Sparks Fly Upward

She meets a young army Colonel, who launches her into the stratosphere of society, and who, after a coup, becomes President of the Republic. Arranging to become his wife and the First Lady, Felicia accumulates more and more power for herself, becoming lady bountiful to her adoring "Strongbacks"

She begins to overshadow her husband, dominating the wealth and politics of her country and moving toward a kind of sainthood which will make her position unassailable. But despite her triumphant rise, Felicia is unable to gain what she wants most - acceptance by the social and intellectual elite of the nation

Rejection by the Pope is the final indignity which breaks her spirit and health. Her husband falls heir to an empty empire; as the play ends, there are intimations that, without her exotic aura, all will be lost as quickly and dramatically as it was created

Cast of 16 men and 6 women is required

Produced on Broadway as Diamond Orchid

The playwrights have combined the glamour and wit of Mame with the dramatic power of Inherit the Wind to shape a compelling and absorbing story of a dynamic woman who, like Evita Peron, rises from obscurity to the domination of a Latin-American country