Flora the Red Menace
Encyclopedia
Flora the Red Menace is a musical with a book by George Abbott
and Robert Russell
, music by John Kander
, and lyrics by Fred Ebb
. The musical starred Liza Minnelli
in the title role in her Broadway debut, for which she won a Tony Award
for Best Actress in a Musical. This was the first collaboration between Kander and Ebb, who later wrote Broadway and Hollywood hits such as Cabaret
and Chicago
.
Although not full of well-known or show-stopping numbers, the score does present a valuable insight into the later work of Kander and Ebb. Like Cabaret and Chicago, it features a headstrong heroine with passion and idealism, and has a strong dose of political content.
at the Alvin Theatre on May 11, 1965 and closed on July 24, 1965, after 87 performances. The cast featured Liza Minelli as Flora, Bob Dishy
as Harry Toukarian and Cathryn Damon
as Comrade Charlotte. Direction was by George Abbott, choregraphy by Lee Theodore, with scenic design by William and Jean Eckart
, costume design by Donald Brooks
and lighting design by Tharon Musser
. Minnelli won the Tony Award, the youngest person to do so at age 19, until Frankie Michaels
won in 1966 at age 11.
Flora was not written for Minnelli, as is sometimes said; Robert Russell was rumored to have written the show as a vehicle for Barbra Streisand
. George Abbott became involved and thought it would be a vehicle for Eydie Gormé
. Receiving promising out-of-town reviews in New Haven and Boston
, the show was recorded two days before its Broadway opening. However, the New York critics were not enthusiastic, and when it closed it had lost almost all of its $400,000 investment.
The New York Times reviewer wrote: "The voice [of Minnelli] is not yet distinctive... She is going to be a popular singer, all right. It [Flora the Red Menace] has the appearance of being pasted together with bits and pieces. A promising idea has not been enlivened by a creative spark."
The musical was revived at the Off-Broadway
Vineyard Theatre
in December 1987 with a new book by David Thompson. Directed by Scott Ellis
with choreography by Susan Stroman
, Flora was played by Veanne Cox
with Peter Frechette
as Harry.
The most recent professional production in the UK was at Dundee Repertory Theatre
, Scotland, autumn 2003.
42nd Street Moon
(San Francisco, California) presented the musical in concert in November - December 2006. The "Reprise! Broadway's Best" production at the Freud Theatre (Los Angeles
, California
) ran from May 6, 2008 through May 18. The role of Flora was played by Eden Espinosa
.
In 2011, Flora the Red Menace was staged at Oberlin College
, with John Kander returning to his alma mater to consult on the production.
. Hoping to find a job which pays at least $15 a week, she is hired by the head of a large department store at $30. She falls in love with Harry Toukarian, another struggling designer, who attempts to convert Flora to his Communist ideals. Even though it compromises her job in an organisation which does not recognise the new unions she seeks to hold down both job and relationship. Complicating matters is a predatory Communist matriarch, Comrade Charlotte, who wants Harry for herself, a secretary with designs on her boss, and Kenny and Maggie, a jazz dancing duo with their sights on greater things.
In the end, however, Flora finds herself torn between two vastly different ideals, and has to sacrifice one or the other for true happiness.
In the Vineyard Theatre revival, the story is told as though in a presentation by the Federal Theatre Project
, part of the WPA
established by President Roosevelt
(voiced by Art Carney
). A company of actors played all the roles, with obvious props and scenery, not trying to hide the 'amateur' look and feel of the show.
Act II
George Abbott
George Francis Abbott was an American theater producer and director, playwright, screenwriter, and film director and producer whose career spanned more than nine decades.-Early years:...
and Robert Russell
Robert W. Russell
Robert Wallace Russell was an American writer for movies, plays, and documentaries. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Writing, Original Story and Best Writing, Screenplay on the 1943 film The More the Merrier.He died in 1992 in New York City, shortly after his 80th birthday.-...
, music by John Kander
John Kander
John Harold Kander is the American composer of a number of musicals as part of the songwriting team of Kander and Ebb.-Life and career:Kander was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Bernice and Harold S. Kander...
