FLOWER DRUM SONG premiered on November 9, 1961 at NY's Radio City Music Hall.
The trailer:
It been years since I heard "ball of fire" to describe a sexy woman. And a man? "Sowing his wild oats!" A great film anyway, and the first one to have a mostly all Asian cast in an American production.
From THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW, a segment on the FLOWER DRUM SONG Broadway show.
There was a time when Ginny (Virginia)Tiu was on some major television shows in its earlier days. ED SULLIVAN, HONG KONG, THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW, etc. She made a feature film with Elvis Presley, GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS. There was also a paper cutout doll, and she performer at the White House for President Kennedy. She also appeared on stage many times, both under her own solo name and in a group with younger siblings of her family.
Amazon's PRIME have the three seasons of THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW. The Ginny Tiu episode is from Season Three and titled "The China Doll." Some serious exchanges between Danny and the Asian father (played by Marvin Miller) about tradition and respect. This is THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW, however, so the serious differences become resolved in the end for a happy ending.
The show is definitely warm, entertaining, with a lot of truths, usually coming near the end. They truly don't make them like this anymore, but DVD collections and streaming help these shows live again.
I don't know if Ginny Tiu still performs at 53 By the Sea, but she may perform in the Hawaii area, where she resides. Here is a clip from 2019:
