Sondheim & The Golden Age
The original 1970 production of Company was groundbreaking for its non-linear structure. What term describes this specific narrative style?
Concept Musical
n tick, tick... BOOM!, Jon Larson spends years writing a "rock musical" that he hopes will be his big break. What is the title of that show?
Superbia
Wicked is famously marketed as a prequel to the classic 1939 film, but is technically based on the 1995 novel by this author.
Gregory Maguire
What term refers to a secondary character, often a comedic one, who exists primarily to provide contrast to the protagonist?
Foil
Which long-running Off-Broadway musical, based on a 1960s comic strip, famously had the longest initial run in history?
The Fantasticks
Which musical was the first to feature a score by Stephen Sondheim where he served as both composer and lyricist?
A Funny Thing...
In the Heights uses this specific style of music, distinct from traditional Broadway, to reflect its Washington Heights setting.
Hip Hop/Latin/Rap
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 adapts a 70-page slice of which Russian literary epic?
War and Peace
What is the specific name for the musical motif that repeats throughout a show, often associated with a character or theme?
Leitmotif
Which Off-Broadway show, later a Broadway staple, launched the careers of both Bernadette Peters and Harvey Fierstein?
Torch Song Trilogy
In Sweeney Todd, what is the name of the operatic "patter song" Sweeney sings while preparing his razors?
Epiphany
In Dear Evan Hansen, what specific lie does Evan tell to gain social capital and a connection to the Connor Murphy family?
That he was Connor's secret best friend
The Great Gatsby musical (2024) is not the first adaptation of the novel; which 1999 musical attempt famously closed in previews?
Gatsby (by John Harbison/Murray Horwitz)
What is a "vamp" in musical theatre, and how does a conductor typically cue it during a performance?
Repeatable bars of music
This cult classic Off-Broadway show, which later became a feature film, centers on six people waiting for a bus in the late 1950s.
Bus Stop
Who was the librettist for the "Golden Age" masterpieces Carousel, The King and I, and South Pacific?
Oscar Hammerstein II
In Hadestown, which Greek god is characterized by a "low-end" bass vocal part, representing the weight of the underworld?
Hades
The Light in the Piazza adapts a 1960 novella by Elizabeth Spencer; what is the specific Italian city where the plot is set?
Florence
What does it mean for a show to have a "book-in-song" structure? Name one famous musical that utilizes this technique.
Les Misérables
Which institution, founded by Joseph Papp, is credited with bringing Hair and A Chorus Line to the public?
The Public Theatre
What is the technical name for the device used in Merrily We Roll Along to signal the passage of time backward?
The Chronological Reversal
A Strange Loop utilizes a "meta-theatrical" device where the protagonist Usher is writing a musical about writing a musical. What is the technical term for this self-referential structure?
Mise-en-abyme
Alice by Heart is set in a London Underground station during the Blitz. What is the specific name of the medical ward where the characters are quarantined?
The Isolation Ward (or T.B. Ward)
What is a "cross-fade" in lighting design, and how is it used to bridge musical numbers in a "sung-through" musical?
Simulatneous Change
This playwright’s Off-Broadway works, specifically the Regents trilogy, defined the "downtown" theatre aesthetic of the 1980s.
Eric Bogosian