Who Doesn't Belong in the Musical? Quiz

Answer: Anita

Anita is a character in "West Side Story".

"The Most Happy Fella" opened on Broadway in 1956, with book, music, and lyrics by Frank Loesser. It was the first Broadway musical to have a complete original cast recording (currently available as a 2-CD set).

Answer: Agnes

Agnes Gooch is a character in "Mame".

"West Side Story" opened on Broadway in 1957, but the Tony for Best Musical that year went to "The Music Man". It was originally titled "East Side Story", and was to be concerned about the conflict between an Irish Catholic family and a Jewish family.

Answer: Annibale

Annibale is a character in Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Gondoliers".

"Kiss Me, Kate" opened on Broadway in 1948. The feuding actors, Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi, were reportedly based on Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, who had been feuding on and off stage in their 1935 production of "The Taming of the Shrew". Henry Trevor is the character in the show who plays Baptista in the play within a play.

Answer: Titania

Titania is the Queen of the Fairies in "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

"Oliver!" (note the exclamation point in the title) opened in London in 1960, and on Broadway in 1963. Davy Jones (of the Monkees) was the original Artful Dodger in the London production.

Answer: Esau

Although Jacob and Esau appear together in the Bible, Esau is not a character in this musical.

"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" opened on Broadway in 1982 (it had opened in London in 1973). It is notable for the many musical styles it used: French ballads, western, calypso, even Elvis-inspired rock and roll.

Answer: Fiona

Fiona is a character in "Brigadoon".

"Finian's Rainbow" was originally produced on Broadway in 1947. The 1968 film version was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and starred Tommy Steele, Fred Astaire, and Petula Clark.

Answer: Miguel Cabrera

Miguel Cabrera is a baseball player.

"Man of La Mancha" opened at the ANTA Washington Square Theatre in Greenwich Village in 1965, and moved to Broadway in 1968. It has been translated into many languages, including Dutch, German, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, and Norwegian.

Answer: Charles the Bald

Charles the Bald lived after the action of the musical.

"Pippin" was originally produced at Carnegie-Mellon University as a one-act show entitled "Pippin, Pippin". It was expanded to two acts for its Broadway debut in 1972, and at the same time its title was cut in half.

Answer: General Jubilation T. Cornpone

General Jubilation T. Cornpone was a character in "L'il Abner".

"Guys and Dolls" is another musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser. It opened on Broadway in 1950. It ran for 1200 performances, and won the Tony award for Best Musical.

Answer: Janet van de Graaff

Janet van de Graaff is a character in "The Drowsy Chaperone".

"The Pajama Game" opened on Broadway in 1954. It won the Tony award for Best Musical that year. Two of the songs ("There Once Was a Man" and "A New Town is a Blue Town") were written by Frank Loesser, but were not credited to him.