Broadway is an iconic and exciting aspect of the American performing arts scene. From classic musicals to cutting-edge plays, Broadway productions have captivated audiences and pushed the boundaries of theater for generations. Trivia questions about Broadway can provide a fun and engaging way to test your knowledge and deepen your appreciation for this dynamic and diverse world.
Whether you're a seasoned theater-goer or just starting to explore the world of Broadway, Broadway trivia questions offer a glimpse into the rich history and culture of this vibrant and exciting industry. From the classic shows and performers to the behind-the-scenes details of production and performance, these questions can challenge you on your knowledge of Broadway history, culture, and art.
45 Broadway Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- A deal is made to make Washington, DC the nation's new capital in "The Room Where It Happens," a song in what smash hit Broadway musical?
Answer: Hamilton
- In 1983, Prince recorded "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy" for a bestselling 1984 album, and Alice Walker became the first Black woman to win a literature Pulitzer for a novel that inspired a Whoopi Goldberg movie and Broadway musical. Walker's novel and Prince's album both name-dropped what regal color?
Answer: Purple
- Talk about a circle of life! Rafiki hoisted a fuzzy baby one more time as what movie musical-turned-musical musical took home six Tony Awards in 1998?
Answer: The Lion King
- Known as the hottest ticket on Broadway for years after its 2015 debut, what is the name of the musical penned by Lin-Manuel Miranda that was loosely based on a biography written by Ron Chernow?
Answer: Hamilton
- One of Broadway's longest-running musicals, what Jonathan Larson show with a four-letter title featured characters singing about how they couldn't afford to pay their New York City landlord?
Answer: Rent
- Billing itself as a "farm-to-fable" musical, the wildly popular new Broadway show "Shucked" is about farmers raising what staple crop?
Answer: Corn
- What lyricist and composer who died in 2021 has a Broadway theater named for him? The theater was named for him in 2010, on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
Answer: Stephen Sondheim
- Named for a major Midwestern city, what long-running Broadway musical features songs like "All That Jazz," "Cell Block Tango," and "Mr. Cellophane?"
Answer: Chicago
- What classic Leonard Bernstein Broadway musical re-envisioned Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" in the world of white and Puerto Rican gangs fighting in New York City?
Answer: West Side Story
- The title character and his comrade in arms, Lafayette, tell the story of the Battle of Yorktown in "Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)," a rousing number in what hit Broadway musical?
Answer: Hamilton
- What classic Broadway musical, adapted for film in 1961 and again in 2021, features warring New York City gangs known as the Jets and the Sharks?
Answer: West Side Story
- Referring to then-future president John Adams, the songs "Sit Down, John" and "But, Mr. Adams" come from what Broadway musical named for an important year in American history?
Answer: 1776
- With over 10,000 performances, what spooky performance is the longest running show in Broadway history?
Answer: Phantom of the Opera
- If you had tickets to the Off-Broadway venue The Public Theater for a preview performance on January 20, 2015, you'd be schedule to see what musical which later won 11 Tonys?
Answer: Hamilton
- Harold Hill sings, "I love you madly, madly, Madam Librarian, Marian" in the song "Marian the Librarian," in what classic and alliteratively titled Broadway musical?
Answer: The Music Man
- What 2004 smash-hit teen comedy movie opened as a musical on Broadway in Spring 2018? The Hollywood Reporter noted in its review that one character changed from an "imperious arbiter of high school hotness to full-blown arch villainess."
Answer: Mean Girls
- Born in Sacramento, Adrienne Barbeau became famous for her role in the Broadway Musical “Grease” playing which character?
Answer: Rizzo
- The 1932 election of FDR over Herbert Hoover serves as the backdrop to what 1977 Broadway musical that sees the orphaned protagonist actually meeting Roosevelt during Act II?
Answer: Annie
- The smash Broadway hit "Hamilton" is staged in a theater named for what legendary songwriting partner of Oscar Hammerstein?
Answer: Richard Rodgers
- Running on Broadway from 2005 to 2017, what musical tells the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and features songs like "Sherry" and "Big Girls Don't Cry?"
Answer: Jersey Boys
- All featuring in the new Broadway jukebox musical "& Juliet", the songs "Stronger", "Overprotected", and "...Baby One More Time", were all originally performed by which pop star and icon of the 1990s?
Answer: Britney Spears
- "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain" is a famous lyric from what classic Broadway musical by Lerner and Loewe?
