Flower Drum Song
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Flower Drum Song is a Broadway musical with a score by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The book for the musical was written by Hammerstein and Joseph Fields, based on the novel Flower Drum Song by C.Y. Lee. The original production opened in 1958 and starred Miyoshi Umeki, Pat Suzuki, Juanita Hall, Larry Blyden, Ed Kenney, Jack Soo, and Arabella Hong and ran for 600 performances at the St. James Theatre.
Contents |
[edit] The plot (1958 version)
The story concerns a young woman named Mei Li, who is brought from China to San Francisco to enter into an arranged marriage; she ends up living in the house of Master Wang. Her intended is already involved with a showgirl, Linda Low, and does his best to dissuade Mei Li from marrying him -- but dissolving the marriage contract is harder than either of them imagine. In the meantime, Mei Li has fallen shyly in love with Master Wang's son Wang Ta, unaware that the fickle Linda is making a play for him, too. Much more confusion occurs before things resolve.
[edit] Subsequent productions
In 1961 the musical was made into a movie, starring Nancy Kwan as Linda Low, James Shigeta, Benson Fong, Jack Soo, and original Broadway cast members Umeki and Hall. The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color; Best Cinematography, Color; Best Costume Design, Color; Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Sound. Among various changes for the film, the song "Like a God" was omitted. The movie was unusual in featuring a nearly all Asian American cast, including dancers.
In 2002, a revival of the show opened on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre. With an entirely new book by David Henry Hwang, and a number of changes in the music (including new lyrics for a couple of songs, one number cut, and another cut number reinstated). Some aspects were added to the plot that might come from a course on Asian American studies, along with a gay character.
The production was directed and choreographed by Robert Longbottom and starred Lea Salonga and Jose Llana. The production ran for 169 performances, the shortest ever run for any Rodgers and Hammerstein musical in New York City, though it also toured many other US cities. In defending his decision to rewrite the original book, Hwang stated, "I tried to write the book that Oscar Hammerstein would have written if he were Asian-American."
The 1961 movie was released on DVD on November 7th 2006.
[edit] I Enjoy Being a Girl
Although being among the least successful of the R&H musicals, the song "I enjoy being a girl" has been widely used in other movies, and has become a very familiar tune to most Americans, despite its lack of modern political correctness. Few know that it comes from a musical about Chinese Americans. It was famously covered by lesbian folksinger Phranc. As of October 2006, there were 13 versions of the song on YouTube, including performances by Pat Suzuki and parodies based on Harry Potter and Battlestar Galactica.
[edit] History
[edit] Vocal numbers
- You Are Beautiful
- A Hundred Million Miracles
- I Enjoy Being a Girl
- I Am Going To Like It Here
- Like a God
- Chop Suey
- Don't Marry Me
- Grant Avenue
- Love, Look Away
- The Other Generation
- Sunday
- Fan-Tan Fanny
[edit] External links
| Musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein |
|---|
| Oklahoma! • State Fair • Carousel • Allegro • South Pacific • The King and I • Me and Juliet • Pipe Dream • Cinderella • Flower Drum Song • The Sound of Music |
