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

In the May 13, 2025 episode of Jeopardy, the Final Jeopardy clue 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?

This clever and layered clue referenced Edward Albee’s iconic 1962 play, which takes its title from a play on the well-known Disney song “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” featured in the 1933 animated short The Three Little Pigs. Albee’s version reimagines the line as a philosophical provocation—one that resonates throughout the play’s emotional and intellectual confrontations. Because the original Disney tune is protected by copyright and would be costly to use in a professional production, stage and screen versions of the play have substituted the melody of “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush,” a traditional children’s song that shares a similar rhythm and is in the public domain.

How a Children’s Song Replaced Disney’s Tune

In Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, the title song is not just referenced—it’s integral to the story’s tone and themes. In the opening scene, Martha sings the phrase “Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?” to a melody, but to sidestep licensing issues with Disney’s original composition, productions use the tune of “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush.” This substitution is not just practical—it also maintains the playful yet biting tone that underpins the dialogue between Martha and George. The familiar rhythm allows the phrase to resonate with the audience without infringing on copyright protections.

The phrase itself appears early in the play, allegedly sung at a party before the action begins. Though the audience never hears who first sang it, it becomes a point of contention and a recurring motif in the tense exchanges between George and Martha. Albee’s decision to incorporate it into the story, even indirectly, sets the tone for the psychological games that follow.

The Origins of the Title Phrase

Edward Albee himself spoke about the moment that inspired the title. He recalled sitting in a New York bar when he saw “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” scrawled on a mirror in soap. The phrase stayed with him and reemerged when he began writing the play. According to Albee, the title’s deeper meaning plays on the idea of fearing a life stripped of comforting illusions—an idea central to the play’s themes. In his words, it was “a typical, university intellectual joke,” layered with irony and existential weight.

Interestingly, this exact phrase had been spotted in print years earlier. A 1957 issue of The New Yorker included a short item about graffiti seen in a Greenwich Village coffeehouse that read “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” The magazine revisited this in 2013, speculating that this could have been the same graffiti Albee saw. Whether or not it was the same instance, the phrase had clearly permeated the cultural landscape before the play’s official debut.

The Song’s Substitution and Legacy

Though the original inspiration for the title came from Disney, the decision to use “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush” instead of “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” has had a lasting effect on productions of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The public domain status of the nursery rhyme allowed directors and performers to retain the sing-song irony of the line while avoiding legal complications. Over time, the substitution became standard and is now the expected version in professional stagings and the 1966 film adaptation starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

This workaround didn’t diminish the play’s impact. On the contrary, the use of a familiar melody contributed to its eerie, childlike undertone—one that contrasts starkly with the intense adult themes explored in the script. The result is a production that maintains both the intent and rhythm of the original idea, despite the absence of the Disney song.

Conclusion

Tuesday’s Final Jeopardy clue spotlighted a fascinating piece of Broadway trivia. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? remains one of the most acclaimed American plays of the 20th century, and the clever substitution of “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush” is a small but meaningful footnote in its long history. The title may draw from a pop culture reference, but its resonance lies in the deeper existential fear it questions—a theme that continues to challenge audiences decades after the play’s premiere.