To avoid licensing fees, this play used bits of “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush” in place of the Disney tune that inspired its title
The Final Jeopardy clue for Tuesday, May 13, 2025, came from the category Broadway Premieres. The clue read: “To avoid licensing fees, this play used bits of ‘Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush’ in place of the Disney tune that inspired its title.”
What is Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Tuesday’s Final Jeopardy clue brought attention to one of Broadway’s most iconic titles: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The play’s name is a clever twist on the Disney tune “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”, originally featured in the 1933 animated short The Three Little Pigs. But licensing that song proved too costly for theatrical productions, leading to a practical and musical substitution—using the melody of the nursery rhyme “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”, a tune in the public domain that closely matches the meter of the original Disney song.
In the play’s opening scene, Martha sings the title line repeatedly, mocking her husband George. It’s implied that the song had already been sung earlier that evening at a party, although it remains unclear whether Martha was the first to sing it or if she picked it up from someone else. Either way, the line sticks—needle-sharp and loaded with irony—and sets the tone for the verbal battles to follow. The substitution of the melody doesn’t change the impact of the line, which still functions as a cutting inside joke layered with existential dread.
Edward Albee’s Discovery and Intention
Edward Albee didn’t invent the phrase outright. He stumbled upon it one night in a New York saloon, where it had been scribbled on a mirror in soap: “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” The phrase, riffing on the Disney lyric, immediately struck him as a dark academic joke—one that resonated with themes he would later explore in his work. According to Albee, the phrase symbolized the fear of living without illusions. That idea became central to his play, which focuses on a couple locked in a psychological and emotional war, confronting painful truths under the guise of party banter.
The title became more than just a pun. It framed the entire emotional architecture of the play, challenging both the characters and the audience to question what they’re really afraid of—whether it’s failure, truth, or the collapse of a carefully constructed identity. The seeming whimsy of the title belies the gravity of the drama that unfolds on stage.
Origins of the Phrase and Its Public Appearance
Interestingly, the phrase “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” appeared in print as early as 1957, five years before the play’s 1962 premiere. A short blurb in The New Yorker described it as graffiti spotted in a Greenwich Village espresso bar, written in ornate calligraphy. This raises the possibility that Albee’s inspiration may have come from the same scrawl noted in the magazine, or perhaps a different but similar instance of witty wall-writing popular among New York’s bohemian crowd at the time.
The New Yorker later acknowledged this link in a 2013 retrospective, suggesting that this kind of cultural cross-pollination—between graffiti, literature, and drama—may have helped cement the phrase in the public imagination even before it hit Broadway. Whether or not it was the exact same graffito Albee saw, the phrase clearly resonated within the literary and artistic circles of mid-century America.
A Title That Lingers in Culture
Even beyond the stage, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? has taken on a life of its own. The phrase has been referenced in academic discussions, popular culture, and literary critiques, often separated from the play itself. It encapsulates an intellectual anxiety—a fear of stripping away comforting fictions to confront reality. Albee’s genius was in taking a bit of wall graffiti and building around it a story so raw and complex that it changed American theater.
The use of the familiar children’s rhyme as a musical substitute is just one example of how theater adapts to practical constraints while preserving dramatic intent. Albee’s decision not to license the Disney song didn’t diminish the impact; in fact, the public-domain melody allowed the title phrase to remain playful yet unsettling—a perfect match for the themes at the core of the play.
Broadway, Jeopardy, and Enduring Relevance
Tuesday’s clue was a reminder of how layered a theatrical title can be and how even practical decisions—like avoiding a licensing fee—can become an integral part of a play’s performance history. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? debuted on Broadway in 1962 and went on to win the Tony Award for Best Play, with its enduring legacy cemented by multiple revivals and a landmark film adaptation.
By pointing to this musical workaround, the Final Jeopardy clue offered more than trivia—it highlighted how artistic choices, legal limitations, and cultural references can collide in unexpected ways. And as Martha sings the unsettling line again and again, it’s clear the big bad wolf still has teeth—no matter what tune he’s set to.