Florodora
Encyclopedia
Florodora is an Edwardian musical comedy
and became one of the first successful Broadway
musicals of the 20th century. The book was written by Jimmy Davis under the pseudonym Owen Hall
, the music was by Leslie Stuart
with additional songs by Paul Rubens
, and the lyrics were by Edward Boyd-Jones and Rubens.
The original London production opened in 1899 where it ran for a very successful 455 performances. The New York production, opening in 1900 was even more popular, running for 552 performances. After this, the piece was produced throughout the English-speaking world and beyond. The show was famous for its double sextet and its chorus line of "Florodora Girls".
The piece was popular with amateur theatre groups, particularly in Britain, into the 1950s.
, where it ran for 455 performances, closing in March 1901. The original cast included Evie Greene
, Willie Edouin
and Ada Reeve
. It then moved to New York
in 1900 (first at the Casino Theatre) and ran for an astonishing 552 performances – the first instance of a London production achieving such a Broadway run, and the third longest run on Broadway of any theatre piece up to that time. J. C. Williamson
brought Florodora to Australia in 1900. Florodora toured extensively and internationally (including translated productions), and there were numerous local productions throughout the English-speaking world and beyond. The first musical theatre
"cast recording
" was made of the show. Successful revivals played in London in 1915 and 1931 and in New York in 1902, 1905 and 1920 (Milton Berle
was one of the Florodora Boys in this production). It was revived in January 2006 at the Finborough Theatre
for the first professional London production that it had enjoyed in many years.
Florodora's famous double sextet, "Tell Me Pretty Maiden", became the most successful show tune of its time. Other songs ranged from traditional waltzes ("The Silver Star of Love" and "The Fellow Who Might") to the more quirkily rhythmic and long-lined numbers for which Stuart was known. A good part of the success of the musical was attributed to its lovely sextet of chorines
, called "the English Girls" in the score, but soon popularly dubbed the "Florodora Girls". These six roles were filled by identically sized women, all 5 ft. 4 in. (about 1.63 m) and 130 lb (59 kg), and were the object of popular adoration: young male admirers persuaded many to leave the show to marry them, and more than 70 women played these roles in the first run of the play in New York. The six women who were the original sextet members in New York were: Marie Wilson, Agnes Wayburn, Marjorie Relyea, Vaughn Texsmith, Daisy Green and Margaret Walker. A 1930 MGM film starring Marion Davies
was called The Florodora Girl.
Florodora was the first of a series of successful musicals by Stuart, including The Silver Slipper (1901), The School Girl
(1903), The Belle of Mayfair
(1906), and Havana
(1908).
In Florodora, a small island in the Philippines
, the popular fragrance "Florodora" is manufactured from the essence of the Florodora flower. The perfume factory, along with the island itself, is owned by Cyrus W. Gilfain, an American who finagled the business away from Dolores' family and is now the island’s reigning sovereign and sole employer. Although Dolores is now forced to work for Gilfain, she remains optimistic. Frank Abercoed, who is really Lord Abercoed in disguise, has arrived on the island to act as Gilfain's manager. He is immediately smitten with Dolores, and she with him.
Aboard a ship docked at the Florodora harbor are Lady Holyrood, titled but penniless, who has come to Florodora at Gilfain's suggestion to find a husband -- specifically, Frank. She is accompanied by Gilfain, his daughter Angela, who is betrothed to Captain Arthur Donegal, Lady Holyrood's brother, and several of Angela's friends (the "English Girls"), who intrigue Gilfain's clerks. Also aboard the ship is Anthony Tweedlepunch, a detective who is searching for the girl who rightfully owns the perfume business. He comes to the island disguised as a traveling showman, phrenologist, hypnotist, and palmist.
Gilfain discovers that Frank and Dolores have fallen in love. In an effort to thwart Dolores' rightful claim to the Florodora fortune, Gilfain plans to marry her himself. He hires Tweedlepunch, who he thinks is an actor, to break up the love affair between Dolores and Frank, thereby making Frank available to marry Angela. By presenting Tweedlepunch as a highly respected phrenologist, Gilfain plots to marry off his clerks to the heads of the Florodora farms (all young island girls), thereby attaining even more control of the island. Tweedlepunch plays along, duly examining everyone's cranial bumps of love to pronounce the proper marriage couples.
