Editing Florodora

{{Short description|Edwardian musical comedy by Owen Hall, Leslie Stuart, et al.}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox musical
|name= Florodora
|subtitle=
|image= Floradora1.jpg
|caption= 
|music= [[Leslie Stuart]] <br /> [[Paul Rubens (composer)|Paul Rubens]]
|lyrics= Paul Rubens <br /> Edward Boyd-Jones
|book= [[Owen Hall]] <br /> (pseudonym for James Davis)
|basis= 
|productions= 1899 [[West End theatre|West End]] <br /> 1900 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] <br /> 1902 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] [[revival (theatre)|revival]] <br /> 1905 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] [[revival (theatre)|revival]] <br /> 1915 [[West End theatre|West End]] [[revival (theatre)|revival]] <br /> 1920 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] [[revival (theatre)|revival]] <br /> 1931 [[West End theatre|West End]] [[revival (theatre)|revival]] <br /> International tour <br /> 2006 [[West End theatre|West End]] [[revival (theatre)|revival]]
<!-- Please do not include production-specific (acting, directing, etc.) awards -->
|awards= 
}}

'''''Florodora''''' is an [[Edwardian musical comedy]]. After its long run in London, it became one of the first successful [[Broadway theatre|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 (composer)|Paul Rubens]], and the lyrics were by Edward Boyd-Jones, [[George Arthurs]] and Rubens.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/6792 |title=''Florodora'' (1920 production) |website=IBDB.com |publisher=[[Internet Broadway Database]] }}</ref>

The original London production opened in 1899 where it ran for a very successful 455 performances. The New York production, which opened the following year, was even more popular, running for 552 performances. After this, the piece was produced throughout the English-speaking world and beyond. The musical  was famous for its double sextet and its chorus line of "Florodora Girls".<ref name=Miller>Miller, Scott. [https://www.newlinetheatre.com/musicalcomedy.html "Curtain Up, Light the Lights: 1874–1900"], New Line Theatre, 2008, accessed 7 July 2024</ref>

The piece was popular with amateur theatre groups, particularly in Britain, into the 1950s.<ref>Bond, Ian. [http://stdavidsplayers.com/RarelyProducedShows.aspx "Rarely Produced Shows"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716133638/http://stdavidsplayers.com/RarelyProducedShows.aspx |date=2011-07-16 }}. St. David's Players, accessed 22 July 2010</ref>

==Background==
''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 (Edwardian musical)|Havana]]'' (1908).

==Productions==
Upon opening in London on 11 November 1899 at the [[Lyric Theatre, London|Lyric Theatre]], the musical starred [[Evie Greene]], [[Willie Edouin]] and [[Ada Reeve]]. Its original run of 455 performances was unusually long for the time, and it closed in March 1901. The show would prove a training ground for numerous rising stars of the British theatre. After opening at the [[Casino Theatre (New York City)|Casino Theatre]] on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] on 12 November 1900, it moved to the [[Olympia Theatre (New York City)|New York Theatre]] on 14 October 1901 and finally closed on 25 January 1902, a run of 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.<ref>{{cite book|first=Jacques|last=Legrand|title=Chronicle of the 20th Century|publisher=Ecam Publication|year=1987|page=21|ISBN=0-942191-01-3}}</ref>

A good part of the success of the musical was attributed to its [[chorus line|chorines]], called "the English Girls" in the score, but soon popularly dubbed the "Florodora Girls". They consisted of a "sextette of tall, gorgeous damsels, clad in pink walking costumes, black picture hats and carrying frilly parasols [who] swished onto the stage and captivated New York for no other reason than they were utterly stunning."<ref name=Swanberg>[[W. A. Swanberg]], ''Citizen Hearst: A Biography of William Randolph Hearst'', Scribner (1961), p. 225</ref> More than 70 women, each 5&nbsp;ft. 4 in. (about 1.63 m) tall and weighing 130&nbsp;lb (59&nbsp;kg), played these roles in the first run of the play. These women were also the object of a great deal of popular adoration, and many male admirers persuaded chorines to leave show business and settle down.<ref name=Miller/> According to [[W. A. Swanberg]]: "Each member of its original sextette married a millionaire."<ref name=Swanberg/> ''Florodora''{{'}}s famous double sextet, "Tell me pretty maiden", became the most successful show tune of its time.<ref name=Swanberg/> Other songs ranged from traditional waltzes such as "The Silver Star of Love" and "The Fellow Who Might" to the more quirky rhythmic and long-lined dance numbers for which Stuart was known. An [[Cast recording|original cast album]] featured all six original sextet members from the New York Cast: Marie Wilson, Agnes Wayburn, Marjorie Relyea, Vaughn Texsmith, Daisy Green and Margaret Walker. Recorded on a series of six 78 RPM gramophone records with a full libretto enclosed, the album was a first for [[musical theatre]] at that time.<ref name=lyrictheatre>Kenig, Marc. "Reviving a Legend of Musical Theatre", ''The Patter Post'', Lyric Theatre, San Jose, California, May 2009, pp. 6–10</ref> The Florodora Girls included [[Edna Goodrich]],<ref>Aronson, Rudolph. ''Theatrical and Musical Memoirs'', McBride, Nast, and Company (1913)</ref> [[Evelyn Nesbit]]{{sfnp|Uruburu|2008|pp=87–88}} and [[Clarita Vidal]].<ref>"Recruiting the Ranks of the Famous Florodora Sextette", ''San Francisco Examiner'', December 29, 1901, p. 28</ref>

