Die Blume von Hawaii

The Flower of Hawaii (German:Die Blume von Hawaii) is an operetta in three acts by Paul Abraham with a libretto by Alfred Grünwald, Fritz Löhner-Beda, and Emmerich Földes (also Emric or Imre Foeldes). It premiered on 24 July 1931 at the Neues Theater in Leipzig. The work was inspired by the story of Liliʻuokalani.

Place and time: Honolulu, Monte Carlo, some decades ago

In front of a villa in Honolulu

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, Harrioson'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.

Hall of the Royal Palace in Honolulu

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