Broadway
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This Broadway musical trivia quiz has 174 free questions with answers and runs from Wicked, Hamilton and The Lion King to Phantom, Les Mis, Chicago, A Chorus Line and the golden-age shows of Bernstein, Berlin and Sondheim. Alongside the musicals you will find theater trivia on Death of a Salesman, August Wilson, the Tony Awards, the ghost light, the gypsy robe and the theatres of the Great White Way themselves. The 174 questions range from easy ones any cast-album fan will get to genuinely hard ones about record runs, original casts and backstage traditions, so it suits a musical theatre night, a drama class or a pub quiz round. Every answer has been checked against a real source and each question shows its citation.
30 of 174 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who composed the music and wrote the lyrics for the hit Broadway musical 'Wicked'?
Stephen Schwartz
Stephen Schwartz first heard of the novel on a snorkelling trip in Hawaii, when a friend mentioned what she was reading; he decided on the spot it was for him and set his lawyer chasing the rights.
Q 02Which character in 'Hamilton' sings the jaunty breakup song 'You'll Be Back'?
King George III
King George III sings 'You'll Be Back' as a jilted lover; the show's writer got the title from Hugh Laurie, who ad-libbed the line over a drink on hearing the idea of a breakup letter to the colonies.
Q 03Who was the original Elphaba when 'Wicked' opened on Broadway?
Idina Menzel
Idina Menzel won the 2004 Tony as Elphaba; an onstage fall injured a rib a day before her farewell, yet she came back at that last show to play the final scene and take her bow.
Q 04At which Broadway theatre did 'Hamilton' open in 2015?
Richard Rodgers
The Richard Rodgers Theatre became the scene of 'Ham4Ham': before the ticket lottery drawings, cast members and guests gave short free shows on the pavement for the crowds who came to enter.
Q 05In which Broadway theatre did 'Wicked' open in October 2003?
Gershwin Theatre
The Gershwin Theatre is Broadway's biggest house, with about 1,900 seats, which helped Wicked become the first show to gross more than $5 million in a single week, at Christmas 2024.
Q 06Who wrote the script, music and lyrics of 'Hamilton'?
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Lin-Manuel Miranda got the idea on a Mexican holiday from his earlier hit 'In the Heights' and first performed a number from the show at the White House in 2009.
Q 07The score of 'Hamilton' blends Broadway show tunes with what other main genre?
Hip-Hop and R&B
Hip-Hop and R&B drive the score because its creator saw a rapper's story in Alexander Hamilton: a Caribbean orphan who rose on the strength of his writing, and who reminded him of Tupac Shakur.
Q 08Which hit Broadway musical was co-written by 'South Park' creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone?
The Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon sends two young missionaries to Uganda; the real church answered the satire by buying ads in the show's programmes with lines such as 'The book is always better.'
Q 09In 'Wicked', Elphaba grows up to become which character from 'The Wizard of Oz'?
Wicked Witch of the West
The Wicked Witch of the West starts out in Wicked as a bright, green-skinned student; she is branded 'wicked' only after she defies the Wizard and his corrupt rule.
Q 10The musical 'Hamilton' was inspired by a 2004 biography of Alexander Hamilton written by which author?
Ron Chernow
Ron Chernow's biography was an impulse buy that the show's creator began reading on holiday in Mexico; Chernow met him soon after and signed on as the production's historical consultant.
Q 11On which day do most Broadway shows traditionally give no performance?
Monday
Monday is Broadway's usual day off. Until 1940 it was Sunday that stayed empty, in deference to the Sabbath; then the actors' union voted to allow Sunday shows.
Q 12What is the theatrical term for a new production of a previously produced Broadway play or musical?
Revival
A revival can outrun the original many times over: two of the ten longest-running productions in Broadway history are revivals rather than first stagings.
Q 13Which free program, known for its yellow banner, is handed to audiences at Broadway theatres?
Playbill
Playbill began in 1884 as the program for a single New York theatre; these days its yellow banner turns into a rainbow once a year for Pride Month.
Q 21Which 42nd Street theatre, once home to Ziegfeld's revues, did Disney restore in the 1990s?
