Flora the Red Menace
musical
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 original 1965 production starred Liza Minnelli in the title role in her Broadway debut, for which she won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. The show marked the first collaboration of Kander and Ebb, who went on to write the Broadway and Hollywood hits Cabaret and Chicago.
While only two numbers ("A Quiet Thing" and "Sing Happy") became notable outside the show, the score does present a valuable insight into the later work of Kander and Ebb: like Cabaret and Chicago, it features a headstrong heroine and has a strong dose of political content.
Productions
Flora the Red Menace opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on May 11, 1965, and closed on July 24, 1965, after 87 performances. The cast featured Liza Minnelli as Flora, Bob Dishy as Harry Toukarian and Cathryn Damon as Comrade Charlotte. Direction was by George Abbott, choreography by Lee Theodore, with scenic design by William and Jean Eckart, costume design by Donald Brooks and lighting design by Tharon Musser. The poster art was by cartoonist-playwright Herb Gardner.
Liza Minnelli won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, the youngest person to have done so at age 19.
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.
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