This musical comes from Kander and Ebb, the duo responsible for Cabaret and Chicago. Hits on both sides of the Atlantic, on screen and on stage, the latter experienced phenomenal success in 2002 when Rob Marshall’s film version, starring Catherine Zeta Jones and Renee Zellweger, won six Academy Awards, including Best Film.

Flora was the first musical penned by the duo, but the work has never been produced in Scotland, providing new artistic director James Brining the perfect opportunity to show Dundee audiences what he can do, without any preconceptions.

The story is set in New York, around the Depression of the 1930s. The eponymous heroine is a young graduate illustrator hoping to make it big in the fashion industry. She meets Harry, a Communist, and falls in love. Things get complicated for Flora when she joins the party and gets involved in industrial action and is left to figure out just where her allegiances lie.

Sounds like heavy stuff, but then Chicago was about a gang of murderous women on death row. It’s probably safe to say Kander and Ebb have stamped their trademark wit and satire all over it and, along with the high-octane dance routines and show-stopping songs, it looks set to be a roaring success.

Along with five members of the full-time ensemble, there are four other guest stars, including two dancers, Chadd Garvie and Alison Connell.

Although Chadd hails from Australia originally, and Alison from Falkirk — about as far apart as you can get — this is not the first time they have worked together.

“We met last year, when we were both appearing in West Side Story at Leicester Haymarket, around Christmas time. That lasted three months and then we both went on to do different things,” explains Alison.

“I heard about the auditions for Flora, and came to Dundee on the day. I was looking round, trying to see if I knew anyone, and I saw Chadd waving at me from the other side of the room!”

The pair hadn’t seen each other since they left Leicester, but both were successful in the auditions and are delighted to be working together again.

And they’re very excited to be in Dundee, Alison especially. “It’s good to be home in Scotland. I’ve been on a lot of UK tours where you’re in Edinburgh for a couple of days and Glasgow for a couple of days and I never get the chance to see people or go back to Falkirk, so it’s nice to be in the one place for a while, to spend time here.”

Having appeared in long-running musicals before, where the cast in constantly changing, Alison and Chadd are thrilled to be involved with a musical that’s never been performed in this country before.

“So many times when you get a part in a musical that’s been going for a long time you’re just expected to step into someone else’s shoes, just be the same as the last guy and you get no chance to put your mark on it,” says Chadd.

“This time, because the work has never been produced before, nobody has any preconceived ideas about how it should look, or how things should be done. We’re not stepping in to anyone else’s shoes. We’re lucky with this, because we get creative input, and that’s great.”

The physical demands of a musical are obvious, but with Flora it’s even more demanding because the cast is relatively small.

The work also features that favourite theatrical device, a play within a play, and this means there’s a lot of extra work to be done with the stars themselves!

“We do the scene changes ourselves,” says Alison. “We move the scenery on and off the stage as part of the show, so there’s a lot of running around backstage, and a lot of very quick costume changes. We’re all kept really busy, and I like that. I’m always thinking, ‘have I left my shoes at the right side of the stage?’ ‘where am I meant to be now?’ and it keeps me on my toes.”

Chadd agrees. “Although Emily (Flora) is the star, there’s a chance for everyone to do their bit in this musical. Because there’s only a few of us, we’re kept really busy, no one’s hanging about offstage doing nothing for very long, it’s a great atmosphere. Everyone gets their moment.”

n Flora, The Red Menace opens tonight and runs until October 25.