Questioning Songs in Stage Musicals (Part 6) Quiz

Answer: Contact

The Beach Boys recording of Bobby Freeman's 1958 hit "Do You Wanna Dance?" is featured in the Tony Award-winning dance musical "Contact", which contains almost no original songs or spoken dialogue, telling its story almost entirely through dancing set to pre-existing recordings. This story follows Michael Wiley, a successful but lonely advertising executive who becomes captivated by a mysterious woman in a bright yellow dress seen dancing at a restaurant. "Do You Wanna Dance?" occurs in the third and final act, as Michael imagines himself dancing with the Yellow Dress Woman.

Answer: Big River

"Do You Wanna Go to Heaven?" kicks off the musical "Big River" as the opening number laying the groundwork for the conflict facing the main character, Huckleberry Finn. With music and lyrics by Roger Miller, the opening scene is set in the town of St. Petersburg, Missouri, with the Widow Douglas, Miss Watson, Tom Sawyer, and Judge Thatcher, all of whom Huck is trying to escape.

The high-energy, foot-stomping, country/gospel song confronts Huck with the question of whether he will accept following society's rules, or will he rebel?

Answer: The Producers

"Have You Ever Heard the German Band?" aka "Haben Sie Gehort Das Deutsche Band?" is a comic song from Mel Brooks's Broadway musical "The Producers". The tune is performed by the character Franz Liebkind, a bombastic neo-Nazi character, as he holds auditions for the fictitious musical "Springtime for Hitler" that the producers are intending to stage. Franz rejects auditioner after auditioner, disgusted by the bad renditions of the song which he wrote. Finally, he storms onstage and shows everyone how it should be done.

Answer: Finian's Rainbow

"How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" is from the Broadway musical "Finian's Rainbow", with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by E. Y. Harburg. The Irish heroine of the story, Sharon McLonergan, sings the song early in Act I when she and her father, Finian, have just arrived in the fictional community Rainbow Valley, in the American South. Sharon is hopeful about their new life, although she is homesick for Ireland and her beloved hometown of Glocca Morra, a town which by the way doesn't actually exist, but the lyricist liked the sound of it.

Answer: Grand Hotel

"How Can I Tell Her?" is one of the closing numbers in "Grand Hotel: The Musical", the 1989 Broadway musical based on Vicki Baum's novel (and 1932 film adaptation). Robert Wright and George Forrest wrote the score, with additional songs by Maury Yeston, and a book by Luther Davis.

It's performed by Raffaela, the confidante and dresser to the aging Russian prima ballerina Elizaveta Grushinskaya, both of whom are among the guests at a 1928 Berlin hotel. In the song is the moment Raffaela confesses that she has been keeping secrets from her mistress and feels "a kind of love" for her, being deeply devoted to Elizaveta who is nearing the end of her dancing career.

Answer: The Color Purple

"What About Love?", from the 2015 Broadway musical "The Color Purple", is a sensitive, R&B duet yearningly asking the show's central question. Written by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, the song is sung by the characters Celie and Shug Avery right after their first kiss, when their relationship shifts from attraction into something deeper and more vulnerable.
Celie:
"Is that me who's floating away?
Lifted up to the clouds by a kiss,
Never felt nothin' like this."
Shug:
"Is that me I don't recognize?
Love's the one thing I knew all about,
I had it all figured out."

Answer: Kiss Me, Kate

"Where is the Life That Late I Led?" is from the Broadway musical "Kiss Me, Kate", written by Cole Porter, blending wordplay with a mock lament over the loss of bachelorhood. The song is sung by the character Fred Graham, an actor portraying Petruchio in this take-off on William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew".
"But now that a married man, at last, am I,
How aware of my dear, departed past am I.
Where is the life that late I led?
Where is it now? Totally dead.
Where is the fun I used to find?
Where has it gone? Gone with the wind."

Answer: Funny Girl

"Who Taught Her Everything?" is a duet performed in Act I by Mrs. Brice (Fanny's mother) and Eddie Ryan (a dancer and friend who helps Fanny early in her career) in the musical "Funny Girl". Fanny's career has started to blossom and she has received the news that Florenz Ziegfeld is interested in her. Mrs. Brice and Eddie realize Fanny's life is about to change dramatically, so the song is partly a comedic lament that once Fanny finds fame, she'll forget all about the people who helped her get there.
[Eddie:]
"Our work is done
She doesn't need us
She'll have cake
We'll have crumbs
Be careful of the stage door
Here she comes, here she comes
Hello, Fanny, hello"
[Mrs. Brice:]
"Hello, Fanny--it's me--Mama
What do you mean--Mama who?"

Answer: Annie

"Why Should I Change a Thing?" was not part of the original 1977 Broadway production of "Annie", but was added to the musical decades later, in 2000, now appearing in revivals of the show. The song was written by the show's original composer Charles Strouse and lyricist Martin Charnin specifically to give the character of Daddy Warbucks a new solo number, and it comes near the end of the first act. The powerful businessman who has become set in his ways, considers in this song the changes that adopting Annie would bring to his life.

"Damn! What do I know about children?
Could they just possibly be fun?
I think the thing that's most disturbing
I don't remember being one."

Answer: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

"Will You Love Me Tomorrow" is a key song in "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical", appearing four times.
1. During the song's writing, when Carole sings the song at Don Kirshner's office while pregnant, which loads her performance with extra emotion.
2. When Carole records a demo of the song.
3. When the Shirelles perform it as a hit by the girl group who made it famous.
4. Later when Carole sings it during a low point in her marriage, a reprise of the song during a tough moment in Carole and Gerry's marriage.