Chapter 09

The Musical Theatre

Name:_______________________

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Is musical theatre a form of antirealist theatre similar to expressionism and theatre of the
absurd?
A. Yes, because major writers of musicals produced impassioned manifestos in their program
notes.
B. No, because musical theatre, while seemingly antirealist, does not derive from a rebellion
against verisimilitude but has aesthetics unique to its own performance.
C. No, because musical theatre belongs to the tradition of realism in representation, especially
in terms of emotional depth and precise character development.
D. Yes, because the antirealist traditions shared common playwrights, common playing
spaces, and common politics.
2. Which of the following is NOT an example of the tradition of music in the theatre?
A. Classic Greek tragedy that utilized singing and dance accompanied by flutes and other instruments
B. The twenty-five of thirty-eight of Shakespeare's plays that contain at least some singing
C. The musical masques (dance-dramas) that English dramatist Ben Jonson wrote for the
court of King James I
D. The Medieval Portuguese drama subgenre known as "musical tragedy".
3. Which city remains the international capital of the world's musical theatre?
A. London
B. Sydney
C. New York
D. Toronto
4. What percent of Broadway box office revenue comes from musicals?
A. 60
B. 35
C. 25
D. 80

5. When did musical theatre begin to evolve as a specific genre of its own?
A. at the end of the Restoration
B. over the past 150 years of western dramatic history
C. in the middle ages, when the theatre moved away from the church steps
D. at the end of the Roman empire when the capital moved to Constantinople
6. All of the following genres contributed to the growth of musical theatre except
A. boulevard theatre.
B. light opera.
C. ballet.
D. American minstrel shows.
7. The American Broadway musical dates back to
A. the staging of The Black Crook, a melodrama, at Niblo's Garden in New York City in 1866
when a French dance company stranded in the city was added to the show.
B. the staging of Bob Cole's 1898 A Trip to Coontown, which mixed elements of AfricanAmerican dance with European musical traditions.
C. the late nineteenth century, when British musicals, such as Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of
Penzance, gained popularity in America.
D. 1905, when Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, adapted for the stage, was performed in New
Orleans in a production that featured improvisations by the actors.
8. Which full-length black musical comedy challenged the old custom of white actors' "blacking up", was written and performed by African Americans (some in white face), and employed
the emerging ragtime musical syncopations of early black revues?
A. Bob Cole's A Trip to Coontown (1898)
B. Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland (1903)
C. George M. Cohan's Little Johnnie Jones (1904)
D. J. Leubrie Hill's Darktown Follies of 1914
9. Which of the following statements correctly characterizes the major development of the
musical form in roughly the first third (1900-1920) of the twentieth century?
A. It marked the age of the great musical comedy.
B. It marked the age of the musical drama.
C. It marked the age of the contemporary opera.
D. It marked the decline of the musical.

10. Which works exemplify a genre characterized by a simple plot, a cast composed strictly of
romantic and comedic characters, a wholly unchallenging theme, the presentation of scantilyclad women, and abundant singing and dancing, all with little connection to the plot?
A. Threepenny Opera, The Ghost Sonata, and The Dream Play
B. Orpheus in the Underworld, The Merry Widow, and Naughty Marietta
C. Pal Joey, Sweeney Todd, and Bubbling Brown Sugar
D. Anything Goes, Funny Face, and A Connecticut Yankee
11. Which genre, introduced in the golden age of the musical, is characterized by increasingly
serious plots and sophisticated musical treatments?
A. musical tragedy
B. musical melodrama
C. musical drama
D. musical revue
12. Which musical (book by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II), adapted from a
gritty novel by Edna Ferber, uses music and dancing to carry its complex plot, touches significantly on race relations in America, and contains the famous aria "Ol' Man River"?
A. Shuffle Along
B. Show Boat
C. Darktown Follies
D. Pal Joey
13. Which of the following musicals retells the story of Romeo and Juliet with a contemporary Polish American as Romeo and a contemporary Puerto Rican American as Juliet?
A. Fiddler on the Roof
B. On the Town
C. West Side Story
D. Guys and Dolls

14. Which artist (b. 1930), credited with changing the face of the American musical, developed a new style featuring disturbing plots, an ironic tone, and sophisticated, intricately
rhymed lyrics?
A. Stephen Sondheim
B. Graham Wilson
C. Peter Brook
D. Peter Shaffer

15. Who raised dance to a new level of prominence when he developed a new choreographic
stylequick, jerky moves that suddenly segue to slow, sinuous come-ons; bumps and grinds;
costumes of white gloves and black bowler hatsin a series of musicals that he directed and
choreographed, among them Dancin' and Chicago?
A. Tommy Tune
B. Rudolf Nuryev
C. Michael Bennett
D. Bob Fosse
16. Which of the following musicals does NOT explore race and/or ethnic relations?
A. George C. Wolfe's Jelly's Last Jam
B. Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific
C. Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori's Caroline, or Change
D. Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun
17. Which of the following musicals was conceived and directed by George C. Wolfe, choreographed by Savion Glover, and offers a capsule history of racial injustice in America?
A. Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk
B. Dreamgirls
C. Hair
D. Rent
18. Which production introduced full frontal nudity to the musical form?
A. Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk
B. Dreamgirls
C. Hair
D. Rent
19. Which lyricist said that he barely dared "place a timid encroaching foot on the territory" of
the "masters" and instead sought to write "a more primitive type of lyric expressing my own
true convictions and feelings," among them the following famous words from Oklahoma!:
Oh, what a beautiful morning! Oh, what a beautiful day!"
A. Jerome Kern
B. W. S. Gilbert
C. Oscar Hammerstein II
D. Stephen Sondheim

20. Which lyricist for Rent brought a rock and rap beat to the show's music, along with a
script and staging derived from cast improvisations?
A. Savion Glover
B. Jonathan Larson
C. Karl Rogers
D. Ice-T
21. Which winner of the 1998 Tony Award for the best musical, directed by avant-garde
director-designer Julie Taymor, has become the highest-grossing Broadway play of all time?
A. The Lion King
B. Cats
C. Jellie's Last Jam
D. The African Queen
22. Thematically speaking, the trend for musicals in the twenty-first century has been toward
the
A. serious, cynical, and even grim.
B. comedic yet politically engaged.
C. splashy, spectacular, and purely entertaining.
D. chamber musical that requires only a few performers and minimal sets.
23. Which of the following is NOT a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber?
A. Jesus Christ Superstar
B. Cats
C. Evita
D. Miss Saigon
24. The musical that Susan Stroman recently directed, which sensitively dealt with cultural
and racial divisions and used a simple set design, is
A. Avenue Q.
B. Contact.
C. The Scottsboro Boys.
D. Caroline, or Change.
25. This award-winning and hugely popular musical, from the creators of TV's South Park,
mixes scandalous satire with joyous comedy?
A. Sweeney Todd
B. Les Misrables
C. The Book of Mormon
D. Rent