Flora the Red Menace

Flora the Red Menace is a musical with a book by David Thompson, music by John Kander, and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The musical starred Liza Minnelli in the title role in her Broadway debut, for which she won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. This was the first collaboration between Kander and Ebb, who later wrote Broadway and Hollywood hits such as Cabaret and Chicago. Although not full of well-known or show-stopping numbers, the score does... more

Flora the Red Menace is a musical with a book by David Thompson, music by John Kander, and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The musical starred Liza Minnelli in the title role in her Broadway debut, for which she won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. This was the first collaboration between Kander and Ebb, who later wrote Broadway and Hollywood hits such as Cabaret and Chicago. Although not full of well-known or show-stopping numbers, the score does present a valuable insight into the later work of Kander and Ebb. Like Cabaret and Chicago, it features a headstrong heroine with passion and idealism, and has a strong dose of political content. Flora the Red Menace opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on May 11, 1965 and closed on July 24, 1965, after 87 performances. Minnelli won the Tony Award, the youngest person to do so at age 19, until Frankie Michaels won in 1966 at age 11. Flora was not written for Minnelli, as is sometimes said; Robert Russell was rumored to have written the... less