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Flower Drum Song synopsis



Chinese girl Mei-Li, actress of Chinese opera, runs from her native country after the death of her father, who was in jail for failing to follow the communist ideas. She arrived in the United States, and immediately goes to a small theater in Chinatown, where an old friend of her father works. Once a week, the theater turns into a nightclub, where act the famous striptease dancer, with her gay man companion, designer. Among them two, the star is only she because he has not enough acting skills. Unlike the theater, nightclub makes a profit. Mei-Li joins the theater/nightclub, and works there as a waitress. Chinese woman is liked by dancer who invites her to adopt the American way of life. Agents advise the owner of the place to turn the theater into a permanent club, and he reluctantly agrees, to make a profit.

Chinese woman is liked by all the staff very much, especially by the son of the owner named Ta, who is torn between two fires – he likes a striptease dancer as well. The owner of a former theater, and now the club does not feel satisfaction, despite the success of the nightclub, because he is a man of the old school. He is outraged by the position of the actors and in general thinks that the club is the last step before a brothel, and decides to make a change. He adopts the stage name and begins to act too.

Dancer advises Mei-Li to wear one of her dresses for striptease to draw the attention of the son of the owner, but he already had it, not only because of her body, but because she was generally great. And so her appearance in this dress causes a quarrel between them due to the mismatch of expectations, a couple fights and she leaves the theater and the city. A few months later, the club has become even more successful. The son of the owner cannot forget the Chinese woman and decides to find her, which he does in a factory of Fortune Cookies, where she works with her new friend, to which also begins to have feelings. Her new friend wants them back together in China, or at least in Hong Kong, which at that time was ruled by the British.

Owner of a nightclub marries his new friend, though his initial plans were different. Striptease dancer decided to go to another city as she received the better proposal, and this production was a good springboard for her. Son of the club owner's finds Mei-Li in the docks and persuades her to stay in America. They decide to give up a nightclub and to become street performers. Now, nightclub once a week turns into a theater, as its owner wanted to, but now it is a successful enterprise. Young people get married, their environment is glad that the Chinese and American cultures have merged, as evidenced by the final song "A Hundred Million Miracles".
Last Update:April, 06th 2016

Flower Drum Song Lyrics

  1. Act 1
  2. Overture
  3. You Are Beautiful
  4. A Hundred Million Miracles
  5. I Enjoy Being a Girl
  6. I Am Going to Like It Here
  7. Like a God
  8. Chop Suey
  9. Don't Marry Me
  10. Grant Avenue
  11. Love, Look Away
  12. Fan Tan Fannie
  13. Gliding Through My Memory
  14. Act 2
  15. The Other Generation
  16. Sunday
  17. Wedding Parade/Finale

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