, and lyrics by Fred Ebb
Fred Ebb
Fred Ebb was an American musical theatre lyricist who had many successful collaborations with composer John Kander. The Kander and Ebb team frequently wrote for such performers as Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera....
. The musical starred Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
in the title role in her Broadway debut, for which she won a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Actress in a Musical. This was the first collaboration between Kander and Ebb, who later wrote Broadway and Hollywood hits such as Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
and Chicago
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...
.
Although not full of well-known or show-stopping numbers, the score does present a valuable insight into the later work of Kander and Ebb. Like Cabaret and Chicago, it features a headstrong heroine with passion and idealism, and has a strong dose of political content.
Productions
Flora the Red Menace opened on BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
at the Alvin Theatre on May 11, 1965 and closed on July 24, 1965, after 87 performances. The cast featured Liza Minelli as Flora, Bob Dishy
Bob Dishy
Bob Dishy is an American actor of stage, film and television. He is married to former actress Judy Graubart .He appeared on Broadway in:...
as Harry Toukarian and Cathryn Damon
Cathryn Damon
Cathryn Lee Damon was an American actress, best known for her roles on television sitcoms in the 1970s and 1980s....
as Comrade Charlotte. Direction was by George Abbott, choregraphy by Lee Theodore, with scenic design by William and Jean Eckart
William and Jean Eckart
William and Jean Eckart were a husband-and-wife team of theatre designers in the 1950s and '60s. They designed sets, costumes, and lighting for many productions, including Mame, Here's Love, Damn Yankees, Once Upon a Mattress, The Fig Leaves Are Falling, and The Golden Apple.William Eckart was born...
, costume design by Donald Brooks
Donald Brooks
Donald Brooks was an American fashion designer. Though he was very successful, if not as famous as some of his contemporaries, his passion was his work for the stage and film, designing over 3500 costumes...
and lighting design by Tharon Musser
Tharon Musser
Tharon Musser was an American lighting designer who worked on more than 150 Broadway productions. She was termed the "Dean of American Lighting Designers" and is considered one of the pioneers in her field....
. Minnelli won the Tony Award, the youngest person to do so at age 19, until Frankie Michaels
Frankie Michaels
Frankie Michaels is an American actor of stage and film. He holds the record for being the youngest person to win a Tony Award at age ten for his performance in the Broadway musical Mame in 1966.-External links:...
won in 1966 at age 11.
Flora was not written for Minnelli, as is sometimes said; Robert Russell was rumored to have written the show as a vehicle for Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
. George Abbott became involved and thought it would be a vehicle for Eydie Gormé
Eydie Gormé
Eydie Gormé is an American singer, specializing, with her husband, Steve Lawrence, in traditional pop music, in the form of ballads and breezy swing. She has earned numerous awards, including the Grammy and the Emmy...
. Receiving promising out-of-town reviews in New Haven and Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, the show was recorded two days before its Broadway opening. However, the New York critics were not enthusiastic, and when it closed it had lost almost all of its $400,000 investment.
The New York Times reviewer wrote: "The voice [of Minnelli] is not yet distinctive... She is going to be a popular singer, all right. It [Flora the Red Menace] has the appearance of being pasted together with bits and pieces. A promising idea has not been enlivened by a creative spark."
The musical was revived at the Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
Vineyard Theatre
Vineyard Theatre
The Vineyard Theatre is an Off-Broadway non-profit theatre company, located at 108 East 15th Street in Manhattan, New York City, near Union Square. Its first production was in 1981...
in December 1987 with a new book by David Thompson. Directed by Scott Ellis
Scott Ellis
Scott Ellis is an American stage director and television director.-Biography:Ellis has directed numerous Off-Broadway and Broadway productions, including the New York City Opera Company revivals at the New York State Theatre: A Little Night Music and 110 in the Shade up to his current show, the...
with choreography by Susan Stroman
Susan Stroman
Susan Stroman is an American theatre director, choreographer, film director, and performer. She has won the Tony Award for both her choreography and direction, notably for the stage musical The Producers.-Early years:...
