Florodora

Music

Leslie Stuart (born Southport, 15 March 1863; died Richmond, Surrey, 27 March 1928)

Additional music by Paul Rubens.

Text

'Owen Hall' (book); Edward Boyd-Jones (lyrics)

Additional lyrics by Paul Rubens.

Premieres

First Performance: London (Lyric Theatre), 11 November 1899.

First Performance in Scotland: tbc.

Background

Florodora was, even by the standards of musical comedy, something of a phenomenon. It enjoyed enormous popularity in London and on provincial tours, as well as breaking into the American market in a way no British musical had achieved before. It contains a famous sextet 'Tell me, pretty maiden' and several other hugely popular numbers, and was the first musical to be made available on commercial recordings, in 1902.

The setting is exotic, while the characters have an equally strange mixture of names of Welsh, Scottish and Irish origin - though quite where Tweedlepunch originates from is less clear.

Main characters

Dolores, rightful owner of the Florodora company.

Plot Summary

Florodora is a highly popular and profitable perfume, which can be produced only from the flowers of the Florodora plant, which grows only on the island of Florodora in the Philippines.