New Amsterdam Theatre
The New Amsterdam Theatre opened in 1903 and had sunk to a run-down cinema showing kung fu films by the early 1980s; Disney's restoration brought live theatre back in 1997.
Q 22Who choreographed the original Broadway production of 'Hamilton'?
Andy Blankenbuehler
Andy Blankenbuehler was no gamble: he had already won a Tony choreographing 'In the Heights', and Hamilton reunited that show's writer, director and orchestrator with him.
Q 23Which square sits at the heart of Manhattan's Theater District?
Times Square
Q 14In which Andrew Lloyd Webber musical does Grizabella sing 'Memory'?
Cats
Cats gave 'Memory' to Elaine Paige only because Judi Dench, first cast as Grizabella in London, tore her Achilles tendon in rehearsal and had to pull out shortly before the first preview.
Q 15Which musical follows a red-haired orphan and her dog Sandy during the Great Depression?
Annie
Annie's first lead, Kristen Vigard, was replaced during the tryout because she came across as too sweet for a street-smart orphan; Andrea McArdle, who had been playing another orphan, took over.
Q 16Who composed the iconic music for the Broadway musical 'West Side Story'?
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein and his partners first planned the show as a feud between a Jewish family and a Catholic one at Easter and Passover, before switching the story to rival street gangs.
Q 17Which Disney musical is known for its puppets and masks bringing African animals to life on stage?
The Lion King
The Lion King never hides its workings: director Julie Taymor's masks and puppets show the human performer and the animal at the same time, and she counts on the audience to fill in the blanks.
Q 18Which musical about an 1899 strike against the New York publisher Pulitzer features the song 'Seize the Day'?
Newsies
Newsies began as a 1992 Disney film that flopped at the box office; the stage version, booked for a limited 2012 Broadway run, stayed for more than 1,000 performances.
Q 19Which American playwright authored the classic drama 'Death of a Salesman'?
Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller wrote the play in a small studio he had built for himself in Connecticut, getting the whole first act down in less than a day; it went on to win the 1949 Pulitzer Prize.
Q 20What is the name for a bulb left burning alone on an otherwise dark stage when a theatre is empty?
Ghost light
A ghost light's practical job is to stop the first person in from stepping off the stage into the orchestra pit; theatre lore adds that it is there for the resident ghosts, to please them or to keep them away.
Times Square, where Broadway crosses Seventh Avenue, was Longacre Square until 1904, when it was renamed for The New York Times, then building its new headquarters tower there.
Q 24Which musical won a record 12 Tony Awards in 2001?
The Producers
The Producers won 12 Tonys from 15 nominations, taking every category it was up for: its only losses were cast members beaten by their own co-stars. The old record was Hello, Dolly!'s 10.
Q 25Which show became Disney's first Broadway musical when it opened in 1994?
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast went to Broadway after New York Times critic Frank Rich wrote that the 1991 film had the year's best Broadway musical score; the stage version ran for 13 years.
Q 26In which part of New York City are most Broadway theaters located?
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan only became the theatre capital in the early 1900s: New York's playhouses had clustered much further downtown and moved north as the city grew.
Q 27Which American composer wrote the scores for 'Annie Get Your Gun' and 'Call Me Madam'?
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin got Annie Get Your Gun only because Jerome Kern, hired to compose it, died suddenly in 1945; Berlin's score went on to include 'There's No Business Like Show Business'.
Q 28Which Broadway theater, on the third floor of One Astor Plaza, became the home of 'The Lion King' in 2006?
Minskoff Theatre
The Minskoff Theatre took over The Lion King in 2006, more than eight years into its run, because Disney wanted the show's original home for its new musical, Mary Poppins.
Q 29In which month is the Tony Awards ceremony usually held?
June
June is the Tonys' usual slot, on a Sunday night; the pandemic made 2021 a rare exception, when a ceremony first planned for June 2020 finally took place on September 26.
Q 30Which musical intertwines the stories of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and Little Red Riding Hood?
Into the Woods
Into the Woods, by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, grants every character's wish and then turns to the consequences, which come back to haunt them with disastrous results.