, Flora was played by Veanne Cox
Veanne Cox
Veanne Cox is an American stage and screen actress and former ballet dancer.Cox was born in Norfolk, Virginia. She studied ballet at the Washington School of Ballet, acting at the Studio Theatre's Conservatory in Washington, D.C., and voice at Catholic University.Her Broadway debut was in the...
with Peter Frechette
Peter Frechette
Peter Frechette is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Born and raised in Coventry, Rhode Island, Frechette earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater from the University of Rhode Island.- Career :...
as Harry.
The most recent professional production in the UK was at Dundee Repertory Theatre
Dundee Repertory Theatre
Dundee Repertory Theatre or Dundee Rep is a theatre and arts company in the city of Dundee, Scotland. It operates as both a producing house - staging at least six of its own productions each year, and a receiving house - hosting work from visiting companies throughout Scotland and the United...
, Scotland, autumn 2003.
42nd Street Moon
42nd Street Moon
42nd Street Moon is a professional theatre company in San Francisco, California. The company specializes in the preservation and presentation of early and lesser-known works by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Kurt Weill, George and Ira Gershwin, Jerome Kern,...
(San Francisco, California) presented the musical in concert in November - December 2006. The "Reprise! Broadway's Best" production at the Freud Theatre (Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
) ran from May 6, 2008 through May 18. The role of Flora was played by Eden Espinosa
Eden Espinosa
Eden Erica Espinosa is an American singer and stage actress, who is best known for her performances as Elphaba for the Broadway, Los Angeles and San Francisco productions of the musical Wicked....
.
In 2011, Flora the Red Menace was staged at Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, with John Kander returning to his alma mater to consult on the production.
Plot synopsis
Headstrong wannabe fashion designer Flora Mezaros is a member of an artists' co-operative of bohemian types - dancers, musicians, designers - struggling to find work during the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Hoping to find a job which pays at least $15 a week, she is hired by the head of a large department store at $30. She falls in love with Harry Toukarian, another struggling designer, who attempts to convert Flora to his Communist ideals. Even though it compromises her job in an organisation which does not recognise the new unions she seeks to hold down both job and relationship. Complicating matters is a predatory Communist matriarch, Comrade Charlotte, who wants Harry for herself, a secretary with designs on her boss, and Kenny and Maggie, a jazz dancing duo with their sights on greater things.
In the end, however, Flora finds herself torn between two vastly different ideals, and has to sacrifice one or the other for true happiness.
In the Vineyard Theatre revival, the story is told as though in a presentation by the Federal Theatre Project
Federal Theatre Project
The Federal Theatre Project was a New Deal project to fund theatre and other live artistic performances in the United States during the Great Depression. It was one of five Federal One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administration...
, part of the WPA
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
established by President Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
(voiced by Art Carney
Art Carney
Arthur William Matthew “Art” Carney was an American actor in film, stage, television and radio. He is best known for playing Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the situation comedy The Honeymooners....
). A company of actors played all the roles, with obvious props and scenery, not trying to hide the 'amateur' look and feel of the show.
Songs
Act I- Prologue—Ensemble
- Unafraid—Flora, Students and Ensemble
- All I Need Is One Good Break—Flora, Harry Toukarian and Artists
- Not Every Day of the Week—Flora and Harry Toukarian
- All I Need Is One Good Break (Reprise) -- Flora, Elsa and The Lady
- Sign Here—Harry Toukarian
- The Flame—Comrade Ada, Harry Toukarian and Comrades
- Palomino Pal—The Lady and Cowboy
- A Quiet Thing—Flora
- Hello, Waves—Harry Toukarian and Flora
- Dear Love—Flora and Ensemble
Act II
- Express Yourself—Comrade Charlotte and Harry Toukarian
- Knock, Knock—Comrade Ada and Cowboy
- Comrade Charlotte's Ballet (The Tree of Life) -- Comrade Charlotte, *Comrade Ada, Harry Toukarian and Ensemble
- Sing Happy—Flora
- You Are You—Mr. Weiss, Elsa, Flora, Mr. Stanley, Lulu, Katie and Joe
- Finale—Entire Company