Pippin (Musical)
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40 free Pippin (Musical) trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Pippin has been a favourite of Broadway audiences, school drama clubs and community theatres for more than fifty years. On the surface it is a medieval fable about a restless young prince; underneath it is a sly, self-aware show in which a troupe of players steers the hero from one disappointment to the next. This quiz covers the whole story: the plot and its characters, the songs, the people who created the original 1972 production, the award-winning revival, and the well-known performers who have passed through the cast on Broadway, on tour and on screen. It is written for anyone who has seen the show, sung in it, or worn out the cast album. The early questions are friendly to casual fans, and the later ones will test people who know the script by heart.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which songwriter, later famous for Wicked, wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical Pippin?
Stephen Schwartz
Stephen Schwartz first wrote a version as a student, yet he says not a single line or note of it reached the final Broadway show.
Q 02Which choreographer won Tonys for both directing and choreographing Pippin's original Broadway production?
Bob Fosse
Bob Fosse also contributed to the script, and two of the songs were added during rehearsals at his request.
Q 03Which performer won a Tony as Pippin's original Leading Player after playing Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar?
Ben Vereen
Ben Vereen kept returning to the part, reprising it in a 1981 filmed version and in a 1986 US tour that he also directed.
Q 04In the musical Pippin, the title prince is the eldest son of which real Frankish king and emperor?
Charlemagne
Charlemagne and his son are borrowed from real early medieval figures, but the plot is fiction and makes no attempt at historical accuracy.
Q 05In the finale of Pippin, the Leading Player urges the prince to end the show by doing what?
Setting himself on fire
Setting himself on fire is pitched as the only truly fulfilling act left, but Pippin backs out at the last moment, sure there must be something more.
Q 06The 2013 Broadway revival of Pippin recast the Leading Player's troupe as what kind of performers?
Circus acrobats
Circus acrobats from the Montreal troupe The 7 Fingers performed the stunts, and the revival wove in stage illusions as well.
Q 07In the musical Pippin, Catherine's young son Theo grieves over the sickness and death of what pet?
A duck
A duck is the pet Theo loses, and comforting the boy through its illness is what finally makes Pippin fall for Catherine.
Q 08Much of the plot of Pippin is read as an allegory for which conflict and the counterculture of its era?
The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was still under way when the show opened in 1972, which gives the prince's disillusionment after his first battle a pointed edge.
Q 09Which opening number of Pippin has the Leading Player and the troupe promise the audience a spectacular show?
Magic to Do
Magic to Do also returns in the newer ending, when the troupe comes back to tempt a fresh recruit and the whole cycle begins again.
Q 10Which Pippin song, the prince's plea to find where he belongs, does young Theo reprise in the newer ending?
Corner of the Sky
Corner of the Sky is the verse Theo sings alone on the empty stage, a sign that the players have found their replacement for Pippin.
Q 11Which Sister Act star won a Tony as the Leading Player in the 2013 Broadway revival of Pippin?
Patina Miller
Patina Miller's win made the Leading Player the first role to earn both a Best Actor and a Best Actress Tony in a musical.
Q 12Which Beverly Hillbillies star played the prince's grandmother in the original Broadway cast of Pippin?
Irene Ryan
Irene Ryan, TV's Granny, earned a Tony nomination for the role, but fell ill on stage during a March 1973 performance and died a few weeks later.
Q 13Pippin's original director won Tonys for the show in 1973, the same year he won an Oscar for which film?
Cabaret
Cabaret won him the directing Oscar and a Liza Minnelli TV special won him Emmys, so he collected the top prizes of film, television and theatre in one year.
Q 21Which future Oscar nominee for An Unmarried Woman played Catherine in the original Broadway cast of Pippin?
Jill Clayburgh
Jill Clayburgh sang the ballad that Catherine starts on her own, a moment staged as if it had never been in the players' script.
Q 22Which actor created the title role of Pippin on Broadway and later joined the revival as the prince's father?
John Rubinstein
John Rubinstein, son of the concert pianist Arthur Rubinstein, was making his Broadway acting debut when the show opened in 1972.
Q 23Which director, who had earlier restaged Hair on Broadway, won a Tony for staging the 2013 revival of Pippin?
Diane Paulus
Q 14Pippin's 1972 publicity, featuring the Leading Player and two dancers, is credited with which Broadway first?
A TV ad showing scenes
A TV ad showing scenes from a Broadway show had not been done before; the 60-second spot used the dance break from the war number.
Q 15Which famous soul label helped finance Pippin and released the cast album, its first Broadway recording?
Motown
Motown had never released a musical cast recording before, and the album it issued in 1972 featured the entire original cast.
Q 16After the battle in Pippin, what does the disillusioned prince end up having a cynical conversation with?
A severed head
A severed head belonging to an enemy soldier talks back to him, and the exchange convinces Pippin that war is futile.
Q 17At the end of Pippin, what does the prince choose instead of the players' grand finale?
An ordinary family life
An ordinary family life with Catherine and Theo is his answer, so the furious Leading Player calls off the show and leaves the three of them on an empty stage.
Q 18Miramax bought the film rights to Pippin in 2003 following the success of which movie musical?
Chicago
Chicago had just won the Oscar for Best Picture, but the planned Pippin film was never made and the rights later went back to the show's songwriter.
Q 19During which Pippin song does the prince's grandmother Berthe invite the audience to sing along with her?
No Time at All
No Time at All is so tied to its singalong that 700 fans were chosen by competition to sing that section on the 2013 revival cast recording.
Q 20In the musical Pippin, how does the prince's unhappy spell as king come to an end?
His father is revived
His father is revived by the Leading Player at Pippin's own request, and the old ruler simply takes the throne back.
Diane Paulus first staged it at the American Repertory Theater, where she was artistic director, then took the same cast to Broadway.
Q 24Which SCTV comedian won a Tony as the prince's grandmother Berthe in the 2013 revival of Pippin?
Andrea Martin
Andrea Martin also won Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for the part, and came back to it for three weeks in September 2014.
Q 25In Pippin, the queen Fastrada schemes to put which character, her strong but dim-witted son, on the throne?
Lewis
Lewis inherits whether Pippin kills the king or is arrested for treason, so Fastrada's plot pays off either way.
Q 26In Pippin, where does the prince confront and kill his father after being told he will be unarmed?
At a royal chapel
At a royal chapel in Arles, the king is saying his yearly prayers; Fastrada sent him there early so her stepson would find him defenceless.
Q 27Pippin began life as a student show for the Scotch'n'Soda theatre troupe at which American university?
Carnegie Mellon
Carnegie Mellon students staged the early version under the title Pippin, Pippin; its co-writer left when the project was developed further.
Q 28Pippin lost the 1973 Tony Award for Best Musical to which show, the source of Send In the Clowns?
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music took Best Musical, but Pippin still went home with five Tonys, including the awards for its star, direction and choreography.
Q 29Which star of The Greatest American Hero played the title role in the 1981 filmed stage production of Pippin?
William Katt
William Katt filmed it in the same year his superhero series began, in a shortened staging made for Canadian television.
Q 30Which Brady Bunch actor played the title role on the first US national tour of Pippin?
Barry Williams
Barry Williams, TV's Greg Brady, joined the tour in 1974, the year his sitcom was cancelled, and went on to tour in several other musicals.