At the end of the 19th century, the US Army had occupied Hawaii and removed the Queen from power which is now held by the Governor. The Hawaiian princess Laya has resigned herself to these new circumstances and prefers to lives in Paris where her parents had sent her as a girl for her education. It was already arranged when she was a child that she would once marry Prince Lilo-Taro, but he prefers a life of travel over his home land.
Many natives resent the American occupation. The Royalist Party has elected Kanako Hilo as their leader and they hope he will succeed to break the colonial yoke. Governor Harrison plans to marry his niece Bessi to Lilo-Taro to gain influence over the Hawaiian leadership. However, Harrison's secretary, John Buffy, dislikes this plan because he is drawn to Bessi himself.
Captain Stone arrives in Honolulu. On board his ship are a pair of artists: the young man is the famous jazz singer Jim-Boy, and the lady accompanying him pretends to be the no less famous singer Susanne Provence. In fact, she is Princess Laya, intent to remain incognito [1] for a while on her return home. During the journey, Captain Stone has fallen in love with the "singer".
When Kanako Hilo discovers the singer's true identity he hopes to win her as an ally in the battle against the occupiers. The Princess is not in favour of this idea, despite her being welcomed by the people as a Queen.
Act 2edit
Hall of the Royal Palace in Honolulu
It is custom to elect a young lady as the Queen of the annual flower festival, her title: "Flower of Hawaii", and Princess Laya is to be this year's Queen. Governor Harris is concerned that the people will take this event as a trigger to revolt against the occupiers. He demands that Princess Laya sign a declaration in the name of the Hawaiian people to renounce all claims of sovereignty. When she refuses, the Governor declares her an enemy of the state and commands Captain Stone to arrest her. Filled with deep admiration for the Princess, he refuses, risking his job. To save him, Laya signs the declaration. Lilo-Taro -who by now has fiercely fallen in love with his arranged bride- misinterprets this gesture and flees in desperation to the ocean to kill himself. Now it is clear to Laya where her heart belongs.
Act 3edit
A Chinese bar in Monte Carlo
Here, all those whose lives were connected in Hawaii meet again where the real Suzanne Provence performs. Stone and Lili-Taro have become friends since the captain saved the prince's life at the ocean. Witty and inventive, John Buffy manages to straighten out the relationships, winning Bessi for himself, and ensuring that Laya and Lilo-Taro find each other. Stone seeks consolation with Suzanne, Laya's look-alike, which is welcomed by Jim-Boy who brought the alluring Raka from Hawaii and didn't quite know how to tell his former lover Suzanne about his intentions - four happy couples.
Translated from de:Die Blume von Hawaii, with additions from Reclams Operettenführer, Anton Würz (ed.), Stuttgart 1962
^Joachim Reisaus, The Return of "Blume von Hawaii" to Leipzig, (German) 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
External linksedit
Details, incl. instrumentation (German)
Theater Görlitz (background and plot, German)
May 08, 2024
flower, hawaii, german, blume, hawaii, operetta, three, acts, paul, abraham, with, libretto, alfred, grünwald, fritz, löhner, beda, imre, földes, premiered, july, 1931, neues, theater, leipzig, work, inspired, story, liliʻuokalani, contents, roles, plot, notab. The Flower of Hawaii German Die Blume von Hawaii is an operetta in three acts by Paul Abraham with a libretto by Alfred Grunwald Fritz Lohner Beda and Imre Foldes It premiered on 24 July 1931 at the Neues Theater in Leipzig The work was inspired by the story of Liliʻuokalani 1 Contents 1 Roles 2 Plot 2 1 Act 1 2 2 Act 2 2 3 Act 3 3 Notable arias 4 Adaptations 5 References 6 External linksRoles editLaya princess of Hawaii soprano Prince Lilo Taro betrothed to Laya tenor Kanako Hilo a noble Hawaiian leader of the royalist group baritone Reginald Harold Stone captain in the US Marine tenor Lloyd Harrison American governor of Hawaii spoken John Buffy his secretary buffo tenor Bessi Worthington the governor s niece soubrette Raka a Hawaiian girl Soubrette Jim Boy a black American jazz singer buffo tenor Suzanne