March BIRTHDAY Feature and a QUIZ: Honoring Those Born in March

Throughout the year, each time we enter a new month and turn the calendar page, we music lovers can turn our attention to those people born in that month who have enriched our lives with song.  There are too many in March to pick just one “birthday person” to toast in what has become a monthly column feature here. So, instead, here is a quiz to see how much you know about some of them.  And, since this is the CABARET section of BroadwayWorld.com, we may as well start by acknowledging two old chums so closely connected to the song “Cabaret” from the musical of the same name. Celebrating their birthdays this month will be its composer, John Kander, and the lady who starred in the film version, with that title number becoming her signature song: Liza Minnelli.  So, let’s begin the quiz.   Answers are on the bottom. 

1— All the questions are in that good old multiple choice style, so if you’re not sure of the answer, you might just be lucky –starting with this query about the word “Lucky.”  Which of these songs was written by John Kander (pictured here)  with his longtime lyricist partner Fred Ebb --- and was introduced by Liza Minnelli?      (A)-- “How Lucky Can You Get?”.... (B)--”Lucky Lady”... (C)-- “Over the Wall IV: Lucky Molina” … (D)-- “Rosemary, You’re So Lucky You Were Born Here in Kentucky” (also known as “The Rosemary Clooney Birthday Tribute Song”)

2—Liza shares her birthday with a singer-songwriter turning 75 this year.  She recorded one of his songs the year after the film Cabaret. He didn’t write a song that said “Life is a cabaret, old chum,” but he wrote one with the word “Life” in the title that has been in the repertoire of of some folks who performed in cabaret rooms: Nancy LaMott, Marilyn Maye, Liz Callaway, Tom Wopat and Stephanie J. Block. Who is he?   (A)-- James Taylor….  (B )-- Paul McCartney…   (C)-- Willie Nelson…    (D)-- Senator Mitt Romney

3 —Speaking of male singer-songwriters, which of these Neils was born in March?     (A)-- Neil Diamond…   (B)-- Neil Young…    (C )-- Neil Sedaka…  (D)-- Neil O’Neill (real name of Lin-Manuel Miranda)   

4— Which of these theatre songwriters have the same March birthday (different years)?   (A)-- Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber…  (B)-- Kurt Weill and Marc Blitzstein…   (C)-- Choices A and B are both correct…   (D)-- All of the writers represented in the book The 100 Greatest Love Songs of All Time.

5— Who, born March 6, wrote the score for one of Broadway’s longest-running musicals?     (A)-- Stephen Schwartz (Wicked)…       (B)-- Jerry Herman (Hello, Dolly!) …  (C )-- Irving Berlin (Annie Get Your Gun).... (D)-- Aristotle (My Big Fat Greek Musical Philosophy)

6— March 27 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of what well-known music figure?          (A)-- Henry Mancini…  (B )-- Blossom Dearie…   (C)-- Sarah Vaughan…    (D )-- Justin Bieber 

7— Which of these musical people born in March is listed below with two of his credits, but only one is correct?

(A)-- Singer-pianist Nat King Cole was born on St. Patrick’s Day AND married his second wife on Easter Sunday…   (B)-- Besides both being born in March, Carole Bayer Sager and Lady Gaga have two other connections: being born in New York City AND having won awards that include the Oscar, the Grammy, and the Golden Globe. ….   (C)-- Jerry Ross co-wrote the songs for Damn Yankees AND it had a revival starring another Jerry (Jerry Lewis)…     (D)-- March is a big month for songwriters contributing to Disney movies, such as Jerry Livingston, Larry Morey, Leigh Harline, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, and the aforementioned Stephen Schwartz.  They all had co-writers for those songs and all were written for animated characters based on members of the Supreme Court.  

8— OK, this last “March” question is a little different.  It is not about a person born in March, but it’s about a Broadway show “born” in March, meaning that it opened in that month— AND  had a musical moment related to the word “march.”  Which one is it?  

 (A)-- March 28, 1951 brought the opening of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I with its song “March of the Siamese Children.”  …. (B)-- The same writers’ stage version of Cinderella, opening on March 3, 2013 featured the “Cinderella March.” …     (C)--And last year’s Bad Cinderella showed up on March 23 with “The Wedding March.” …  (D)-- “The Wedding March” is also a title used in The Rose of Stamboul, coming down the aisle on March 7, 1922…. (E)-- And “The Wedding March” Finale was in the score of Three Wishes for Jamie, an entry on March 21, 1952… (F)-- Before all that, audiences swayed “To the Strains of the Wedding March,” watching Jumping Jupiter, as of March 6, 1911…. (G)-- Don’t forget “We Are Marching Through the Night,” a little night music from The Chocolate Soldier beginning on the night of March 12, 1947… (H)-- The old song “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again” was used for Dancin’: which got into step on March 27, 1978… (I)-- A show called Marching By came along on March 3, 1932 and closed after just 12 performances, but had a song titled “Forward March Into My Arms.” …. (J)-- The Three Musketeers, debuting on March 13, 1928 had, of course, “March of The Musketeers.”... OR (K)-- All of the above are true.   

And now for the answers…..

ANSWERS:

1.--- The answer is B, the only one that Liza introduced; it was the title song of a movie she starred in with Burt Reynolds and Gene Hackman. (Choices A and C also came from Kander & Ebb scores; A is from the film Funny Lady, as opposed to Lucky Lady; C is from Kiss of the Spider Woman.)   D is not a song connected to either of our birthday celebrants.  In fact, it doesn’t exist.    

2—The answer is A–  James Taylor. Liza recorded his “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight” and the other singers listed have shared “The Secret o’ Life.”   Romney indeed shares the birth date, but: if he writes songs I’m not aware of them and Liza certainly didn’t record any of them. 

3– The answer is C.  And one of Sedaka’s main collaborators, the late Howard Greenfield, had a birthday the same week (three years earlier).

4 –  A and B are both correct, so C is also correct, and D is just stupid.

5— A (and it’s still running, 20 years on!)

6— C.  It's jazz great Sarah Vaughan (pictured here).  Although Henry Mancini and Blossom Dearie were also born in 1924, it wasn’t in March. And Justin Bieber was born in March, but his 100th birthday comes 70 years from this month.    

7— D.  All the facts in these choices are filled with truth except the part about those March-born Disney songwriters putting words in the mouths of the justices.  

8— Of course, it’s “all of the above” – (K)

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