The musical was mounted in Australia in 1900 by [[J. C. Williamson]], where it enjoyed another long run.<ref>Pendennis. [http://www.paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=TO19000310.2.28&e=-------10--1----0-all Observer], ''The Lorgnette'', Volume XX, Issue 1106, 10 March 1900, p. 16</ref> The original production toured for years in the U.S. and was revived on Broadway in 1902, 1905, and 1920.<ref name=Miller/> In addition to the numerous local productions mounted throughout the English-speaking world and beyond, including productions translated into more than a dozen languages, the show toured extensively with numerous local touches.<ref name=lyrictheatre/> London's [[West End theatre|West End]] staged two successful revivals in 1915 and 1931, and several Broadway revivals were staged, the first being mounted only a year after the closing of the original production in 1901 followed by another three years later. Among later revivals, a young [[Milton Berle]] played one of the ''Florodora Boys'' in a production mounted for the 1920–21 Broadway season.<ref name=lyrictheatre/> The musical was revived at the [[Finborough Theatre]] in January 2006 for its first professional London production in many years.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk/archive/archive_florodora.htm |title=Information from the Finborough Theatre archive page |access-date=24 June 2007 |archive-date=18 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070918213255/http://www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk/archive/archive_florodora.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Synopsis==
===Act I===
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's 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.

[[File:Floropgm1900.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.3|Souvenir programme cover, Broadway (1900)]]
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.

[[File:Florodora sextet.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|The famous double sextet, "Tell me pretty maiden", in the New York production, 1900]]
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==
[[File:Ada Reeve (1874–1966) as Lady Holyrood in Florodora.png|thumb|upright|Ada Reeve as Lady Holyrood]]
*Cyrus W. Gilfain – Charles E. Stevens (Proprietor of the perfume factory and holder of the island of Florodora)
*Frank Abercoed – Melville Stewart (Manager, for Cyrus, of the island of Florodora)
*Leandro – Frank Holt (Overseer of Farms)
*Capt. Arthur Donegal – Edgar Stevens (4th Royal Life Guards – Lady Holyrood's brother)
*Anthony Tweedlepunch – [[Willie Edouin]] (Detective disguised as a phrenologist, hypnotist & palmist)
*Gilfain's clerks: Tennyson Sims, Ernest Pym, Max Aepfelbaum and Reginald Langdale – Roy Horniman, Ernest Lambart, Alfred Barron and Frank Hascoll
*Dolores – [[Evie Greene]] (Rightful heir to the island)
*Valleda – Nancy Girling (Florodorean maid to Lady Holyrood and head of one of the farms)
*Angela Gilfain – [[Kate Cutler]] (daughter of Gilfain)
*Lady Holyrood – [[Ada Reeve]]
*Farmers, flower-girls and others

==Musical numbers==
{{Listen|type=music|header=Music from ''Florodora''
|filename=Florodora - In the shade of the palm.ogg
|title="In the shade of the palm"
|description=First line: "There is a garden fair"; c. 1908 [[Edison Records]] recording by [[Frank C. Stanley]]
|filename2=Florodora - Tell me pretty maiden.ogg
|title2="Tell me pretty maiden"
|description2=C. 1908 Edison Records recording by the "Edison Sextette" ([[Ada Jones]], George S. Lenox, Corinne Morgan, Grace Nelson, Bob Roberts and Frank C. Stanley)}}
;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 – "In the shade of the palm"
*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==
* "I Was a Florodora Baby" was a 1920 song with music by [[Harry Carroll]] and lyrics by [[Ballard MacDonald]] introduced by [[Fanny Brice]] in the ''[[Ziegfeld Follies]]''.<ref>Carroll, Harry and Ballard MacDonald. [https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200004196 "I Was a Florodora Baby"], Library of Congress, accessed July 28, 2017</ref>
* The musical film ''[[The Florodora Girl]]'' (1930) stars [[Marion Davies]] as a chorus girl playing one of the English girls in the original [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] production of ''Florodora''.<ref name=lyrictheatre/>
* In the 1935 film ''[[The Girl from 10th Avenue]]'', a landlady, Mrs. Martin ([[Alison Skipworth]]) recalls her days as a Florodora Girl throughout the movie.<ref>Nash, Patrick. [http://www.threemoviebuffs.com/review/girl-from-10th-avenue.html "The Girl from 10th Avenue"], ''Three Movie Buffs'', January 1, 2011, accessed August 30, 2017</ref>
* A subplot in the [[Our Gang|Little Rascals]] film ''[[Our Gang Follies of 1936]]'' revolves around the specialty act "The Flory-Dory Sixtet" {{sic}}, and their failure to appear at the revue that the Little Rascals present.<ref>[http://www.tv.com/shows/little-rascals/our-gang-follies-of-1936-220406 ''Our Gang Follies of 1936''], TV.com, accessed June 28, 2017</ref>
* In the film ''[[On the Town (film)|On the Town]]'', Chip ([[Frank Sinatra]]) is picking sights to see from an out-of-date guidebook and sings, in "Come Up to My Place", that he wants to see a "girly show" called the "Flora Dora Girl".<ref>[https://www.angelfire.com/musicals/thats_entertainment/comeuptomyplace.html "Come Up to My Place"], Angelfire.com, accessed June 28, 2017</ref>
* The Floradora cocktail is named after the musical.<ref>Graham, Colleen. [https://www.thespruceeats.com/floradora-cocktail-recipe-760079 "Floradora Cocktail: A Classic Straight From Broadway"], TheSpruceEats.com, accessed October 28, 2019</ref>
<!-- PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE passing mentions. Only substantial references or performances of songs from the show. See [[WP:IPC]]. -->

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Uruburu |first=Paula |title=American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, the Birth of the 'It' Girl, and the Crime of the Century |publisher=[[Riverhead Books]] |edition=1st|type=hardcover|year=2008 |isbn=978-1594489938 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781594489938 }}

==Further reading==
* Baatz, Simon, ''The Girl on the Velvet Swing: Sex, Murder, and Madness at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century'' (New York: Little, Brown, 2018) {{ISBN|978-0316396653}}
* Brazier, Nina: "Reviving ''Florodora''" in ''The Gaiety'', Spring 2006, pp.&nbsp;9–14. Editor: Roderick Murray.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{IBDB show}}
*[https://archive.org/details/florodoramusical00stua Vocal score]
*[https://archive.today/20091026042459/http://www.geocities.com/yazik483/florodora.html Script]
*[http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_f/florodora.htm ''Florodora'' at The Guide to Musical Theatre]
* [http://www.nypl.org/blog/2011/07/08/musical-month-florodora ''Florodora'': NYPL Musical of the Month]
*[http://static.nypl.org/MOTM/Florodora/FlorodoraProgram.pdf Original program for 1900 New York production]
*[http://gsarchive.net/british/florodora/index.html Midi files and cast list]
*[http://www.stagebeauty.net/th-frames.html?http&&&www.stagebeauty.net/th-longr.html List of longest running plays in London and New York]
*[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LaZdm_ZwV6A/SmsZMMxJBuI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/MnOStC5naU8/s1600-h/Florodora+days.jpg Florodora used in advertising]
*[http://www.oldandsold.com/opera/opera-90.shtml Analysis and synopsis]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20010511041714/http://www.geocities.com/musictheater/floro/floroplot.html Lengthy synopsis]
*[http://search.slv.vic.gov.au/permalink/f/1cl35st/SLV_VOYAGER3230107 Souvenir of the 100th performance in Melbourne of ''Florodora'' 1901 at State Library Victoria]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Broadway musicals]]
[[Category:1899 musicals]]
[[Category:Original musicals]]
[[Category:British musicals]]
[[Category:Musicals set in the Philippines]]
[[Category:Musicals set in factories]]
[[Category:Musicals set in castles]]
[[Category:Musicals set on ships]]
[[Category:Musicals set in Wales]]
[[Category:Compositions by Leslie Stuart]]