They would go on to write “Cabaret” and “Chicago,” but you have to start somewhere, and for songwriters John Kander and Fred Ebb, that meant 1965’s “Flora, the Red Menace,” the pair’s Broadway debut, which does little to suggest the slinky, snaking melodies and lyrics to come.
In fact, everything is bouncy as can be in this kooky-girl confection, now in a Theo Ubique Theatre Company revival at the No Exit Cafe in Rogers Park.
The supreme kooky cookie herself, Liza Minnelli, played the title role in the original. She nabbed a Tony for that performance — playing a down-and-out 1930s illustrator who joins the Communist party at the urging of her nebbish boyfriend — but the show was kaput before it reached the three month mark.It doesn’t have the clarity of purpose and an indelible score needed for a long-running hit.
A 1987 revision to the book has done little to straighten out the randomness of the script. Flora Meszaros — brassy, pushy, talky Flora — struts into a department store where she applies for a job as a fashion illustrator. There she meets Harry Toukarian, who quickly succumbs to her steamroller routine. She takes him back to her studio, where he is added to her ad-hoc family, a bizarrely upbeat collection of out-of-work saps.
Eventually Flora lands a job and attempts to organize a union. For her efforts, Flora is fired and then dumped by Harry because she’s not “red” enough. After two hours of schtick, the musical turns serious. But by then, the show has lost any emotional credibility.
This poses a real problem for directors Fred Anzevino and Beverle Bloch, who have no other option than to encourage their actors to grip it and rip it. Sometimes that works. Danielle Brothers, as a communist agitator, seems to have modeled her performance on Frau Farbissina, of “Austin Powers” fame. Mostly, though, the cast is awkwardly caught between naturalism and mugging.
The inescapable puzzle is Elizabeth Lesinski’s Flora, an extremely broad performance that never actually approximates human dimensions. Who is this lady? Darned if I know. And she’s on stage the entire time. Now that’s a menace.
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ctc-tempo@tribune.com
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“Flora, the Red Menace”
When: Through July 30
Where: No Exit Cafe, 6970 N. Glenwood Ave.
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Tickets: $20-$22 at 773-743-3355
