Flora, the Red Menace

Music by John Kander ’51
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Book by David Thompson
Directed by Matthew Wright
Choreographed by Holly Handman-Lopez
Music Direction by Ian Axness ‘09

May 5-7, 8pm; May 7-8, 2pm

Hall Auditorium, Oberlin College

Flora, the Red Menace is not your typical old-school musical. While the best adjective to describe the show is “charming,” and you won’t have to wait long for a big group dance number, Flora is not all jazz hands, schmaltz and hokey dialogue. Set during the Great Depression, Flora tackles issues such as labor disputes, the life of a starving artist, and - as the title suggests - Communism. When Flora Meszaros moves to New York City and opens a studio in downtown Manhattan, she manages to create a family of artists all waiting for “one good break.” She gets hers in the shape of a job as a fashion illustrator at the upscale Garret and Mellick’s. But her relationships and her job are threatened when her new love interest Harry, a card-carrying member of the Communist Party, and the domineering Comrade Charlotte encourage Flora to join the party and unionize Garret and Mellick’s. Flora must weigh the importance of love, politics, and business to find herself and decide where she stands.

Tickets

$4 Students
$6 OCID / Seniors
$8 Public

$3 More at the Door

** SPECIAL DISCOUNTS **
Buy one ticket for Thursday and receive one ticket for FREE on purchases in person or by phone only.
High School students can receive free tickets to any performance. Please call (440) 775-8169 or bring your ID to the box office.
Group discounts available for parties of 10 or more. For group discouts please contact (440) 775-8171.

Online
Tickets can be purchased online with a credit card. To purchase click here.

In Person
Tickets can be purchased in person at the Central Ticket Service in Hall Auditorium Lobby.
Hours of Operation: Monday through Friday, 12pm to 5pm

By Phone
Contact Central Ticket Service at: (440) 775-8169 or 1-800-371-0178
Hours of Operation: Monday through Friday, 12pm to 5pm

Hall Auditorium is wheelchair accessible and there is free parking located behind the building.
[Get Directions to Hall Auditorium]

This production is presented by Oberlin College Theater and the Oberlin Dance Company.  It is made possible by generous donations from the Sue Carroll Smith Fund, the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and the President's Office.

Artistic Credits

Cast

Production Credits

Production Notes

    “The heart of the story is boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl to the tune of her need for individual freedom,” says director and associate Professor of Theater Matthew Wright. This central relationship is almost an “Oberlin” love story – Flora is loud and headstrong and must make all the moves with shy, stammering Harry. This reversal of heteronormative stereotypes is unusual for such an old fashioned musical, but so is Flora’s focus on the importance of unionization and the struggle that brings.

    “Flora looks at an incredibly interesting time in our country’s history,” says Wright. The show focuses on a time when Leninist communism was gaining support, before the age of McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee. While the protagonist does join the party, there is plenty of opposition from the other characters.  “Interestingly,” says Wright, “the play deals with labor issues and how unionization is so important, which is so relevant to the collective bargaining debate going on now.”

    Flora finds herself in the center of this debate, which forces her to establish her individual beliefs rather than allow her party or her employer to determine her stance. In this sense, comments Wright, “the play is a kind of anthem to self-discovery and the importance of not sacrificing one’ s essential character on the altar of party, peer or partner pressure.”

    This kind of self-discovery is something we all have to go through, especially after leaving the cozy bubble of college life. It is fitting, then, that Flora starts the show by graduating from Oberlin College. Even more fitting is that one half of the musical team behind Flora is Oberlin alum John Kander ’51, who suggested during a lunch meeting with College President Marvin Krislov that Flora be done here. Kander and his musical partner, Fred Ebb, are responsible for famous shows such as Cabaret and Chicago, but Kander felt that Flora, which had already been through a few incarnations, could finally be done right here at Oberlin.

    In addition to new arrangements for many of the musical numbers, done by both Ian Axness ’09 and John Kander ’51, one aspect that is being workshopped in this production is the framing of Flora as a Federal Theater Project production. The Federal Theater Project was a program created by the Roosevelt administration that funded actors, writers, designers, dancers, and other artists to put on shows in a number of cities across the country. This Flora, like its last revival, will be an environmental production. “The space the audience will be entering is the unfinished construction site for a mezzanine level of a department store that leads to an elaborate entrance to Cincinnati’s unfinished subway system,” says Wright. The audience will be completely
immersed in this meta-theatrical world, complete with a frenetic pre-show. This serves as another tool to bring the labor dispute to the forefront.

    While Flora definitely doesn’t have a traditional happy ending, it is a feel-good kind of show, which is a refreshing change from the typical angst of Oberlin theater. Says Wright, “We exhaust ourselves looking at the world through different lenses. This is a familiar lens and that’s what makes it so enjoyable and heartwarming to watch.”

Bios

MATTHEW WRIGHT (Director) is an actor, director and theatre educator whose work has taken him across the United States. As an actor he has appeared at such nationally acclaimed regional theatres as the La Jolla Playhouse (The Matchmaker, 80 Days), The McCarter Theatre (The Dawns Are Quiet Here), The Clarence Brown Company (Hamlet, As You Like It), The Studio Arena Theatre of Buffalo (The Boyfriend), Trinity Repertory Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island (A Christmas Carol, Julius Caesar, On The Town), FloridaStage (Exact Center of The Universe), New Theatre (Angels in America, Love!Valor!Compassion!, Hamlet, How I Learned To Drive, Around The World In Eighty Days, House of The Seven Gables) and Actors’ Playhouse (Jesus Christ Superstar, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest). He has worked with many wonderful theatre artists including directors Des MacAnuff, Tina Landau, Anne Bogart, and Oskar Eustis and a roster of internationally acclaimed actors. Northeast Ohio audiences have seen Matthew in The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Twelfth Night at Great Lakes Theater Company; Reefer Madness, Equus, A Man of No Importance, Urinetown The Imaginary Invalid, and Jerry Springer: The Opera at The Beck Center for The Arts; I Love A Piano at Actors' Summit; and Das Barbecu with Cleveland Opera. He is a proud company member of the Oberlin Summer Theater Festival where he has appeared in The Tempest and Much Ado About Nothing. Awards include the 1997 Carbonell Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Prior Walter in Angels In America, and numerous Times Tribute Awards for his work in Northern Ohio. Matthew has served on the faculties of The Ohio State University, Wright State University, and Florida Atlantic University where he headed the graduate actor training program for ten years. Here at Oberlin College he's directed Three Sisters, Dancing At Lughnasa, A Bright Room Called Day, Reefer Madness, The English Channel, and Beautiful Thing. Matthew currently serves as Associate Director of Theater and Dance. He's been a member of Actors' Equity Association since 1988.

JOHN KANDER (Music) is a composer originally from Kansas City, Missouri. He studied music at Oberlin College and Columbia University. With lyricist Fred Ebb he wrote the scores for some of Broadway's most successful musicals, including Cabaret (1966; film, 1972), Zorba (1968), Chicago (1975; film, 2002), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1992), Steel Pier (1997), Curtains (2006), and The Scottsboro Boys (2010), and for films such as Funny Lady (1975) and New York, New York(1977).

Media

All media inquiries can be directed to Ellie Philips at 646.245.9619 or ephilips@oberlin.edu