1949 - 1950
The Firefly
In the annals of music in America, the name of Rudolf Friml has long stood out as a symbol of robust musical scores. With more than twenty-five hit shows to his credit, Friml has given to this continent memorable productions including Rose Marie, The Three Musketeers, Katinka, The Vagabond King and this production, The Firefly. Born in Prague and trained in Europe, Friml has done most of his composing in the United States. He came to America for the first time in 1903 as accompanist for Kubelik, the violinist. Later he toured America as a concert pianist, introducing many of his own works. His success was such that he remained in America to become one of its greatest composers of light classics.
To those who have seen only the motion picture version of The Firefly a word of explanation is due. For reasons best known to Hollywood, the story and locale were so changed in the picture as to be scarcely recognizable. In our production we have adhered closely to the original play, although we have introduced "The Donkey Serenade" in response to many requests.
Producer: Joseph E. Webb
Musical Director: H. Bramwell Bailey
Dances: Jack Neil
Cast
Production