Frank refuses to marry Angela, and Gilfain discharges him. Gilfain, based on the fraudulent pronouncements of Tweedlepunch, has decreed that the clerks will wed the island girls or be discharged. Everyone is upset. Frank must now return to England, and he tells Dolores he must go but will return for her if she waits patiently. Everyone meets at the dock to see Frank off.
Act II
Six months later, Gilfain has managed to become the owner of Abercoed Castle, Frank's ancestral home in Wales, and everyone has travelled there. Gilfain's clerks, having been discharged rather than marry the island girls, finally meet up with their English girls (Angela's friends). Tweedlepunch has finally realized that Dolores is the rightful heir to the Florodora fortune. He tells her that her father was his only friend, and that he will help her retrieve her family business. They break into the Abercoed castle but are surprised by a chorus of lords and ladies who demand to know who they are. In desperation they try to convince everyone that they are the evening’s entertainment.
Lady Holyrood, with no prospective husbands in sight, decides that Gilfain will become her next husband. Frank, who has been refused entrance to the castle by Gilfain, defies orders and maneuvers his way inside the courtyard. There he sees Dolores for the first time since he left the island. After some confusion, Frank tells Dolores that he is really Lord Abercoed and was unable to return to her in Florodora because he was trying to keep Gilfain from acquiring his ancestral home. Tweedlepunch finally confronts Gilfain and spins a wild ghost yarn that terrifies Gilfain into admitting that he has stolen the perfume business. Gilfain returns the properties he has taken from Dolores and Frank. Frank marries Dolores; Gilfain marries Lady Holyrood; and Angela, marries Captain Donegal.
Act I
Act II
Supplementary numbers
Edwardian Musical Comedy
Edwardian musical comedies were British musical theatre shows from the period between the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the American musicals by Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart, George Gershwin and Cole Porter following World War I.Between...
and became one of the first successful Broadway
Broadway 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...
musicals of the 20th century. The book was written by Jimmy Davis under the pseudonym Owen Hall
Owen Hall
Owen Hall was the pen name of the Irish-born 19th and early 20th century theatre writer and theatre critic James Davis when writing for the stage...
, the music was by Leslie Stuart
Leslie Stuart
Leslie Stuart was an English composer of early musical theatre, best known for the hit show Florodora and many popular songs. Stuart began writing songs in the late 1870s, including songs for blackface performers, such as "Lily of Laguna"; songs for musical theatre; and ballads such as "Soldiers...
with additional songs by Paul Rubens
Paul Rubens (composer)
Paul Alfred Rubens was an English songwriter and librettist who wrote some of the most popular Edwardian musical comedies of the early twentieth century. He contributed to the success of dozens of musicals....
, and the lyrics were by Edward Boyd-Jones and Rubens.
The original London production opened in 1899 where it ran for a very successful 455 performances. The New York production, opening in 1900 was even more popular, running for 552 performances. After this, the piece was produced throughout the English-speaking world and beyond. The show was famous for its double sextet and its chorus line of "Florodora Girls".
The piece was popular with amateur theatre groups, particularly in Britain, into the 1950s.
Background
The show originally opened in London on 11 November 1899 at the Lyric TheatreLyric Theatre (London)
The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster.Designed by architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson hit, Dorothy, which he transferred from the Prince of Wales Theatre to open...
, where it ran for 455 performances, closing in March 1901. The original cast included Evie Greene
Evie Greene
Edith Elizabeth Greene was a much-photographed English actress and singer who played in Edwardian musical comedies in London and on Broadway. She is most notable for starring as Dolores, the central character in the international hit musical Florodora...
, Willie Edouin
Willie Edouin
Willie Edouin was an English comedian, actor, dancer, singer, writer, director and theatre manager.After performing as a child in England, Australia and elsewhere, Edouin moved to America, where he joined Lydia Thompson's burlesque troupe, performing with this company both in the U.S. and Britain...
and Ada Reeve
Ada Reeve
Ada Reeve was an English actress of both stage and film. Reeve began to perform in pantomime and music hall as a child. She gained fame in Edwardian musical comedies in the 1890s....