Provence Jim s partner played by the role of Laya Perroquet head waiter Chun chun Chinese servant Admiral Makintosh spoken Kaluna an old Hawaiian baritone Lieutenant Sunny Hill any voice Cadet Bobbie Flipps any voice Marine officers cadets Hawaiian dancers Hawaiians ladies and gentlemen of society servantsPlot editPlace and time Honolulu Monte Carlo some decades ago Act 1 edit In front of a villa in HonoluluAt the end of the 19th century the US Army had occupied Hawaii and removed the Queen from power which is now held by the Governor The Hawaiian princess Laya has resigned herself to these new circumstances and prefers to lives in Paris where her parents had sent her as a girl for her education It was already arranged when she was a child that she would once marry Prince Lilo Taro but he prefers a life of travel over his home land Many natives resent the American occupation The Royalist Party has elected Kanako Hilo as their leader and they hope he will succeed to break the colonial yoke Governor Harrison plans to marry his niece Bessi to Lilo Taro to gain influence over the Hawaiian leadership However Harrison s secretary John Buffy dislikes this plan because he is drawn to Bessi himself Captain Stone arrives in Honolulu On board his ship are a pair of artists the young man is the famous jazz singer Jim Boy and the lady accompanying him pretends to be the no less famous singer Susanne Provence In fact she is Princess Laya intent to remain incognito 1 for a while on her return home During the journey Captain Stone has fallen in love with the singer When Kanako Hilo discovers the singer s true identity he hopes to win her as an ally in the battle against the occupiers The Princess is not in favour of this idea despite her being welcomed by the people as a Queen Act 2 edit Hall of the Royal Palace in HonoluluIt is custom to elect a young lady as the Queen of the annual flower festival her title Flower of Hawaii and Princess Laya is to be this year s Queen Governor Harris is concerned that the people will take this event as a trigger to revolt against the occupiers He demands that Princess Laya sign a declaration in the name of the Hawaiian people to renounce all claims of sovereignty When she refuses the Governor declares her an enemy of the state and commands Captain Stone to arrest her Filled with deep admiration for the Princess he refuses risking his job To save him Laya signs the declaration Lilo Taro who by now has fiercely fallen in love with his arranged bride misinterprets this gesture and flees in desperation to the ocean to kill himself Now it is clear to Laya where her heart belongs Act 3 edit A Chinese bar in Monte CarloHere all those whose lives were connected in Hawaii meet again where the real Suzanne Provence performs Stone and Lili Taro have become friends since the captain saved the prince s life at the ocean Witty and inventive John Buffy manages to straighten out the relationships winning Bessi for himself and ensuring that Laya and Lilo Taro find each other Stone seeks consolation with Suzanne Laya s look alike which is welcomed by Jim Boy who brought the alluring Raka from Hawaii and didn t quite know how to tell his former lover Suzanne about his intentions four happy couples Notable arias editBlume von Hawaii Slow foxtrot My golden baby Foxtrot Wo es Madels gibt Kameraden March My little Boy ich bleib dir treu Foxtrot Lautlos glitt der Dampfer Slow waltz duet Will dir die Welt zu Fussen legen Slow waltz Bin nur ein Jonny zieh durch die Welt Slow foxtrot Du traumschone Perle der Sudsee Slow waltz Ein Paradies am Meeresstrand Slow foxtrot Wir singen zur Jazzband Foxtrot Adaptations editThe Flower of Hawaii 1933 film directed by Richard Oswald The Flower of Hawaii 1953 film directed by Geza von Cziffra Die Blume von Hawaii 1971 TV ZDF at IMDb nbsp References editTranslated from de Die Blume von Hawaii with additions from Reclams Operettenfuhrer Anton Wurz ed Stuttgart 1962 Joachim Reisaus The Return of Blume von Hawaii to Leipzig German Archived 2007 09 28 at the Wayback MachineExternal links editDetails incl instrumentation German Theater Gorlitz background and plot German Theater Plauen Zwickau plot German Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Flower of Hawaii amp oldid 1187510497, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
