articles “A,” “An” or “The,” so any contestant didn’t eliminate those.
Here are both the questions and the answers:
1a. In a musical revival, he got to play the same role that got him an Oscar nomination when he first did the non-musical film. (Anthony Quinn)
1b. A show that used its final song to mock a president has long outlasted that chief executive. (Avenue Q)
2a. Hasn’t appeared on Broadway since December, 1965. (Barbra Streisand)
2b. A musical set in 221b, to be exact. (Baker Street)
3a. He, with his wife, wrote the score to a musical about a famous New Yorker. (Bill Jacob)
3b. When it was first produced – very unsuccessfully in 1975 -- the title was sported only one word. It picked up one more when the show was revamped in 2001. (By Jeeves)
4a. In a flop musical that played the Hellinger, she portrayed a character who had the same name as she. (Despo)
4b. One of the few original cast albums of the ‘60s that hasn’t surfaced on CD. (Donnybrook)
5a. She’ll always be remembered for telling an audience, “I could be at home with my seven maids.” (Debbie Reynolds)
5b. A 2005 musical whose CD box is probably the tallest in your collection. (Dessa Rose)
6a. She was written out of a notorious one-performance flop. (Ella Logan)
6b. It originally had a short run at a theater that has since been razed, but it resurfaced decades later with this new title that was identical to its source material. (Enter Laughing)
7a. He lost a Best Actor in a Musical Tony one year, but won it the next. (George Hearn)
7b. A new composer-lyricist came in, buttressed the score, and made it into a 1000-plus performance hit. (Grand Hotel)
8a. Won eight Tonys, starting in the ‘40s and ending in the ‘80s. (Gower Champion)
8b. The source material for one of the biggest hits of the ‘90s. (Girl Crazy)
9a. A multi-Tony winner who has to be considered a front-runner for one of this year’s Tonys. (Harvey Fierstein)
9b. It opened in April, and contained a song that was named for a month that it never lived to see. (Hot Feet)
10a. He wrote 17 numbers for a show that had a different number as its title. (Jason Robert Brown)
10b. The Tony-winning musical from the last quarter century that is the least likely to be revived. (Jerome Robbins’ Broadway)
11a. Right now, she’s appearing in her eighth Broadway musical. (Kelli O’Hara)
11b. The leading man and leading lady of this Gallic-flavored musical wound up getting married -- and even stayed married for a while. (King of Hearts)
12a. Beat out a four-time Oscar winner for the Best Musical Actress Tony. (Lauren Bacall)
12b. The cast included Chico and Chloe. (Legally Blonde)
13a. On a subsequent cast album, she got to record a Sondheim song that originally had been omitted on the original cast album. (Lucia Albanese)
13b. Quite a few original casters were invited to repeat their roles in this 1959 film. (Li’l Abner)
14a. She can say she’s appeared in four Broadway shows and one Elvis Presley movie. (Liliane Montevecchi)
14b. Originally got lousy reviews in London, but it’s still there, and may last 24,601 performances. (Les Miserables)
15a. Leading man of the original cast of a Sondheim musical. (Mako)
15b. A Broadway musical named for a city that was written by a librettist whose previous Broadway musical obliquely dealt with one of that same city’s most famous entertainers. (Memphis)
16a. She has one Tony Award and four Drama Desk nominations – but the irony is that the role for which she won the Tony was one for which she didn’t get a Drama Desk nomination. (Michele Pawk)
16b. The musical that contains a song with a 14-syllable one-word title. (Mary Poppins)
17a. She’s appeared with her husband in two musicals, both of which were adapted from famous films. (Orfeh)
17b. Won a Best Score Tony, but not a Best Musical Tony. (Oliver!)
18a. The brains behind the most notorious flop of the ‘70s. (Paul Jabara)
18b. Its last two Broadway revivals have seen its leading man, who played the title character, depart before the opening. (Pal Joey)
19a. He took a ‘60s musical flop and wrote a new book for what became into a 21st century flop. (Peter Parnell)
19b. A famous play first became a play with music and later a genuine musical. Each had melodies by two famous Broadway composers who later competed against each other (and lost) in a Best Musical Tony race. (Peter Pan)
20a. She sang about Paris, but only in Washington and not New York. (Regine)
20b. One of the comparatively few musicals that won Tonys for Best Book and Score but didn’t win Best Musical. (Ragtime)
21a. He spent 10 weeks on Broadway starring in a revival of a Kurt Weill musical. (Sting)
21b. This musical version of a famous comedy endured an out-of-town change of its leading man, director and choreographer. The bookwriter-lyricist, who later became a TV personality, stayed on. (Sherry!)
22a. On Broadway, she’s sung the melodies of Marvin Hamlisch, John Kander, Galt MacDermot and Richard Rodgers. (Stockard Channing)
22b. The twice-revived-on-Broadway musical that originally reopened one of New York’s most famous theaters. (Sweet Charity)
23a. Appeared in the original cast of three of Broadway’s eight longest-running musicals. (Terrence Mann)
23b. Two-character off-Broadway musical about two famous killers. (Thrill Me)
24a. He’s played two diametrically opposed individuals, each of the extreme end of the religious spectrum -- one in a musical revival on Broadway, one in a movie version of a famous musical. (Victor Garber)
24b. A big flop musical that opened a theater that now plays host to a big hit. (Via Galactica)
25a. A character who was part of the original 1946 production, then dropped for the 1966 revival and reinstated for the 1999 revival. (Winnie Tate)
25b. A musical whose score was replaced just before rehearsals were to start. (Wonderful Town)
— Peter Filichia |
