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Fantasticks Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
Fantasticks Quizzes, Trivia

Fantasticks Trivia

Fantasticks Trivia Quizzes

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"Try to Remember" is recognised as the world's longest-running musical - the original production ran from 1960 to 2002. The original off-Broadway cast included a 25-year old Jerry Orbach (familiar to television audiences from his later work as Lennie Briscoe on "Law and Order", and one of Jessica Fletcher's less reputable associates in "Murder She Wrote") as El Gallo.
4 Fantasticks quizzes and 45 Fantasticks trivia questions.
1.
  The Fantasticks   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Here's a quiz about the longest-running musical in New York theatre history. Enjoy!
Average, 10 Qns, djsgal, Oct 29 11
Average
djsgal
260 plays
2.
  "The Fantasticks"    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
No Broadway aficionado should be without knowledge of this sweet, much loved show, "The Fantasticks".
Average, 10 Qns, amaranita, Nov 02 11
Average
amaranita
130 plays
3.
  Do You Know "The Fantasticks"?    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
One of my all-time favorite musicals, how much do you know about this beloved show?
Average, 10 Qns, russellpatriot, Jun 16 17
Average
russellpatriot
86 plays
4.
  Try To Remember "The Fantasticks"    
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
"The Fantasticks" is one of the longest running musicals in the world. Can you answer questions about the lyrics and the plot? (This quiz contains spoilers!)
Average, 15 Qns, anthonyrappfan, Oct 29 11
Average
anthonyrappfan
284 plays
trivia question Quick Question
Finish the lyric: "Try to remember..."

From Quiz "Do You Know "The Fantasticks"?"





Fantasticks Trivia Questions
1. Who played El Gallo in the original Off-Broadway cast of "The Fantasticks"?

From Quiz Do You Know "The Fantasticks"?

Answer: Jerry Orbach

Jerry Orbach was born Jerome Bernard Orbach on October 20th, 1935. He was the consummate performer, making his mark on Broadway, film, and TV. He is best known as Detective Lennie Briscoe on "Law and Order". Jerry died on December 28th, 2004 at the age of 69. The lights of the Broadway marquees were dimmed after news of his passing.

2. "The Fantasticks" opened in NYC in what year?

From Quiz "The Fantasticks"

Answer: 1960

The show's original off-Broadway production opened on May 3, 1960 and ran for 42 years with 17,162 performances, making it the world's longest-running musical when it closed in 2002.

3. What year did the The Fantasticks open in New York City?

From Quiz The Fantasticks

Answer: 1960

The Fantasticks ran in New York City for 40 years.

4. Matt and Luisa are two young people who are madly in love. What stops them from being married?

From Quiz Try To Remember "The Fantasticks"

Answer: Their parents don't like each other

The fathers, Hucklebee and Bellomy, are actually best friends. They pretend to feud only to get the younger couple to fall in love.

5. Finish the lyric: "Try to remember..."

From Quiz Do You Know "The Fantasticks"?

Answer: "The kind of September"

"When life was slow and oh so mellow." The song "Try to Remember" is the first song in the show, inviting the audience to exercise their imaginations as they watch the performance on a stage with minimalist sets.

6. Who created the role of El Gallo in the original NY production of "The Fantasticks"?

From Quiz "The Fantasticks"

Answer: Jerry Orbach

Jerry Orbach is now probably more widely known for his role as Lennie Briscoe on TV in "Law And Order". But he had many starring roles on Broadway. He played the leads in "42nd Street", "Promises Promises", and "Chicago", and many more. Joel Grey and Bert Convey were both in the original production of "Cabaret" on Broadway, and Howard Keel was a star of many movie musicals in the 1950s.

7. What well-known film and TV actor played the role of El Gallo in the original Fantasticks cast? (hint: think "Dirty Dancing")

From Quiz The Fantasticks

Answer: Jerry Orbach

Jerry Orbach played several leading male roles on Broadway, including "Carnival" and "Chicago" before his roles in movies and TV.

8. According to Luisa, which color did her hair turn as she was brushing it?

From Quiz Try To Remember "The Fantasticks"

Answer: Mauve

Of course this didn't actually happen, but Luisa says many things throughout the show that makes her sanity questionable. But doesn't love make fools of us all?

9. What are the names of the two fathers in "The Fantasticks"?

From Quiz Do You Know "The Fantasticks"?

Answer: Bellomy and Hucklebee

These two "feuding" fathers are actually best friends; they are trying to make their children fall in love.

10. "The Fantasticks" played in which NY theater?

From Quiz "The Fantasticks"

Answer: Sullivan Street Playhouse

Sullivan St. Playhouse is a small 150 seat off-Broadway theater in Greenwich Village, NY.

11. Which month should we "try to remember" in the song of the same name?

From Quiz The Fantasticks

Answer: September

"...when grass was green, and grain was yellow"

12. What happened in Luisa's dream?

From Quiz Try To Remember "The Fantasticks"

Answer: She was abducted by bandits

Oddly enough, her dream comes true later in Act One, when El Gallo, Henry and Mortimer attempt to kidnap her.

13. What song do Louisa and Matt sing when they realize that all they ever wanted was each other?

From Quiz Do You Know "The Fantasticks"?

Answer: They Were You

"I saw shining lights, but I never knew; they were you, they were you, they were you...". This song is performed near the end of the show, after El Gallo has abandoned Luisa.

14. How many people are in the cast of "The Fantasticks"?

From Quiz "The Fantasticks"

Answer: 8

Originally there were 9 parts. The role of the Handyman was written out of the play.

