Final Jeopardy: Opera (12-21-23)
The Final Jeopardy question (12/21/2023) in the category “From Page to Stage” was:
The opera based on this 1993 memoir was staged at a prison for the first time in 2023, at Sing Sing with a chorus of 14 inmates
Today’s Second Chance contestants are: Iris Masucci, a pharmacist from Rockville, MD; Karen Morris, a veterinary student from Christiansburg, VA; and Michael Vaz, a tutor from Mississauga, Ontario.
Round 1 Categories: A Very Hallmark Christmas Movie – Book Tock – Triply Alliterative – Union Actions – Say, “Buster” – Legend Dairy
Iris found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Triply Alliterative” under the $1,000 clue on the 3rd pick of the round. She was the only one on the board with $800. Iris bet $1,000 and had no idea so she was WRONG.
4 young men of Navarre face off against 4 ladies in a game of courtship in this Shakespeare comedy show
Karen finished in the lead with $3,600. Iris was in second place with $2,800. Michael was last with $2,000. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Folklore & Legend – Sampling – First Ladies’ Maiden Names – Philosophy – Words & Their Changing Meanings – Eur”O”S
Iris found the first Daily Double in “Words & Their Changing Meanings” under the $1,600 clue on the 3rd pick of the round. She was in second place with $4,000, $1,200 less than Karen’s lead. She bet $2,500 and took a guess at the last second and it was RIGHT.
Before it meant any chain of islands, archipelago was another name for this arm of the Mediterranean Sea show
Michael got the last Daily Double in “Folklore & Legend” under the $2,000 clue on the 13th pick of the round. He was in last place with $4,800, $4,500 less than Iris’ lead. Michael made it a true Daily Double and drew a blank so he was WRONG.
Legend says the woman with this nickname crucially carried water at the battle of Monmouth show
Karen finished in the lead with $10,400. Iris was in second place with $7,700. Michael was last with $2,000. All clues were shown.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS “DEAD MAN WALKING”?
“Dead Man Walking” is a 1993 non-fiction book. It was written by Helen Prejean, a Roman Catholic nun. Prejean was a spiritual adviser to 2 convicted murderers on Death Row. Through her experiences, she became an outspoken opponent of the death penalty. In 1995, a film based on the book was released starring Susan Sarandon, as Helen Prejean, and Sean Penn, as a convicted murderer sentenced to death. Sarandon won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance.
Prejean’s book was also adapted as an opera with music by Jake Heggie and the libretto by Terrence McNally and was first produced by the San Francisco Opera in 2000. The idea to bring the “Dead Man Walking” opera to Sing Sing was several years in the making and became a reality in September 2023 when 14 inmates joined a group of Met singers in a one-night-only performance of the opera at the Ossining, NY prison. Learn more
Michael had no response and he didn’t bet anything either. So he finished with the same $2,000 he had before FJ!
Iris wondered what her chances were of a third chance. She lost $2,300 and finished with $5,400.
Karen wrote down “what on earth???” (my favorite response of the entire season!) She lost $5,001 and finished with $5,399. So, by a dollar, Iris won the game and will compete in the first final match tomorrow against Jason Carpenter and Juveria Zaheer.
A triple stumper from each round:
A VERY HALLMARK CHRISTMAS MOVIE ($1000) It’s not the Magi–nor Selleck, Danson & Guttenberg–but a trio of brothers who find themselves caring for a tot in this 2022 film
PHILOSOPHY ($800) Thomism is a school of thought named for this 13th c. theologian who tried to reconcile Aristotle with Christianity
2 years ago: NONE of the players got this FJ in “World War II Geography”
Body-of-water battles included the Coral Sea, Philippine Sea & this one that allowed Japan to seize Jakarta show
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This group was now like I envisioned. The easy DD missed with no response, or the other easy DD with no response, were emblematic. However, to be equitable, I didn’t get FJ, either.
But, as I’ve said, generally (with yesterday being a rare exception), these Second Chance folks show why they didn’t win the first time.
And, if Michael was any more soft-spoken, no one would have been able to hear him!
Wow, 3 tough DDs and FJ. Iris and I expressed shock simultaneously when we guessed that Mediterranean DD answer. Perfect FJ wager she made.
Some of those stumpers were gettable. Zeno’s -ism and the $600 Legend Dairy drink were the two I got.
I seem to remember Emerson Fittipaldi drinking OJ in Victory Lane instead of milk and causing some controversy. He owned an orange grove in Brazil.
Tomorrow will be the 9000th Episode of Jeopardy!.
A tough FJ, but a great game.
And we got a triple stumper since today’s final was a tough one.
Kudos to Iris on her perfect FJ! wager. She knew that if Final was a tough one, she wagered enough to stay above Karen if she also misses and fall below Iris’s score. It’s been a while since someone won the game by a dollar.