. It then moved to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1900 (first at the Casino Theatre) and ran for an astonishing 552 performances – the first instance of a London production achieving such a Broadway run, and the third longest run on Broadway of any theatre piece up to that time. J. C. Williamson
J. C. Williamson
James Cassius Williamson was an American actor and later Australia's foremost theatrical manager, founding J. C. Williamson Ltd....
brought Florodora to Australia in 1900. Florodora toured extensively and internationally (including translated productions), and there were numerous local productions throughout the English-speaking world and beyond. The first musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
"cast recording
Cast recording
A cast recording is a recording of a musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording, as the name implies, features the voices of the show's original cast...
" was made of the show. Successful revivals played in London in 1915 and 1931 and in New York in 1902, 1905 and 1920 (Milton Berle
Milton Berle
Milton Berlinger , better known as Milton Berle, was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater , in 1948 he was the first major star of U.S. television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr...
was one of the Florodora Boys in this production). It was revived in January 2006 at the Finborough Theatre
Finborough Theatre
The Finborough Theatre is a fifty seat theatre in the Earls Court area of London, United Kingdom , which presents new British writing, UK and premieres of new plays, primarily from the English speaking world including North America, Canada, Scotland and Ireland, music theatre, and rarely seen...
for the first professional London production that it had enjoyed in many years.
Florodora's famous double sextet, "Tell Me Pretty Maiden", became the most successful show tune of its time. Other songs ranged from traditional waltzes ("The Silver Star of Love" and "The Fellow Who Might") to the more quirkily rhythmic and long-lined numbers for which Stuart was known. A good part of the success of the musical was attributed to its lovely sextet of chorines
Chorus line
A chorus line is a substantial group of dancers who together perform synchronized routines, usually in musical theatre. Sometimes, singing is also performed. Chorus line dancers in Broadway musicals and revues have been referred to by slang terms such as ponies, gypsies and twirlies...
, called "the English Girls" in the score, but soon popularly dubbed the "Florodora Girls". These six roles were filled by identically sized women, all 5 ft. 4 in. (about 1.63 m) and 130 lb (59 kg), and were the object of popular adoration: young male admirers persuaded many to leave the show to marry them, and more than 70 women played these roles in the first run of the play in New York. The six women who were the original sextet members in New York were: Marie Wilson, Agnes Wayburn, Marjorie Relyea, Vaughn Texsmith, Daisy Green and Margaret Walker. A 1930 MGM film starring Marion Davies
Marion Davies
Marion Davies was an American film actress. Davies is best remembered for her relationship with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, as her high-profile social life often obscured her professional career....
was called The Florodora Girl.
Florodora was the first of a series of successful musicals by Stuart, including The Silver Slipper (1901), The School Girl
The School Girl
The School Girl is a musical comedy, in two acts, composed by Leslie Stuart with a book by Henry Hamilton and Paul M. Potter, and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor and others...
(1903), The Belle of Mayfair
The Belle of Mayfair
The Belle of Mayfair is a musical comedy composed by Leslie Stuart with a book by Basil Hood, Charles Brookfield and Cosmo Hamilton. The story is inspired by the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet....
(1906), and Havana
Havana (Edwardian musical)
Havana is an Edwardian musical comedy in three acts, with a book by George Grossmith, Jr. and Graham Hill, music by Leslie Stuart, lyrics by Adrian Ross and additional lyrics by George Arthurs. It premiered on 25 April 1908 at the Gaiety Theatre, London, starring Evie Greene as Consuelo, W. H....
(1908).
Synopsis
Act IIn Florodora, a small island in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, the popular fragrance "Florodora" is manufactured from the essence of the Florodora flower. The perfume factory, along with the island itself, is owned by Cyrus W. Gilfain, an American who finagled the business away from Dolores' family and is now the island’s reigning sovereign and sole employer. Although Dolores is now forced to work for Gilfain, she remains optimistic. Frank Abercoed, who is really Lord Abercoed in disguise, has arrived on the island to act as Gilfain's manager. He is immediately smitten with Dolores, and she with him.
