Do you dream of the stage? Is your dream vacation destination a certain street in New York? If so, this musical trivia quiz is for you! Dust off your dancing shoes and get ready to seize the day!
Musical theatre is a beloved American art form, and its notoriety has spread worldwide, translating shows for foreign audiences and bringing their shows back to Broadway. Whether you’re a fan of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s megamusicals, or would rather get intimate with a small-scale show, this trivia quiz has questions for every theatre lover.
Don’t throw away your shot at getting these musical trivia questions and answers correct, and making it to the next round of callbacks. With this quiz, you’ll see your name in lights soon enough!
Can’t get enough trivia? Check out our quizzes on other musical superstars, like Hamilton, entertainment, and Disney! And if you want another way to display your theatre prowess, take a look at our Shakespeare trivia quiz!
Which musical is based on the lives of the Four Seasons members and their music?
A Chorus Line
Jersey Boys
Hello, Dolly
Altar Boys
Who sang the original soundtrack of Mamma Mia?
Oasis
Blur
The Spice Girls
ABBA
The Prodigy’s name was inspired by a type of which musical device?
Synthesiser
Guitar effects pedal
Drumstick
Drum cymbal
Which musical instrument is also another word for ‘clay’?
Lyre
Drum
Gong
Lute
Which ’90s musical is about down-and-out New Yorkers?
Rent
Chicago
Smokey Joe’s Café
Cabaret
You’re The One That I Want’ comes from which musical?
Cats
Mamma Mia
Grease
West Side Story
David Essex’s ‘Oh What A Circus’ came from which musical?
Cats
Grease
Evita
Godspell
Which musical opened in New York in October 1967?
Jesus Christ Superstar
Godspell
Hair
Les Miserables
In which musical do we hear, ‘Did someone say my name?’
Chicago
South Park
Singing in the Rain
The Wizard of Oz
Which rock opera was briefly the longest-running musical in history?
Jesus Christ Superstar
Excalibur
Sabbat
Quadrophenia
In the musical ‘Annie’, what is the name of orphan Annie’s dog?
Goldie
Sandy
Old Yella
Peter
In The Big Bang Theory, who did Penny play in the Rent musical?
Misi
Mini
Mimi
Midi
Which US rock band wrote the musical ‘American Idiot’?
Blink-182
Green Day
The Killers
Foo Fighters
Which Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical opened in 1978?
Jesus Christ Superstar
The Likes Of Us
Evita
Joseph
Which musical instrument links Eric Clapton and Brian May?
Trombone
Piccolo
Guitar
Flute
Which musical is based on the play
Annie Get Your Gun
Brigadoon
Carousel
Oklahoma!
Another Suitcase In Another Hall’ comes from which musical?
Cats
Evita
Chess
Blood Brothers
Which musical genre first emerged in the 1950s?
Jazz
Electronic
Rock-n-roll
Blues
Segovia is associated with which musical instrument?
Cello
Violin
Guitar
Flute
John Travolta in leather and slicked by hair, the classic musical is called…?
Oil
Gas
Petrol
Grease
Which musical features the song ‘Oh What A Beautiful Morning’?
Oklahoma!
Carousel
The King and I
Oliver!
Which musical term means ‘slow’?
Adagio
Bravissimo
Allegro
Largo
What is the musical comedy about McKinley High’s less cool kids?
Gee
Glee
Fee
Flee
Which of these actors starred in School of Rock?
Ben Stiller
Vince Vaughn
Jack Black
Owen Wilson
Who played the part of Che in the original production of the musical ‘Evita’?
Adam Faith
Phil Collins
Paul Nicholas
David Essex
Which musical instrument is Vanessa Mae famous for?
Violin
Harp
Piano
Drum
The song, ‘The Circle of Life’, is a song from which hit musical?
Lion King
Rent
Spamalot
Cats
Which of these is the name of a musical note?
Tremble
Shiver
Wobble
Quaver
Finish these High School Musical lyrics: ‘It’s hard to believe that I couldn’t…’
Smell
Breathe
Speak
See
I Could Be That Guy’ and ‘Lady in the Long Black Dress’ are songs from which musical?
