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Rodgers & Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song

Mei Li has come from China to San Francisco to marry Sammy Fong, a nightclub owner who is already in love with a dancer at his establishment. By turns raucous and heartfelt, this delightful Rodgers & Hammerstein musical embraces the new while honoring the old.

More information

Description

  • Full Length Musical
  • Dramatic Comedy
  • 120 minutes

  • Time Period: 1950s
  • Target Audience: Appropriate for all audiences
  • Set Requirements: Unit Set/Multiple Settings
  • Orchestra Size: X-Large

  • Performance Group:
  • Elementary School / Primary, Community Theatre, High School/Secondary, Professional Theatre, College Theatre / Student, Church / Religious Groups

  • Accolades:
  • Nominee! 6 Tony Awards including Best Musical (1959)
Mei Li has come from China to San Francisco to marry nightclub owner Sammy Fong. But Sammy loves Linda Low, a dancer at his establishment. His friend Wang Ta is urged to marry Mei Li, even though he is promised to Linda. After farcical trifles, a torn Wang Ta eventually realizes it is Mei Li whom he loves after all, and they happily marry.
REVIEWS:

"FLOWER DRUM SONG continues to live and breathe, and sing, as joyously as it did three and a half decades in the past...Revolutionary for its time, it continues to be so in ours."

Inside Asian America

"Another notable work by the outstanding craftsmen of our musical theatre...a lovely show, an outstanding one in theme and treatment."

New York Daily Mirror
Premiere Production:

Flower Drum Song opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on December 1, 1958, starring Miyoshi Umeki, Pat Suzuki, Larry Blyden, Juanita Hall and Ed Kenney. The show ran for 600 performances. Flower Drum Song returned to Broadway in 2002, with a revised book by David Henry Hwang. The revival, which opened on October 17, 2002, starred Lea Salonga, Sandra Allen and Jose Llana.

Characters

  • Casting: 5M, 6F
  • Casting Attributes: Strong Role for Leading Woman (Star Vehicle), Roles for Multicultural Casting, Roles for Children
  • Chorus Size: Large

  • Flower Drum Song is set in San Francisco’s Chinatown, 1958. The characters are Chinese or Chinese American, and the roles should be cast accordingly. The use of make-up or prosthetics to alter an actor's ethnicity is prohibited.

    MADAM LIANG
    LIU MA
    WANG SAN
    WANG TA
    WANG CHI YANG
    SAMMY FONG
    DR. LI
    MEL LI
    LINDA LOW
    MR. LUNG (The Tailor)
    MR. HUAN (The Banker)
    HELEN CHAO
    PROFESSOR CHENG
    FRANKIE WING
    HEAD WAITER
    NIGHT CLUB SINGER
    DR. LU FONG
    MADAM FONG
    DANCING ENSEMBLE
    CHILDREN

    • Available Material

    Name Price
    Perusal Material Shipped immediately. This is optional. Order Now

    1 x Libretto/Vocal Books
    1 x Piano Vocal Scores

    		$24.00
    Rehearsal Material Shipped a minimum of 3 months before the last performance. This must be hired as a condition of the License to produce this show.

    20 x Libretto/Vocal Books
    2 x Piano Vocal Scores

    		$550.00 +$135.00/pm
    Orchestral Material Shipped a minimum of 1 month before the last performance. This is optional.

    1 x Piano Vocal Score
    1 x Flute I (Doubling Piccolo, Alto Flute)
    1 x Flute II (Doubling Piccolo)
    1 x Oboe (Doubling English Horn)
    1 x Clarinet I (Doubling Alto Sax)
    1 x Clarinet II (Doubling Alto Sax)
    1 x Horn I - II
    1 x Trumpet I - II
    1 x Trumpet III
    1 x Trombone I
    1 x Trombone II
    1 x Tuba
    1 x Percussion (Toms-Toms, Drums (Trap Set), Shell, Bells, Timpani, Cymbal, Soft Bells, Gong, Xylophone, Temple Block, Castanets, Ratchet, Vibraphone, Oriental Drum, Flower Drum [Steel Mallets, Sticks, Brushes]
    2 x Violin I (Divisi)
    2 x Violin II (Divisi)
    1 x Viola (Divisi)
    1 x Cello (Divisi)
    1 x Bass
    1 x Harp
    1 x Guitar (Doubling Banjo and Mandolin)

    		$350.00 +$135.00/pm
    Lib/Vocal Book 10 Pack Shipped with (or after) Rehearsal Material. This is optional.

    10 x Libretto/Vocal Books

    		$50.00 +$50.00/pm

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