Penguin Classics PenguinClassics RSS

As the new musical version of The Woman in White opens in London's West End, take our quiz to find out if you know any more than just the bare necessities about classics-inspired musicals.

1) Which actor played the part of Jacob Marley in the 1970 musical Scrooge, which also starred Albert Finney in the title role?
Alec Guinness

Harry Secombe

Kenneth More

Michael Caine

2) The musical West Side Story is inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Which character from the original play is the drugstore owner Doc based on?
Mercutio

Friar Laurence

Balthasar

Tybalt

3) In what year did the musical Les Miserables open in London's West End?
1982

1985

1987

1990

4) There is a main character from Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist who dies at the end of the book, but remains alive at the end of the musical film Oliver. Who is it?
Oliver Twist

Nancy

Fagin

Bill Sykes

5) The musical Kiss Me Kate takes its story from which Shakespeare play?
The Comedy of Errors

All's Well That Ends Well

Twelfth Night

The Taming of the Shrew

6) Who wrote the short story that inspired Gentleman Prefer Blondes, the musical directed by Howard Hawks and starring Marilyn Monroe?
Truman Capote

Anita Loos

Damon Runyon

Virginia Woolf

7) Who played the leading role in the UK stage version of Tim Rice and John Farrar's musical Heathcliff?
Jason Donovan

Cliff Richard

Shane Ritchie

Robbie Williams

8) What is unusual about Mowgli, the boy from Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book stories?
He has been brought up by wolves

He is half-man/half-wolf

He can turn people into animals

He becomes invisible when he is in the jungle

9) In the film My Fair Lady, the musical version of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, Audrey Hepburn plays the role of Eliza Dolittle. But which actress provided the singing voice for the role?
Natalie Wood

Jane Russell

Debbie Reynolds

Marni Nixon

10) What is the profession of Walter Hartright, the hero of The Woman in White?
A butler

A drawing teacher

A tailor

A pianist

submit
Send this page to a friend Send this page to a friend