West Side Story
Carousel
Jersey Boys
Sister Act
What type of musical instrument is a marimba?
Keyboard
Drum
Harp
Xylophone
Who wrote the music for the stage musical ‘Johnny Johnson’?
Alan Menken
Jerry Herman
Kurt Weill
Burt Bacharach
When did the rock musical ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ have its premiere?
1928
2008
1998
1908
Which of these is NOT a musical written by Rodgers and Hammerstein?
The King and I
Carousel
Pal Joey
South Pacific
Who won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 2012 for his role as Guy in ‘Once’?
Steve Kazee
Norm Lewis
Jeremy Jordan
Danny Burstein
As of 2009, which of these musicals was NOT later made into a movie?
Sweeney Todd
Rent
Oklahoma!
Spamalot
What musical instrument does Lebanese singer Assi El Hellani play?
Oud
Flute
piano
Guitar
Which musical instrument is a shallow drum with jingles?
Euphonium
Tambourine
Piccolo
Flugel
Whoopi Goldberg starred in the film version of which musical?
Oklahoma
Phantom of the Opera
Sister Act
Chicago
Musical notes are made up using how many letters?
7
8
5
6
Which of these musical instruments has strings, hammers and keys?
Flute
Tuba
Piano
Guitar
The 1980s Broadway musical ‘La Cage aux Folles’ is set in which country?
Mexico
France
China
South Africa
Which musical deals with the politics of Argentina?
Miss Saigon
Beauty and the Beast
Evita
South Pacific
What does the musical term ‘adagio’ indicate?
Slow
Short, sharp
Silent
Vigour
Which of these words can be reversed to give a musical instrument?
Rail
Abut
Doom
May
When did Haidy el-Baroudi join Egyptian Musical Professions Syndicate?
2012
2011
2013
2006
Which L holds the International Musical Eisteddfod every year?
Lisbon
Leith
Llangollen
Liverpool
Which of these musical voices is the lowest?
Tenor
Soprano
Alto
Bass
During its first 10 years, how many people have seen the stage musical ‘Mamma Mia!’?
60 million
30 million
90 million
10 million
Which musical tells the story of a singer placed in protective custody in a convent?
Sister Act
Mother Act
Brother Act
Father Act
In which musical do we hear, ‘Let’s go kick some Hunny buns! Yee-ha!’?
Aladdin
The Little Mermaid
Mulan
The Lion King
On which band’s music is the musical ‘Mamma Mia!’ based?
Rolling Stones
Queen
Abba
Beatles
Mozart wrote an opera about a which type of magical musical instrument?
Saxophone
Flute
Drums
Trumpet
In a musical capacity, what does the abbreviation ‘vc’ stand for?
Cello
Without conductor
Voice
Turn the page
Which musical instrument does Ravi Shankar play?
Guitar
Sitar
Bongo
Flute
Which London-based acid jazz group takes its name from a Native American Indian tribe and ‘Jam’, as in musical jamming?
Jamiroquai
Jamwitchita
Jamsiksiha
Jamnakoda
What high school television series revolves around a club called New Directions?
Gossip Girl
The Secret Life of the American Teenager
Glee
Fame
What musical artists real name is Stacy Ferguson?
Lil Mo
Fergie
Ciara
Pink
A ‘kit’ is an archaic type of what musical instrument?
Trumpet
Violin
Harp
Piano
Walk The Line is a film based on the life of which singer?
Elvis Presley
Roy Orbison
Johnny Cash
Frank Sinatra
In the musical ‘Charlie and Algernon’, what is kind of animal is Algernon?
Dog
Hamster
Mouse
Cat
Which of these musical instruments can have a letter added to the beginning to make another musical instrument?
Bass
Lute
Harp
Oboe
The ‘Mamma Mia’ Musical is based around the music of which band.
Queen
ABBA
The Spice Girls
The Bee Gees
Which of these is the highest-earning musical film?
Grease
Flashdance
American Graffiti
The Water Babies
What type of musical instrument is a Tambura?
Flute
Bagpipes
Piano
Mandolin
As well as piano/keyboards, what other musical instrument does Lionel Richie play?