Gilfain discovers that Frank and Dolores have fallen in love. In an effort to thwart Dolores' rightful claim to the Florodora fortune, Gilfain plans to marry her himself. He hires Tweedlepunch, who he thinks is an actor, to break up the love affair between Dolores and Frank, thereby making Frank available to marry Angela. By presenting Tweedlepunch as a highly respected phrenologist, Gilfain plots to marry off his clerks to the heads of the Florodora farms (all young island girls), thereby attaining even more control of the island. Tweedlepunch plays along, duly examining everyone's cranial bumps of love to pronounce the proper marriage couples.
Frank refuses to marry Angela, and Gilfain discharges him. Gilfain, based on the fraudulent pronouncements of Tweedlepunch, has decreed that the clerks will wed the island girls or be discharged. Everyone is upset. Frank must now return to England, and he tells Dolores he must go but will return for her if she waits patiently. Everyone meets at the dock to see Frank off.
Act II
Six months later, Gilfain has managed to become the owner of Abercoed Castle, Frank's ancestral home in Wales, and everyone has travelled there. Gilfain's clerks, having been discharged rather than marry the island girls, finally meet up with their English girls (Angela's friends). Tweedlepunch has finally realized that Dolores is the rightful heir to the Florodora fortune. He tells her that her father was his only friend, and that he will help her retrieve her family business. They break into the Abercoed castle but are surprised by a chorus of lords and ladies who demand to know who they are. In desperation they try to convince everyone that they are the evening’s entertainment.
Lady Holyrood, with no prospective husbands in sight, decides that Gilfain will become her next husband. Frank, who has been refused entrance to the castle by Gilfain, defies orders and maneuvers his way inside the courtyard. There he sees Dolores for the first time since he left the island. After some confusion, Frank tells Dolores that he is really Lord Abercoed and was unable to return to her in Florodora because he was trying to keep Gilfain from acquiring his ancestral home. Tweedlepunch finally confronts Gilfain and spins a wild ghost yarn that terrifies Gilfain into admitting that he has stolen the perfume business. Gilfain returns the properties he has taken from Dolores and Frank. Frank marries Dolores; Gilfain marries Lady Holyrood; and Angela, marries Captain Donegal.
Roles and original cast
- Cyrus W. Gilfain (Proprietor of the perfume factory and holder of the island of Florodora) – Charles E. Stevens
- Frank Abercoed (Manager for Cyrus Gilfain of the island of Florodora) – Melville Stewart
- Leandro (Overseer of Farms) – Frank Holt
- Capt. Arthur Donegal (4th Royal Life Guards - Lady Holyrood's brother) – Edgar Stevens
- Tennyson Sims, Ernest Pym, Max Aepfelbaum, Reginald Langdale (Gilfain's clerks) – Roy Horniman, Ernest Lambart, Alfred Barron, Frank Hascoll
- Anthony Tweedlepunch (A Detective disguised as a phrenologist, hypnotist & palmist) – Willie Edouin
- Dolores (The rightful heir to the island) – Evie GreeneEvie GreeneEdith Elizabeth Greene was a much-photographed English actress and singer who played in Edwardian musical comedies in London and on Broadway. She is most notable for starring as Dolores, the central character in the international hit musical Florodora...
- Valleda (A Florodorean girl, maid to Lady Holyrood and head of one of the farms) – Nancy Girling
- Angela Gilfain (The daughter of Gilfain) – Kate CutlerKate CutlerKate Ellen Louisa Cutler was an English singer and actress, known in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as an ingénue in musical comedies, and later as a character actress in comic and dramatic plays...
- Lady Holyrood – Ada ReeveAda ReeveAda Reeve was an English actress of both stage and film. Reeve began to perform in pantomime and music hall as a child. She gained fame in Edwardian musical comedies in the 1890s....
- Farmers, flower-girls and others.
Musical numbers
Music from Florodora |
Act I
- No. 1 - Chorus - "Flowers a-blooming so gay"
- No. 2 - The Clerks' Song - Sims, Pym, Aepfelbaum, Langdale, Crogan and Scott - "The credit's due to me."