15. Finish this verse from "Metaphor": "If I were in a desert deep in sand, and the sun was burning like a hot ________."

From Quiz The Fantasticks

Answer: pomegranate

"...Then you are WATER...cool, clear WATER...a refreshing glass of WATER... What, Dear?.... WATER!"

16. The parents are pleased because Matt and Luisa are obviously in love. How do they choose to end their fake feud?

From Quiz Try To Remember "The Fantasticks"

Answer: Stage an abduction where Matt saves Luisa

Hucklebee and Bellomy decide to end the feud in grand style, hiring El Gallo to fake an elaborate kidnapping and allowing Matt to save her. El Gallo sings about the various kinds of kidnappings he can pull off in the song "It Depends on What You Pay".

17. What song caused controversy with its use of the word "rape" in he lyrics?

From Quiz Do You Know "The Fantasticks"?

Answer: It Depends on What You Pay

The use of the word was in the sense of a kidnapping or abduction. In later versions of the show, the song was rewritten to say "raid" or "abduction" instead.

18. What word is missing from these verses? "We've the obvious, open, schoolboy __________, With little mandolins, and perhaps a cape"

From Quiz The Fantasticks

Answer: rape

"Now I know you prefer 'abduction', but the proper word is, 'Rape'! It's short and business-like!"

19. El Gallo enlists the help of two old actors: Henry and Mortimer. Henry is an old Shakespearean actor and Mortime specializes in faking his death in gory ways. What is Henry's last name?

From Quiz Try To Remember "The Fantasticks"

Answer: Albertson

"I'm Henry Albertson. Perhaps you recall my Hamlet?" says Henry as he introduces himself to El Gallo towards the end of Act One. Later in Act Two Henry and Mortimer kidnap Matt and savagely beat him.

20. What characters on "The Fantasticks" sing "I Can See It"?

From Quiz Do You Know "The Fantasticks"?

Answer: El Gallo and Matt

In the original cast, Jerry Orbach portrayed El Gallo, and Kenneth Nelson portrayed Matt. In this song, El Gallo is encouraging Matt to pursue his vision of a more exciting life in the big world outside his provincial home.

21. What is the song from "The Fantasticks" that became a standard?

From Quiz "The Fantasticks"

Answer: "Try To Remember"

Harry Belafonte recorded "Try To Remember" many different times. "Somewhere" is from the musical "West Side Story". "Where Is Love" is from "Oliver". You can hear "For Me And My Gal" in the movie of the same name, "For Me And My Gal", which starred Judy Garland and Gene Kelly in his movie debut.

22. After the boy rescues the girl from the fake abduction, all seems perfect...until the sun comes out and everything is different. What fruit is "too ripe" for the boy now?

From Quiz The Fantasticks

Answer: plum

"Take away the golden moonbeams. Take away the crystal sky. What at night seems oh-so scenic, may be cynic, by and by."

23. In the opening number of Act Two, what does Matt request of Luisa?

From Quiz Try To Remember "The Fantasticks"

Answer: To not watch him while he's eating

In "This Plum Is Too Ripe", Matt, Luisa, Hucklebee and Bellomy realize that their utopian lifestyle may not be exactly all it is cracked up to be. Luisa comments that Matt looks different in the sunlight, while the fathers invade each other's gardens.

24. During what "rape" would El Gallo play "Valkyrie" on the bass bassoon?

From Quiz Do You Know "The Fantasticks"?

Answer: The Gothic rape

El Gallo offers the fathers a menu of types of "rape" from which to choose, briefly describing what each involves. The two fathers agree that their children are worth the expense of a first-class "rape" scene in order to make them fall in love with each other.

25. Which team wrote "The Fantasticks"?

From Quiz "The Fantasticks"

Answer: Schmidt and Jones

Tom Jones, the show's librettist (not the Welsh pop singer) also performed the role of the Old Actor, Henry, in the original production, under an assumed named. The team of Schmidt and Jones also wrote the musicals "I Do, I Do", "110 In The Shade" and "Celebration".

26. The two fathers make peace after their disagreement, and they sing about how difficult it is to raise children. What kind of a man do they agree is a "very happy man"?

From Quiz The Fantasticks

Answer: a man who plants a garden

"Plant a carrot, get a carrot, not a brussel sprout! That's why I like vegetables, you know what you're about!"

27. Which duo sings "I Can See It"?

From Quiz Try To Remember "The Fantasticks"

Answer: Matt and El Gallo

"I Can See It" is a duet between Matt and El Gallo. Matt sings of the idealized world he is setting out to see and El Gallo counters him, singing about the world he'll encounter.

28. Who wrote the music and the lyrics for "The Fantasticks"?

From Quiz Do You Know "The Fantasticks"?

Answer: Tom Jones

No, not THAT Tom Jones - this one was born in Texas in 1928. He played Henry (the Old Actor) in the original cast, using a pseudonym. The instrumentation for this musical contains only three parts: a piano, a harp, and percussion.

29. While Matt is away, El Gallo seduces Luisa. While telling her about his adventures as a bandit, he brings up horseriding. Why did he eventually stop riding a horse?

From Quiz Try To Remember "The Fantasticks"

Answer: Because he got saddle rash

El Gallo forsook horses when he got a very painful case of saddle rash. This exchange occurs shortly before the waltz "Round and Round".

30. How old is Louisa when the musical starts?

From Quiz Do You Know "The Fantasticks"?

Answer: 16

Louisa states her age at the start of the song "Much More", in which she describes how eager she is to feel less like an inexperienced child. "Just once before I'm old. I'd like to be not evil, But a little worldly wise."

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