Fall Midterm - History

Question 1

Name the person about whom this quote refers: “One might say that if he hadn’t existed, the American consumer culture of the early 20th century would have had to invent him, but the reverse is probably the truer statement. In an era when New Yorkers began to enjoy leisure time, gained the ability to travel throughout the city, could promenade after dark thanks to the harnessing of electricity, and grew curious about themselves and other Americans, he offered them a glamorous playground where they could be thrilled without being offended, enlightened without being lectured, and entertained without being cheated.”

Answer 1

Florenz Ziegfeld

Question 2

Name the composer/lyricist: A reportedly ego-centric performer who starred in his own shows (which he also wrote and produced). Coming from the world vaudeville, he was proudly flag-waving in his patriotism and fast-paced in his presentation. His songs included the anthem, “Give My Regards to Broadway.”

Answer 2

George M. Cohan

Question 3

This song became the fastest-selling piece of sheet music of all time - a million copies in just a few months, making its writer into one of the 20th century’s new sensations: a celebrity songwriter. Ironically, though the song was about a genre of music of music, it was not actually written in the musical style of this genre. Give the title of the song.

Answer 3

“Alexander’s Ragtime Band”

Question 4

Same this ‘profession’: A pianist/singer who is hired to promote a song by playing it anywhere - at offices, in bars, in theatre lobbies, backstage, occasionally from the back of a truck - in hopes of getting a producer to put it in a show, or having a singer make it her (or his) own novelty number.

Answer 4

Song Plugger

Question 5

Give the last name of the 3 brothers from Syracuse who came to New York in 1900, building numerous theatres and helping to break the power of the Klaw and Erlanger theatre syndicate

Answer 5

Shubert

Question 6

Name the company that moved its headquarters in the early 20th century to a triangular patch of land of 42nd Street, bounded on either side by Broadway and 7th Ave (and it later added a building nearby on 43rd Street). To this day, the company name is till used to identify this area of New York City (mid-town Manhattan), though the company itself has moved to a building on 8th Ave.

Answer 6

The New York Times

Question 7

This subway stop is the only one out of hundreds in New York City to be names after a still-functioning commercial enterprise. Name the stop

Answer 7

Times Square

Question 8

This woman became the first “crossover” performer of the new century, eventually conquering not only Broadway, but also filmed, and most successfully radio, where she played the character of an aggressively precocious child, Baby Snooks, until she was well into her fifties. The fact that Broadway and American would have adapted such an obvious ethnic type into their hearts is an immense tribute to her talent. In the 1960’s a somewhat fictionalized biography of her life became a successful Broadway musical, largely because of the performance of Barbra Streisand. Name the performer.

Answer 8

Fanny Brice

Question 9

Name the man. He was in the FOLLIES for 5 seasons, using rope tricks and topical monologues to bring humor to the productions. By the end of the 1920’s e has a daily newspaper column which made him one of the most quotes and admired performers in American History. he often made people laugh by finding humor in current event topics. His life was musicalized in 1991 on Broadway by Cy Coleman, Betty Comden & Adolph Green, and Peter Stone. Often his quotes are surprisingly relevant to politics of today. (“America has the best politicians money can buy.” - “The Senate just sits and waits till they find out what the president wants, so they know how to vote against him.”)

Answer 9

Will Rogers

Question 10

In the team of Rodgers and Hart, one of them was A) alcoholic, unreliable, homosexual, and often melancholy; and the other was B) businesslike, diligent, focused, and a ‘conservative modernist (according to the other). Name the writer best described by the letter A.

Answer 10

Lorenz Hart

Question 11

Apart from its perpetuation of negative stereotypes, this entertainment genre contributed numerous aspects to popular entertainment: the master of ceremonies, the spoof of popular songs with humorously rewritten lyrics, cross-dressing, and probably the most durable of all, the double act (derived from the two comic ‘endmen.’), used in countless shows through the years, including THE PRODUCERS. Name the entertainment from (genre).

Answer 11

The Minstrel Show

Question 12

Like many other songwriters, George M. Cohan was a Jewish immigrant who had an extensive music background. True or False

Answer 12

False

Question 13

Which of the following professions apply to George M. Cohan: A. composer B. lyricist C. performer D. producer E. director (may have more than one answer)

Answer 13

A, B, C, D, E

Question 14

This genre was the most popular brand of musical theatre (book musical) for the first two decades of the 20th century, and saw a resurgence in the 1920’s. It featured soaring European-influenced melodies, an emphasis on romance between the leads (a tenor and soprano), with a supporting cast of incongruous vaudeville-style comedians, a large male chorus, and a happy ending. The setting was usually an exotic European country or mythic utopia or a combination of the two. Name the genre.

Answer 14

Operetta

Question 15

In the song “My Funny Valentine,” the melody is slow, lyrical and at times, almost melancholy (supported by a minor key), though the actual lyrics do not point to any unhappiness or sadness in the relationship. True or False

Answer 15

Ture

Question 16

The 1919 Irving Berlin song “A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody” became a theme of this revue series. Name the revue.