- No. 3 - Dolores - "Bright silver star of love"
- No. 4 - Dolores and Abercoed - "If you're in love with somebody"
- No. 5 - Chorus of Welcome - "Hurrah! The master comes!"
- No. 6 - English Girls and Clerks - "Come, take us round to see the sights"
- No. 7 - Lady Holyrood - "I'm a lady, don't forget, with a sense of etiquette"
- No. 8 - Angela and Donegal - "Love in his youth is a fiery steed"
- No. 9 - Lady Holyrood, Gilfain and Tweedlepunch - "I want to marry a man, I do"
- No. 10 - Angela and Chorus - "There was a maiden decidedly fair"
- No. 11 - Gilfain - "There is nothing we disparage"
- No. 12 - Lady Holyrood, Donegal and Angela - "When an interfering person such as you"
- No. 13 - Abercoed - "There is a garden fair"
- No. 14 - Finale Act I - "Hey! hey! Alack-a-day! Our loving hearts asunder"
Act II
- No. 15 - Chorus - "Come, lads and lasses, trip your light and airy..."
- No. 16 - Lady Holyrood - "There are people who have tried to be smart and dignified..."
- No. 17 - Gilfain - "When you're a millionaire..."
- No. 18 - English Girls and Clerks - "Tell me, pretty maiden, are there any more at home like you?"
- No. 19 - Lady Holyrood - "Now I've met, in my time, some curious men"
- No. 20 - Finale - "And the nation will declare"
Supplementary numbers
- No. 21 - Dolores - "In the Philippines lived a maiden fair"
- No. 22 - Valleda and Leandro - "A maid's career is skittles and beer"
- No. 23 - Donegal - "I want to be a military man."
- No. 24 - Dolores - "A woman's love is but a tender flow'r"
- No. 25 - Angela - "Willie was a gay boy."
- No. 26 - Dolores and Tweedlepunch - "We're both on the stage, we two"
- No. 27 - Dolores - "Far away on the ocean of sunshine and foam"
In popular culture
- The musical film The Florodora Girl (1930) stars Marion DaviesMarion DaviesMarion Davies was an American film actress. Davies is best remembered for her relationship with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, as her high-profile social life often obscured her professional career....
as a chorus girl playing one of the English girls in the original BroadwayBroadway theatreBroadway 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...
production of Florodora. - A subplot in the Our GangOur GangOur Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
("Little Rascals") film Our Gang Follies of 1936Our Gang Follies of 1936Our Gang Follies of 1936 is a 1935 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gus Meins. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 140st Our Gang short to be released and the first of several musical entries in the series.-Plot:The gang stages a big musical revue...
revolves around the highly touted specialty act "The Flory-Dory Sixtet" , and their failure to appear at the Little Rascals' show. - In the film On the TownOn the Town (film)On the Town is a 1949 musical film with music by Leonard Bernstein and Roger Edens and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. It is an adaptation of the Broadway stage musical of the same name produced in 1944, although many changes in script and score were made from the original stage...
, Chip (Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
) rides with Brunhilde Esterhazy (Betty GarrettBetty GarrettBetty Garrett was an American actress, comedienne, singer and dancer who originally performed on Broadway before being signed to a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
), a female cab driver, who sings that she wants him to "Come Up to My Place." He is picking sights to see from an out-of-date guidebook and tells her that he wants to see the Florodora Girls. She informs him that the show closed many years ago. - In The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
episode "Queen of the NileQueen of the Nile (The Twilight Zone)"Queen of the Nile" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:Columnist Jordan Herrick, a noted cynic, prepares to interview famed actress Pamela Morris. She is known for her vitality and beauty, and many want to know her secret to staying young and...
" there is a mention that the non-aging actress looked like a Florodora Girl.
External links
- The Guide to Musical Theatre - Floradora
- Vocal score
- Script of Florodora
- Original program for 1900 New York production
- Midis and cast list
- YouTube clip of the Florodora sextet from the 1930 film, intended to recreate the original staging
- List of longest running plays in London and New York
- May 2008 production in Sydney, Australia
- August 2009 revival in Mountain View, California
- Florodora used in advertising
- Women in costume as the Florodora Girls