Answer: My Fair Lady
- 1967 Film > 2001 Musical > 2005 Film. The two men who served in the title role IRL for the film were Mel Brooks and Jonathan Sanger. However, it was Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick who formed “Bialystock & Bloom” to play the roles in what movie that gave us the classics “Keep it Gay” and “Springtime for Hitler?”
Answer: The Producers
- "There's No Business Like Show Business" is a song written by Irving Berlin for what classic Broadway musical about the life of sharpshooter Annie Oakley?
Answer: Annie Get Your Gun
- Debuting in London's West End in 1986 and on Broadway in 1988, what Andrew Lloyd Webber musical features the songs "All I Ask of You" and "The Music of the Night?"
Answer: The Phantom of the Opera
- What 1959 Broadway musical is based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea?"
Answer: Once Upon a Mattress
- After seeing her on Broadway, Walt Disney wanted to cast Julie Andrews in his next live-action film. Not only was it Andrews’ first movie, but she went on to get her first Academy Award nomination—and Oscar win—for the role. What was the name of the 1964 film?
Answer: Mary Poppins
- Inspired by Alanis Morissette's 1995 album of the same name, what Broadway show closed on December 17, 2021, after winning both two Tony Awards and the 2021 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album?
Answer: Jagged Little Pill
- Although John Williams is known for writing original film scores, he also won an Oscar for adapting the score in the 1971 film version of what Broadway musical that's set in a shtetl?
Answer: Fiddler on the Roof
- Without a U, it's a tree of the willow family. With a U in the middle, it's a song sung by Glinda in the Broadway show "Wicked." What are the two words?
Answer: Poplar and Popular
- Played by Frank Sinatra in a film version, Nathan Detroit is a gambling boss in what classic 1950s Broadway musical?
Answer: Guys and Dolls
- A 2012 Adam Shankman movie adaptation of an 80s themed Broadway musical, about an aspiring singer falling in love with a bar employee, shares its name with what 1983 Def Leppard song where the titular period is still rolling?
Answer: Rock Of Ages
- What famous Nebraskan got his start in show business dancing with his sister Adele? After working in vaudeville, they first performed on Broadway in 1917. He later had an extensive film career.
Answer: Fred Astaire
- The antics of sailors who have 24 hours of shore leave in New York City are the premise for what classic 1940s Broadway musical with music by Leonard Bernstein?
Answer: On the Town
- With songs like "One" and "What I Did for Love," what classic 1970s musical centers around Broadway dancers auditioning for eight spots in a stage show?
Answer: A Chorus Line
- What 1960 Broadway musical is based on the life and times of American philanthropist and survivor of the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, Margaret Brown?
Answer: The Unsinkable Molly Brown
- Rob, who is a puppet, angrily denies that he is gay by singing the song "My Girlfriend Who Lives in Canada" in what Broadway musical named after a thoroughfare in New York City's Brooklyn borough?
Answer: Avenue Q
- Elder Price dreams of being sent to Orlando for his Latter-Day Saints mission, but is instead sent to Uganda, in what hit Broadway musical that debuted in 2011?
Answer: The Book of Mormon
- What is the name of the biographer whose famous American subjects include George Washington, John D. Rockefeller, and Alexander Hamilton—the last of whose biography was adapted into a hit Broadway musical?
Answer: Ron Chernow
- What is the minimum number of seats that a venue in the Theater District must have in order to be considered a "Broadway" theater, rather than "Off-Broadway"?
Answer: 500
- Annie’s mutt Sandy has been played by different dogs on stage and screen, but a mix of which terrier breed was the first to bring the role to life on Broadway in 1977?
Answer: Airedale Terrier
- What Broadway musical, which has an exclamation point in its title, is about the man who was mayor of New York City from 1934 to 1945?
Answer: Fiorello!
- What Hollywood-set 2016 film, famously mis-announced as the winner of a Best Picture Oscar, will get the Broadway treatment in an upcoming live stage musical?
Answer: La La Land
- "A Raisin in the Sun," the first play written by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway, opened in March 1959. The author was a 29-year-old woman who won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. Name the author.
Answer: Lorraine Hansberry
- In 1991, "Miss Saigon" premiered on Broadway, Miles Davis sadly passed away, and Mastercard launched what first online point-of-sale network?
Answer: Maestro
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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