A phone interview conducted with Ivy Tam on February 17, 2004 by David Lewis Hammarstrom. Ivy was an ensemble dancer in the 1958 Rogers and Hammerstein production of "Flower Drum Song." She was also a nightclub dancer.

In this interview, Ivy Tam provides insight into how dancers at Forbidden City were scouted as talent for the musical production and movie version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Flower Drum Song.” She also discusses how she herself was considered for but ultimately declined a role as double for Nancy Kwan (Mei-Li) in the film. Ivy also shares her thoughts on various topics, such as whether Rodgers and Hammerstein based their show on Forbidden City, critiques about the racial insensitivity of the original show, and her opinion of David Henry Hwang’s rewriting. This interview is one of a series of 18 interviews that author David Lewis Hammarstrom conducted in 2003 as part of research for his book, Flower Drum Songs: The Story of Two Musicals (2006).