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Presidential Drama
The 2020 Presidential Election is right around the corner and of course, politics always come with a bit a drama. So we thought a political season quiz about Broadway, Off-Broadway and former U.S. Presidents was in order!
Important dates to know:
- October 5: Registration Deadline:
- October 13: Early Voting Begins
- October 30: Early Voting Ends
- November 3: Election Day
Presidential Theatre Quiz
1. While a president may not specifically appear in this musical, the song “President” is a defining moment of this show?
2. The song “Take Care of this House” was performed at the inauguration of Jimmy Carter. What Broadway musical is this song from?
3. Michael Friedman and Alex Timbers’ 2008 rock musical told the story of the founding of the Democratic Party by redefining this U.S. President as a rock star.
4. Franklin D. Roosevelt leads a sing-along amongst his cabinet members in this classic musical which made its Broadway debut in 1977? And what is the other president who is “thanked” in a song?
5. Which American composer and lyricist incorporated a witty song about the Kennedy dynasty entitled, “Bobby, and Jackie, and Jack,” in the musical Merrily We Roll Along?
6. What musical tells the story of the American Dream through the eyes of the individuals who have attempted to assassinate presidents as diverse as JFK and Abraham Lincoln?
7. What musical is about the creation of the Declaration of Independence, and what are the two featured characters who later became president? (It was also on track for a Broadway revival with an all-female cast before COVID shut down Broadway.)
8. Which characters in the groundbreaking musical Hamilton became president?
9. In the song “One Last Time” from Hamilton many of the lyrics are lines taken verbatim from which character’s Farewell Address?
10. Actor Bryan Cranston made his Broadway debut (and won his first Tony Award®) starring in what show about President Lyndon Baines Johnson and his fight to pass the Civil Rights Act? And what was the show’s sequel?
11. While you don’t hear him, which president is on the other end of the phone with Texas Governor Ann Richards in the Broadway production of Ann?
Quiz Answers (Don’t peek before you finish!)
1. Ragtime and the president is Teddy Roosevelt.
2. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue opened on Broadway in 1976. With music by Leonard Bernstein and Alan Jay Lerner, it closed after seven performances and was Bernstein’s last musical.
3. Andrew Jackson from Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
4. Annie is the show, and “We’d Like to Thank You Herbert Hoover” a song about the Great Depression’s despair aimed at FDR’s highly unpopular predecessor.
5. Lyrics and music Stephen Sondheim with book by George Furth. The show was first performed in 1981.
6. The Off-Broadway production of Assassins, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by John Weidman, opened in 1990.
7. 1776, which won the 1970 Tony Award® for Best Musical, featured the characters of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
8. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. John Adams was mentioned, but was not portrayed as a character.
9. George Washington
10. All the Way opened on Broadway in 2014. The sequel, The Great Society was performed on Broadway in 2019. (Both plays were later co-produced in Dallas and Houston by Center resident company Dallas Theater Center and the Alley Theatre in Houston.)
11. Bill Clinton was president while Ann Richards was governor.