Answer 16

The 1919 Ziegfeld Follies

Question 17

Another 1919 Irving Berlin song, “You Cannot Make Your Shimmy Shake on Tea,” reflected the upcoming adoption of___________, which was to last from 1920 until 1932. Fill in the blank

Answer 17

Prohibition

Question 18

The Equity Strike of 1919 brought about a very strong reaction from one of the most famous entertainers of the early century. He vowed to fight Equity, and announced that if Equity won the strike, he would wait the theatre and run an elevator. Eddie Cantor responded, “Somebody better tell him that to run an elevator, he’d have to join a union.” He was the only actor ever allowed to be on the Broadway stage without an Equity card. Name the actor.

Answer 18

George M. Cohan

Question 19

This producer vowed to fight Equity, joining the Producing Managers’ Association, and eventually alienating stars like Eddie Cantor, W.C. Fields, and Bert Williams. Name the producer.

Answer 19

Florenz Ziegfeld

Question 20

Name the decade in which the highest number of Broadway productions were produced: 264 plays and musicals in one season alone!

Answer 20

1920’s

Question 21

Name the theatre which was built in 1921 by Irving Berlin and Sam Harris, housing revues with Berlin scores. The theatre is on 45th St in New York City, and is still in use today. It was the home of Kaufman and Hart’s ONCE IN A LIFETIME (the last part of Moss Hart’s Act One), and the new resident of the theatre is the Broadway production of DEAR EVEN HANSEN.

Answer 21

The Music Box Theatre

Question 22

The 1920’s saw the advent of three major technologies that would not only influence the qualities of American domestic life, but would reconstruct the entire organization of show business. Name these 3 innovations.

Answer 22

broadcast radio, electronic sound recording, talking pictures

Question 23

Name the song in SHOW BOAT. This song demonstrates the assimilation of African American music by white culture in America (a theme later dramatized in DREAMGIRLS”

Answer 23

“Can’t Help Lovin Dat Man”

Question 24

Cite the song title: “The broken dates, the endless waits, the lovely loving and the hateful hates, the conversation with the flying plates…. The furtive sign, the blackened eye, the words, ‘I’ll love you till the day I die, ‘the self-deception that believes the lie….’

Answer 24

“I Wish I Were In Love Again”

Question 25

Define the word ‘furtive’ in the lyric above.

Answer 25

guilty or nervous

Question 26

Cite the song title: “Someday I’m going to murder the bugler. Someday they’re going to find him dead. I’ll amputate his reveille and step upon it heavily and spend the rest of my life in bed.

Answer 26

“Oh, How I hate to Get Up In the Mornin”

Question 27

Name the revue series which followed this ‘formula’: 1) glamour (with 4 categories of ensemble ladies), 2) pace, with all elements arranged to build toward two theatrical climaxes, the first-act curtain and the spectacular finale, 3) decency and 4) spectacle.

Answer 27

Ziegfeld Follies

Question 28

Name the decade in which THE STUDENT PRINCE was originally produced on Broadway. (Interestingly, this operetta had a longer run than SHOW BOAT, in the same decade).

Answer 28

1920’s

Question 29

Name the composer of SHOW BOAT, “who was one of the first to focus on the importance of integrating the music, book and lyrics. Though he studied in Europe, he composed songs that were harmonically inventive yet accessible to American audiences. He was widely admired by all composers of the field, both during his years of writing, and long afterwards. Name the composer

Answer 29

Jerome Kern

Question 30

Define the word ‘reveille’ in the lyric cited in #26 above.

Answer 30

wake up

Question 31

Revues had a theme, holding everything together, whereas vaudeville did not. True or False

Answer 31

True

Question 32

What caused vaudeville to die?

Answer 32

talking pictures

Question 33

When did vaudeville die (approximately). A) early 20’s B) late 20’s C) late 30’s D) late 40’s

Answer 33

B. late 20’s

Question 34

Before SHOW BOAT, Oscar Hammerstein wrote most of his material for vaudeville, using many contemporary slang phrases in his writing, and writing novelty songs for comic performers who had limited vocal ranges. True and False

Answer 34

False

Question 35

“All the Things You Are” is an AABA song, with the second A in a different key, and the last A slightly altered to finish the song. True or False

Answer 35

True

Question 36

The Charleston dance, which to this day is the dance most associated with the 1920’s originally appeared in an African American revue on Broadway. True or False?

Answer 36

True

Question 37

“Tin Pan Alley” songs were not written for Broadway or for film, but were written specifically as pop songs designed to sell sheet music. True or False

Answer 37

True

Question 38

In the 1942 film YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, an actor known especially for Warner Brothers gangster films was seen filling the screen with rapid-fire dialogue and fast-paced movement. Name the actor who played George M. Cohan. Currently, a biographical musical about this actor is running off Broadway. Interestingly, his real-life sister played Cohan’s sister in the film. For the film, he studied Cohan’s movement and work with a former dancer who work with Cohan.

