Guild My Regards To Broadway Trivia Quiz

Answer: There is Nothing Like a Dame

The eight television presenters showing a new side to their personalities were Michael Aspel (British journalist and former presenter of 'The Antiques Roadshow'), Richard Whitmore (former anchorman for the Nine O' Clock News and actor), Eddie Waring (late commentator of Rugby League for the BBC), Michael Parkinson (former journalist and chat show host), Barry Norman (former radio presenter, journalist and influential film critic), Frank Bough (former sports presenter and breakfast TV pioneer) and Richard Baker (broadcaster and classical music presenter). Dressed in traditional sailors' whites, they 'apparently' performed wonderful acrobatics, and the late Peter Woods (newscaster) came on last to perform the iconic last line.

Interestingly, Eddie Waring, Michael Parkinson and Frank Bough had also performed on the 'Morecambe and Wise' 1971 Christmas special, performing in a Fred and Ginger number. (Contributed by Quiz_Beagle)

Answer: The New Moon

The tumultuous audience reaction to a City Center Encores! revival of "The New Moon" in March 2003 took place as the world debated possible war with Iraq. The cast was completely surprised by the spontaneous outburst which occurred during each of the five performances.

The original production of "The New Moon" opened in 1928 at the Imperial Theater and ran for 519 performances. Songs such as "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise," "Lover, Come Back to Me," "One Kiss," "Marianne," "Wanting You" and "Stouthearted Men," remain part and parcel of classic Broadway repertoire.

"The New Moon" has been adapted twice to the silver screen by MGM; in 1930 (Lawrence Tibbett, Grace Moore, Adolphe Menjou) and again in 1940 (Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy).

As recently as September 2008, "Lover, Come Back to Me" was featured as a dance number on "Dancing with the Stars" in the United States.
(Contributed by SocalMiguel)

Answer: Jesus Christ Superstar

The song was called 'Jesus Christ S.R.O.' (standing room only):

"Jesus, you're making it big on Broadway
Gosh it's good to see your name in lights
Singin' them rock and roll songs, by golly
Betcha you learned them from Buddy Holly
Betcha you kept the heavenly choir up late at night
(Pickin' up a back beat)

Jesus, you're S.R.O. on Broadway
Told us you'd be back and what do you know?
AWOPBOPALOOBOPAWOPBAMBOOM
Rolled the stone back from the tomb
And out came Jesus, starring in a Broadway show.

Jesus, we needed you here on Broadway
Business wasn't so good 'til you came through
Cecil DeMille did a bundle with you
But he never knew that you could boogaloo
Now let me tell you what we're going to do for you
(We'll put you on a T-shirt)..."

Originally a rock opera music production with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, 'Jesus Christ Superstar' first played on Broadway in 1971. Many Christians were deeply offended by the manner in which Jesus was portrayed. The original Broadway show ran for 18 months. There were revivals in 1977 and 2000 on Broadway, and there have been productions in places as diverse as Iceland (2008), Budapest (1971) and South Korea (2007).
(Contributed by Darksplash)

Answer: Stephen Sondheim

Sondheim had actually gotten as far as completing the first scene of the show when he had a conversation with director Billy Wilder. Wilder insisted that "Sunset Boulevard" couldn't possibly be made into a musical; it could only be made into an opera. "After all..." Wilder argued "...it's about a dethroned queen." Sondheim agreed and abandoned the project, which suffered a further blow with the death of actress/singer Jeanette McDonald from heart failure in 1965. Prince later tried unsuccessfully to interest Sondheim in a film musical version starring Angela Lansbury, which never came about. It was in 1976 that Prince approached Andrew Lloyd Webber who, as it happened, had already written the song "As if We Never Said Goodbye" as a "theme song" for the film, which he had seen for the first time some six years earlier. The rest, as they say, is history.

Since Sondheim would later write "Sweeney Todd", which is generally considered to be more of an opera than a musical (and which Sondheim himself describes as a "folk-opera"), one can only guess what he would have made of "Sunset Boulevard" had he chosen to do so.
(Contributed by jouen58)

Answer: Joseph

"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" was written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. It began its West End run at the Albery Theatre in 1973. The first American production was in May 1970. There have been many famous "Josephs" on stage - Aled Jones, Jason Donovan and Phillip Schofield to name a few. Donny Osmond starred in the video version of the show. It is a popular musical to stage at schools, as there are plenty of characters as well as a choir.
(Contributed by JaneMarple)

Answer: Jerry Springer - The Opera

The stage musical satire, written by comedian Stewart Lee and musician Richard Thomas, was a surprise success when it opened in London in 2003, running for nearly two years. Thomas received an Olivier award for his score in 2004 and the show won Best Musical.