Saxophone
Harp
Clarinet
Double bass
Starting with the earliest, put these musicals in order of opening.
Phantom of the Opera
Hairspray
Cats
Chicago
Which of these musical genres influenced the creation of rock and roll?
Hip Hop
Electronica
Blues
Heavy Metal
Spandau Ballet’s Tony Hadley landed the lead role in which stage musical?
The Sound Of Music
Cats
Joseph
Chicago
Which musical is the song Ol’ Man River from?
Hair
Fiddler on the Roof
Rent
Show Boat
Which American musical by Kander and Ebb is named after a US city?
Biloxi
New York
Charleston
Chicago
Which 1960 musical features a character who became an unwitting member of Fagin’s gang?
Tim
Joseph
Oliver
Billy
Which boulevard is the title of a musical?
Sunrise
Sunset
Sun
Sunshine
Stephane Grappelli is associated with which musical instrument?
Drums
Trumpet
Harp
Violin
The film version of which musical starred Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere, and Catherine Zeta-Jones?
Chicago
Cabaret
West Side Story
Evita
In which musical do we hear, ‘Don’t be so British!’?
Singing in the Rain
South Pacific
Mary Poppins
Cabaret
Sandi Patti is best known for which kind of musical style?
Gospel
Alternative
Jazz
Folk
I Want You Back’ and ‘ABC’ are two songs by which musical group?
The Temptations
The Monkees
Jackson 5
The Supremes
Which of these musicals started its West End run first?
Cats
Lion King
Les Miserables
Starlight Express
What musical starred John Savage as Claude who becomes friendly with a group of New York hippies?
Grease
Hair
The Gay Divorcee
South Pacific
Which musical instrument represents Ireland on the Royal Standard?
Bagpipes
Piano
Violin
Harp
Debbie Gibson played Sandy in a London theatre production of which musical?
Cats
Phantom of the Opera
Saturday Night Fever
Grease
The musical ‘Cats’ is based on the collection ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats’ of which poet?
W.B. Yates
T.S. Eliot
Ted Hughes
Bob Dylan
Who completes the musical duo K-Ci and.. ?
GeGe
CoCo
DoDo
JoJo
Which musical has the line, ‘You can’t just walk out of a drive-in’?
The Wizard of Oz
Singing in the Rain
Grease
The Sound of Music
Which musical instrument did the older Smothers Brother play?
Piano
Piano
Drums
Guitar
Howard Hewett was part of which musical threesome?
Shalamar
The Thompson Twins
Right Said Fred
Fine Young Cannibals
What modern musical instrument is based on the medieval sackbut?
Piano
Piccolo
Trombone
Harp
Which of these is a real musical?
Sister Act
Father Act
Brother Act
Mother Act
Romantic era musical composer Umberto Giordano was from which country?
United Kingdom
Italy
Germany
Bohemia
Which musical instrument is Kenny G. famous for playing?
Ukulele
Drums
Electric guitar
Saxophone
When playing musical instruments, the tones that can be played are called what?
Bells
Notes
Sheets
Wails
Which part of the Pacific is the setting for a musical?
East
West
South
North
Around which pop band’s songs is the movie Mamma Mia! based?
Queen
Abba
Duran Duran
U2
The musical ‘The King and I’ is set in what country?
Siam
Japan
Burma
Ceylon
In 2009, it was announced that a musical was to be made to tell the life story of which former Big Brother contestant?
Jade Goody
Chantelle Houghton
Kate Lawler
PJ Ellis
According to Mary Poppins, how much sugar helped the medicine go down?
A cupful
A sprinkle
A sackful
A spoonful
The ‘Eisteddfod’ is a musical festival associated with which country in the UK?
Scotland
England
Ireland
Wales
Which musical instrument did the Stradivari family build?
Violin
Clarinet
Flute
Piano
Voice tuning on a mobile app was made famous by which musical artist?
Usher
T-Pain
Chris Brown
Tupac
Which song from the 1980 musical ‘Fame’ won a Best Original Song Oscar?
Fame
Out Here On My Own
Rent
Red Light
You can do better
Not bad
Great!
