Kander and Ebb's Revised Flora the Red Menace Will Bow in Texas

John Kander

Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/147405-Kander-and-Ebbs-Revised-Flora-the-Red-Menace-Will-Bow-in-Texas
By Adam Hetrick

07 Feb 2011

John Kander and Fred Ebb's rarely-produced Broadway musical Flora the Red Menace will get a lucky break at Irving, TX's Lyric Stage beginning Feb. 11.


Actress Kristin Dausch, who performed the role of Fanny Brice in the Lyric production of Funny Girl last season, will take on the role of Flora Mezaros, which was originated on Broadway by Liza Minnelli.

Anne Nieman will direct and choreograph the production, which will run Feb. 11-26 at the Irving Arts Center. Scott A. Eckert will serve as music director. The Lyric staging will reflect the 1987 Off-Broadway rewrite of Flora, which features a book by David Thompson (The Scottsboro Boys, Steel Pier).

Flora, which debuted on Broadway in 1965, marked the first Broadway collaboration between young songwriters John Kander and Fred Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman). The original book is by George Abbott and Robert Russell.


Though it only lasted for 87 performances on Broadway, Flora introduced Broadway audiences to a 19-year-old Minnelli, who earned her first Tony Award for starring in the title role. It also aligned Kander and Ebb with director Harold Prince, who produced the Broadway run.


In addition to Dausch, the cast will include Danielle Estes, Katharine Gentsch, Jeff McGee, Doug Miller, Thomas Christopher Renner, Calvin Roberts, Jaclyn Stapp and Keith J. Warren.

According to the Lyric, "Flora the Red Menace follows headstrong wannabe fashion illustrator Flora Mezaros, a member of an artists' co-operative of bohemian types struggling to find work during the Depression. Hoping to find a job paying at least $15 a week, she is hired by a large department store for $30. Flora falls in love with Harry Toukarian, another struggling artist, who attempts to convert her to his Communist ideals. Even though it compromises her job at the department store, Flora seeks to hold down both job and relationship."


Flora will have sound design by Bill Eickenloff, costume design by David Blades, lighting design by Julie Moroney and properties by Jane Quetin.


For tickets phone (972) 252-2787 or visit LyricStage.