Florodora was one of the first successful Broadway musicals of the 20th century. The book was written by Jimmy Davis under the pseudonym Owen Hall, music was by Leslie Stuart with additional songs by Paul Rubens, and lyrics by Edward Boyd-Jones and Rubens. Originally opened in London on November 11, 1899 at the Lyric Theatre, where it ran for 455 performances, it moved to New York in 1900 and ran for 552 performances. There were also successful London revivals in 1915 and 1931. The show was also revived in New York in 1902, 1905 and 1920. The show also toured internationally. It was revived in January 2006 in its first professional London production for many years at the Finborough Theatre, London. Broadway theatre is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Owen Hall ((born Dublin, 10 April 1853, died Harrogate, 9 April 1907) was the pen name of 19th and early 20th century theatre critic James Davis when writing for the stage. ... Leslie Stuart (1864-1928) was an English composer of early musical theatre, best known for the hit show Florodora (1899). ... Pieter Pauwel (Peter Paul) Rubens (June 28, 1577 - May 30, 1640) was a Flemish baroque painter. ... ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the state of New York and the entire United States. ... 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 3 - Babe Ruth is traded by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees for $125,000, the largest sum ever paid for a player at that time. ... Founded in 1980, the Finborough Theatre in Londons Earls Court area presents new British writing, UK premieres of overseas drama, particularly from the United States, Canada and Ireland, music theatre and unjustly neglected plays from the last 150 years. ... ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ...

Florodora's famous double sextet, "Tell Me Pretty Maiden", became the most successful show tune of its time. Other songs ranged from traditional waltzes ("The Silver Star of Love" and "The Fellow Who Might") to the more quirkily rhythmic and long-lined numbers for which Stuart was known.

A good part of the success of the musical was attributed to the pulchritude of its sextet of chorines, called "the English Girls" in the score, but soon popularly dubbed the Florodora girls. These six roles were filled by identically sized women, all 5 ft. 4 in. (about 1.63 m) and 130 lb (59 kg), and were the object of popular adoration: young male admirers persuaded many to leave the show to marry them, and more than 70 women played these roles in the first run of the play in New York. A chorus line is a substantial group of dancers who perform choreographed routines together as a body of one, also singing if required, usually in musical theatre. ...

External links

• Midis and cast list
• Information about the composer