Answer 38

James Cagney

Question 39

With the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, women in America earned the right to vote in 1) 1910 2) 1920 3) 1930 4) 1950

Answer 39

2) 1920

Question 40

Name the performer. He was the 1920’s most ubiquitous superstar. And not only was he a superstar, he was the first to behave like one, making his private life public, throwing tantrums, using his huge paychecks to purchase an entourage, a racehorse, and all the other ‘necessities’ of stardom. He was billed as “The World’s Greatest Entertainer.” His home theatre in New York was the Winter Garden Theatre (home of SCHOOL OF ROCK), where the management had a runway built for him out into the audience, and he would run out onto the runway, sliding on his knees while singing. The audience, not used to such dynamic and close-up showmanship from a performer, would go wild!

Answer 40

Al Jolson

Question 41

Why would contemporary audiences find much of the performer’s work (in #41) to be in bad taste?

Answer 41

He performed in blackface (Al Jolson)

Question 42

In 1910 Florenz Ziegfeld took one of the greatest gambles of his career and offed a contract to an African American performer to star in his annual FOLLIES. It would be the first time a black entertainer performer as an equal with a white ensemble on Broadway. In his contract with Ziegfeld, he stipulated that he never appear alone with a white woman on stage, out of concern for his audience’s sensibilities and his own safety. In return, Ziegfeld released him from touring in the South. Name the performer.

Answer 42

Bert Williams

Question 43

Name the musical. A Score by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake. It included the song “I’m Just Wild About Harry,” which became a huge popular hit of the 20’s and returned in 1948 as Harry Truman’s presidential campaign song. According to Andre De Shields, the show introduced a kind of romantic quality about black performers that had never before allowed onstage. The show played uptown at the 63rd St Theatre, near Columbus Circle. White audiences sat in the orchestra section, but black audiences has to sit in the balcony, even though the show was written, produced, directed, and performed by African Americans. The show inspired more than a dozen new black musicals and revues on Broadway.

Answer 43

SHUFFLE ALONG

Question 44

In the song “Shine On, Harvest Moon,” why is there a comma between the word ‘on’ and the word ‘harvest’?

Answer 44

The character is commanding the subject (the moon) to shine. If there weren’t a comma, the title would be commanding something to shine on the moon. In this case the moon is receiving the direction.

Question 45

Name the production. A 1918 all-military revue with the songs by Private Irving Berlin, staged at Camp Upton, a desolate training camp among the potato fields of Long Island. It transferred to the Century Theatre on Broadway, where it was staged and performed by members of the U.S. Army, under the supervision of now Sergeant Irving Berlin. Songs included “We’re On Our Way to France” and “Mandy” (later used in the movie WHITE CHRISTMAS), and of course, “Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning.”

Answer 45

Yip! Yip! Yaphank

Question 46

What is the meaning (definition) of the phrase to “face the music”?

Answer 46

to own up/take responsibility for something you did

Question 47

In the song “Varsity Drag,” what does ‘varsity’ mean? Give the definition

Answer 47

University

Question 48

Scott Rudin produced a musical in 2016 which was a dramatized history of the musical cited in #44 above. Name the director/writer of this new musical. The show closed during the summer of 2016.

Answer 48

George C. Wolfe

Question 49

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has its roots in a popular form of musical theatre entertainment of the early 20th century. Name the genre.

Answer 49

Operetta

Question 50

In popular songs between 1890 and 1910, the repeated verse was used to tell a story while the refrain was often a sing-along chorus. True or false

Answer 50

True

Question 51

AABA song form refers to the verse, not the chorus. True or False

Answer 51

False

Question 52

The verse of a song may be of any length

Answer 52

True

Question 53

Most 32-bar songs of the early 20th century were comprised of 4 melodic units of 8 measures. True or False

Answer 53

True

Question 54

Name the Irving Berlin song: It started with a traditional, lyrical melody for 16-bars, and then changed to a syncopated “play me some rag” contemporary melody for 16-bars. After that, both sections were unexpectedly sung at the same time, fitting seamlessly together because the chords were the same for each melody.

Answer 54

“Play a Simple Melody”

Question 55

Irving Berlin was not a trained musician. True or False

Answer 55

True

Question 56

Name the producer. He was the producer of SHOW BOAT, giving the audience the same values he had offered them for 2 decades: a huge cast, comic songs and dances, black actors performing with white actors, breathtaking design, soaring music, and overwhelming spectacle. But this time the show had a story, and in fact, one with social themes.

Answer 56

Florenz Ziegfeld

Question 57

Name the musical genre. Its peak popularity was between 1895 and 1918, and its main characteristics are a treble syncopated rhythm combined with a bass line of straight-forward marching. It originated as dance music in the red-light district of African American communities in St. Louis and New Orleans, and was popularized by the African American composer Scott Joplin in such compositions as the “The Entertainer.”

Answer 57

Ragtime

Question 58

Cite the year of the original production of SHOW BOAT A) 1910 B) 1927 C) 1943 D) 1964

Answer 58

B) 1927

Question 59

Name the Kander and Ebb song in CHICAGO which used “Nobody” as inspiration

Answer 59

“Mr. Cellophane”