Lerner and Loewe Musicals Trivia Quiz

Answer: They grow up in the most delightful way

"Thank Heaven for Little Girls" was sung by Maurice Chevalier in the movie "Gigi." The song opens and closes the story, which tells of the relationship between Gaston, a wealthy and bored young man, and Gigi, a girl who is being raised by her grandmother to be a courtesan. Of course, Gaston falls in love with Gigi and they marry.

As the lyrics say, we thank heaven for girls like Gigi because "without them, what would little boys do?" "Everywhere I turn I can see them" is a line from the song "Little Girls," which Miss Hannigan sings in "Annie." Of course, she doesn't love little girls at all. "They don't ask me questions..." is a line from an Oingo Boingo song.

Answer: Being in love

"Almost Like Being in Love" is a hit song from "Brigadoon." It's sung by Tommy (played by Gene Kelly), a New Yorker visiting Scotland who stumbles upon the town of Brigadoon and falls in love with Fiona. Unfortunately, the town only appears every 100 years. Eventually, Tommy must decide whether he will stay with Fiona or go back to his former life and fiancee. Since it's a romantic comedy, guess where he ends up?

Answer: Lots of chocolate for me to eat; lots of coal making lots of heat

At the beginning of the movie "My Fair Lady", Eliza is a Cockney flower girl selling her wares in the vicinity of Covent Garden. Professor Henry Higgins, a phoneticist, comments on her horrible accent and throws some change in her basket. She and her friends then sing about how "loverly" it would be to have a comfortable life. The next day, Eliza shows up at the professor's house to be taught to speak properly.

All of the answers are lines from musicals. "In My Own Little Corner" is from Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Cinderella." In "The Sound of Music," Maria lists "wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings" as one of her favorite things. And it's Cole Porter who says it's "de-lovely" to go walking.

Answer: Being taken to the fair

At the beginning of "Camelot," Guinevere sings "Where Are the Simple Joys of Maidenhood," listing things she thinks she will miss when she marries King Arthur. Of course, the song is ironic, since her affair with Lancelot will eventually lead to many of these dramatic and tragic events. "You May Take Me to the Fair" is another song in the same musical, when the queen goads the other knights into challenging Lancelot.

Answer: On the plain

"The Rain in Spain" is a turning point in the musical "My Fair Lady." It is sung when Eliza finally masters the proper accent that Professor Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering have been trying to teach her. This movie is one of many when Marni Nixon dubbed the singing voice for a beautiful but non-musical actress (in this case, Audrey Hepburn).

Other famous vocal performances were singing for Natalie Wood in "West Side Story" and Deborah Kerr in "The King and I."

Answer: He was a prince of love in every way.

The duet is from "Gigi" and is sung by Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold. He believes they met at nine, when she says it was at eight. He thinks she wore gold, she claims her dress was blue. He remembers a brilliant sky, while she claims they had some rain.

Answer: Never

A bit of a trick question. The music is from "Camelot". During the song, Guinevere (Vanessa Redgrave) and Lancelot (Franco Nero) realize that they cannot break off their affair, even though they are betraying a man they both care for. In the words of the song: "Seeing you in summer I never would go... How I'd leave in autumn I never will know... And could I leave you running merrily through the snow? ... If ever I would leave you, How could it be in spring-time? Knowing how in spring I'm bewitched by you so? Oh, no! not in spring-time! Summer, winter or fall! No, never could I leave you at all!"

Answer: Maria

"Paint Your Wagon" describes what happens to a town after gold is discovered. A city springs up very quickly, with some wild parties. "They Call the Wind Maria" captures the loneliness of a miner living without love. According to the song, the wind is Maria (pronounced mah-rye-a). "Maria blows the stars around and sends the clouds a-flying. Maria makes the mountains sound like folks were up there dying... one day I left my girl, I left her far behind me And now I'm lost, so gone and lost Not even God can find me. Out here they got a name for rain, for wind and fire only. But when you're lost and all alone, there ain't no word but lonely."

Fire is called Joe and the rain is called Tess. "Paint Your Wagon" opened on Broadway in 1951 and was made into a film in 1969 starring Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood. "Wand'rin' Star" sung by Lee Marvin was the top single in the UK and Ireland for three weeks in March of 1970, ahead of "Let it Be" by the Beatles.

Answer: Through the heather on the hill

The song appears early in the movie "Brigadoon," after Tommy has met Fiona. The enchanted town of Brigadoon is preparing for a wedding, and Tommy suggests that the two of them go off to pick flowers for the ceremony. The song is repeated towards the end of the story, after Tommy has returned to New York. He is still in love with Fiona and dreams of being back with her. As the song says, "all I want to do is wander through the heather on the hill."

It's in "The Wiz" that the characters ease on down the road and in "Carousel" that Billy Bigelow's ghost encourages his daughter to hold her head up high as she walks through the storm.

Answer: The Little Prince

All of the answers are Lerner and Loewe musicals that are rarely performed today. "The Little Prince" musical is based on a novella written and illustrated by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. The story's essence is contained in line: "One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye." The film was the final musical written by Lerner and Loewe.

It was directed and produced by Stanley Donen, and includes Bob Fosse as The Snake and Gene Wilder as The Fox.