Where Things Stand

We have applied for a venue and dates for the show and as soon as they are confirmed, they'll be posted here. I think the venue will prove exciting, convenient and commodious. It is a little different from the spaces where we've performed Discovery shows before. Tantalized? Stay tuned.

Ann Byler and I are getting together to look over the orchestrations and work out other issues concerning having the orchestra join in on the fun. The pars are old, but many of them are quite readable and serviceable - in fact it looks as though some have never been used. how much we re-create will depend on staffing, speaking of which...

Ann Byler is also the head of the Production Staffing committee. Lyric needs to select the production staff for Florodora. Soon.

I've got two unedited librettos of the Florodora in electronic format. As with most shows we look at for Discovery, Florodora has undergone many changes in the last 109 years. I feel particularly lucky to have found a libretto which corresponds to the numbers and their order in the band parts, although we are missing the vocal line to a couple of songs and the re-written Act 2 finale (it is a restatement of a previous song as say, Pirates, so shouldn't be too hard to re-construct). Thankfully, Act 1 is virtually identical in every way and every source.

I'm on a global hunt (via e-mail) for those missing numbers and will post progress. Those numbers are a particularly tantalizing riddle - we have the lyrics and the orchestral accompaniment, just not the vocal lines! We don't know when they were added to the show. In the end the sheet music may be found, the tunes may be (mostly) reconstructible from the orchestration, or the numbers may have to be cut.

In my search thus far, I've contacted musicologists, orchestrators and operetta lovers worldwide. They all wish us luck and can't wait to see and hear the finished result.