Feature: October Monthly Musical Birthday Tribute – It's a Quiz!

It’s the dawn of a new month, so it’s time once again to celebrate cabaret-connected people who were born in October. Test your knowledge with these multiple-choice questions.  The answers are below.

THE OCTOBER BIRTHDAY QUIZ

Take a few minutes – take the quiz – take some guesses. You might be surprised how many big music names were born in October. 

1—Born on October first, this lady may not have done cabaret shows as such, but she has sung in concerts, stage musicals, films, and TV.  In one of her roles, however, she played a nightclub performer. She was offered the role of cabaret singer Sally Bowles when the source material that eventually became the Broadway musical Cabaret was being developed. The rights were held by a different producer and writer than those who turned it into the classic we know.  And, in cabaret rooms, tributes to this star have been done by Shana Farr, Sarah-Louise Young, Chicago’s Laura Freeman, and a group show at 54 Below.  Who is this “almost” star of Cabaret back in the 1960s?

Is it:
(A) Debbie Reynolds
(B) Doris Day
(C) Julie Andrews
(D) Tina Turner

2—What memorable, esteemed cabaret chanteuse was born 100 years ago this October 21?

(A) Julie Wilson
(B) Mabel Mercer
(C) Hildegarde
(D) Lady Gaga

3—What lyricist was born in October AND is still with us –and is the oldest?         

(A) Lee Adams (who told us to “Put On a Happy Face”)
(B) Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime, Once on This Island)
(C) Johnny Burke (“Swinging on a Star,” “Here’s That Rainy Day”)
(D) Justin Bieber 

4—Klea Blackhurst recently did a cabaret show that focused on someone born in October. Who was it?

(A) Singer Cleo Laine, with her show “Klea Sings Cleo”
(B) Linda Lavin, with her show ”Lovin’ Lavin”
(C) Songwriter Vernon Duke, with her show “Autumn in New York: Duke’s Broadway”
(D) Kamala Harris, with her show “Klea Is Krazy for Kamala: A Cabaret Fundraiser”       

5—Who is the only October birthday baby listed below who never did a show at 54 Below?

(A) Jennifer Holliday
(B) Christine Andreas
(C) Melba Moore
(D) Brian Stokes Mitchell
(E) Barbara Cook
(F) Kim Kardashian

6—Which of these was NOT born in October?

(A) Ben Vereen
(B) Marin Mazzie
(C) Karen Akers
(D) Gretchen Cryer
(E) ALL were definitely born in October.
(F) All were probably born on the first of October, but, according to their birth certificates, each one’s birthdate accidentally lists “September 31” even though there are only 30 days in September.

7—What two singers were born on Halloween?

(A) Harry Connick, Jr. & Sammy Davis, Jr.
(B) KT Sullivan & Ethel Waters
(C) Patti LuPone & Andrea Marcovicci
(D) Frank Sinatra & Alvin of The Chipmunks 

8—What performers who’ve done nightclub shows as a duo were October babies, born one year and a day apart?

(A) Steve & Eydie
(B) Seth Sikes & Nicolas King
(C) Anthony Rapp & Adam Pascal, original Rent co-stars
(D) Batman & Robin    

9—What cabaret club was named for a musical comedy character and was “born” (opened) in October 1972?

(A) Curly’s Cabaret, in Oklahoma, named for the character in Oklahoma!
(B) Reno Sweeney, in New York City, named for the character in Anything Goes
(C) Miss Adelaide’s Showroom, in Chicago, named for the character in Guys & Dolls
(D) The Cockeyed Clyde Hideaway, in London, named for the character in Cockeyed Clyde and His Dignified Bride, a musical written by the club’s owner, based on an Irish folk tale.  The musical closed on opening night. The nightclub closed a month later.     

10—All of the following entertainers mentioned in this question were born in October, but only ONE of these statements is true. Which is true?

(A) John Lennon recorded an album of songs by fellow Englishman Noel Coward (also born in October) that was never released.
(B) Groucho Marx and Fanny Brice, born in 1890 and 1891, respectively, were once engaged and headlines predicted “the funniest marriage in town.”
(C) Angela Lansbury played a singing dance-hall girl in a movie in the 1940s. Her character  had two songs, but her singing voice was dubbed.
(D) When a new cabaret room called Le Cabaret Jazz opened in Los Angeles last October, 19 of the October nights were tribute shows– performed in jazz/cabaret style— to singers born in October and all the singers showed up, and most performed in the finale. They were Victoria Clark, Judy Kaye, Dianne Reeves, Sting, Paul Simon, Marie Osmond,  Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, Seth McFarlane, John Mayer, John Mellencamp, Vanilla Ice, Tanya Tucker, Don McLean, Richard Carpenter, Jackson Browne, Tom Paxton, Usher, and Weird Al Yankovic. And another 12 October nights were tributes to singers born in October, but who have passed away (Freddy Cole, Anita O’Day, Lee Wiley, Laura Nyro, Rita Gardner, Lotte Lenya, Al Martino, Roy Kral, Helen Reddy, Mahalia Jackson, Donny Hathaway, and Mrs. Miller) and a member of each one’s family attended.  

AND NOW FOR THE ANSWERS….

1— Composer-lyricist Sandy Wilson was writing a score for a musical version of the play I Am a Camera and wanted to star the young woman who’d starred in his musical The Boy Friend: Julie Andrews, choice (C)  is the correct answer. Her manager turned it down due to the tone of the story. Before Wilson could finish, the limited time the producer held the rights expired, and the project was given to Hal Prince and songwriters Kander & Ebb wrote the score and the show was called Cabaret. 

2—As with the first question, someone named Julie is the answer: (A):  Julie Wilson (no relation to Sandy Wilson mentioned in the answer above.)

3—Lee Adams (choice A) turns 100 this month!  

4—The only show on this list presented by Klea is the one with Vernon Duke’s songs. (C)  

5— (F) Kim Kardashian has not warbled at 54, but she was born in October, as were the others.

6— They all truly were born in October, so the answer is (E). 

7—The answer is (B): KT Sullivan (who was the solo subject of last October’s birthday column) and Ethel Waters.  None of the others has an October birthday. (Well, I haven’t found birth records for the chipmunks.)

8— It’s the Rent guys. (B again)

9—(B) yet again.  Reno Sweeney was on West 13th Street.  The other clubs are fictional, as is the failed musical in the last answer.

10—The correct answer is (C); the movie is The Harvey Girls.  By the way, the club mentioned in the last answer doesn’t exist, but all 31 of those entertainers listed as its honorees du jour (and all those named in the other answers in this last question) were indeed born in some October over the years.  Quite a month for birthdays!! 

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