The plot of the show is one that was always likely to cause a degree of controversy and outrage; Jerry Springer is shot by one of his guests after a particularly heated argument of the type that Springer's show was infamous for. The Devil takes Springer to Hell and gets him to present a show from there with guests including Jesus, who admits he is "a bit gay", Mary, Adam, Eve and a special appearance by God himself.

There was also considerable use of four-letter words - often sung by the chorus. British newspaper "The Sun" claimed that there were a total of over 3,000 utterances of a particularly profane four-letter word in the two hour show; an average of 25 per minute. Stewart Lee, after counting the swear words on his word processor, claimed that this number was a huge exaggeration and the show contained "far less [swear words] than in 'Reservoir Dogs'".

The announcement that the musical was to be screened on the BBC in 2005 prompted an orchestrated campaign by Christian groups in an attempt to force the BBC to change its plans. A reported 63,000 complaints were received, the vast majority prior to broadcast and many from people who had never seen the show, objecting to the profanity and the perceived blasphemy. The number of complaints dwarfed the previous record, held by Martin Scorsese's film, "The Last Temptation of Christ" which prompted a mere 1,500 complaints.

Jerry Springer was delighted by the show admitting, "I only wish I'd thought of it first".
(Contributed by Snowman)

Answer: A painting of a derriere by Trouille

Trouille painted a rear view of a voluptuous nude model and called the painting 'Oh! Calcutta!' - a pun in French - "oh quel cul t'as" means "oh what a lovely derriere you have". Bob Clive was an 18th century British soldier who spent his early years subjugating masses of Bengalis and amassing an enormous personal fortune along with the land, titles and positions that go with it; then in the autumn of his career, he felt bad about it all and took his life with a pen knife.

In their 1991 study "Factors of Production in a Regulated Industry: New York Taxi Drivers and the Price for Better Service", Bruce Schaller and Gorman Gilbert found that "cab drivers form a virtual United Nations of countries and languages" including "over 4 in 10 born on the Indian subcontinent". Agnes Bojaxhiu was indeed a servant of the poorest of the poor in Kolkata (as the natives call it), but there is little evidence to believe that Mother Teresa's fervent prayers for mercy and justice inspired Tynan's sordid romp. (Contributed by Sidnobls)

Answer: Glinda, the Good Witch of the North

In "Wicked", Elphaba (named after L. Frank Baum, the writer of "The Wizard of Oz") is the polar opposite of her college roommate Glinda--she is brilliant but ugly (the green skin is hard to ignore), while Glinda is cute but a bit of an airhead. They take an immediate dislike for each other, but eventually various events cause them to develop a friendship, with Glinda attempting to make Elphaba popular and Elphaba attempting to make Glinda a competent sorcery student. All the while, we see how Glinda's bumbling results in the creation of the tin man, the scarecrow, and the cowardly lion, with Elphaba taking the blame in each case. And finally, we see the conclusion that shows that nothing in Oz is as it seems, even to those who know the original story. (Contributed by Eauhomme)

Answer: Mary Martin

Mary Martin (1913-1990) was the mother of Larry Hagman in real life, although her career came after his birth and he remained with his father. She received awards for her roles in 'South Pacific' and 'The Sound of Music' in which she played Maria. Born in Texas, Mary was quite a tomboy, which must have come in handy for her role as Peter Pan, which many of my generation remembered. I recall wondering how come a lady was playing a boy! Married to her first husband at seventeen, Hagman's father, she soon longed to continue her career and left. The song 'My Heart Belongs to Daddy' seems to have worked for both Martin and Monroe.
Werner Klemperer is of course 'Colonel Klink' of 'Hogan's Heroes' fame, but appeared in one Broadway version of 'the Sound of Music'. Hardcore fans will know that his father was a famous conductor. Jon Voight also appeared in a version of 'The Sound of Music'.
(Contributed by Bruyere)

Answer: "Porgy and Bess" has been performed in indigenous African languages, helping gain recognition for those languages and the people who speak them.

And to anyone who says that "Porgy and Bess" is derogatory to blacks because of the way it portrays them in the plot, I say - and this never happens in operas about white people? Come on! We have murder (Mozart's "Don Giovanni"), promiscuity (Bizet's "Carmen"), rape (Puccini's "Tosca"), gullible poor people (Donizetti's "The Elixer of Love") and drugs (Hans Werner Henze's "Boulevard Solitude"). These plot devices have been staples of opera plots as long as opera has existed!
(Contributed by pu2-ke-qi-ri)
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