San Jose Mercury Three Things To Do Tomorrow

On Saturday Aug 1st, our Florodora revival was listed in the San Jose Mercury News as one of "Three Things To Do Tomorrow". By the time the issue went to press, we had already sold out our Sunday August 2nd performance!

A Show For Any G&S Group

The performing edition of Florodora which we have created, with its new vocal score, revised performing edition libretto, midi practice files and band parts would be a perfect fit for the repertoire of any G&S performing group.

Florodora Sold Out

Our short run of Florodora has sold out! Interest is very high and the buzz around the show is simply amazing.

Down To The Wire

An intense week for run throughs of Florodora but the result is a great sounding, funny show. The cast has found their characters and the fun, silly character of the Florodora. The orchestra and the new orchestrations sound great and we have been working on lights and other production elements. I've been very very lucky to get such a great cast and orchestra and crew.

People genuinely seem to like Florodora. It is understandable - it was written to be a very popular, appealing, mass-market show with, to mis-quote Anthony Tweedlepunch, "bumps of operetta, music hall and variety that stand out like watermelons". Whats not to like?

Both shows are approaching sold out houses. The buzz is very good. Light the lights! Here comes Florodora.

(I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with myself next week. Oh, yeah, that "day job"...)

T-minus One Week

Today is the Florodora sitzprobe. Cast meets orchestra for the first time in our production and I daresay in any production of Florodora for a while. The show is sounding and looking wonderful and I know it will be a lot of fun for both the cast and the audience come (gulp) next Saturday at the Mountain View Center.

It's Florodora days once more!

At right is a 1927 advert for Elgin watches. I guess these days my watch does harken me back for Florodora. Almost daily.

Florodora and Baby Doe Tabor

Michael Crozier, our Cyrus Gilfain in Lyric Theatre's upcoming Florodora is also involved with Berkeley Opera's production of Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe. According to this website of "Opera Performances in Old Colorado"
(http://operapronto.home.comcast.net/~operapronto/performances.pt2.html)
Florodora played at the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado on Jun 24th 1907.

This was 8 years after Horace Tabor died, but Baby Doe was still alive and, I presume, living at the Matchless Mine. I'm guessing that she was probably too distressed by 1907 to see this production of Florodora, but you never know.....

Florodora is like the Kevin Bacon of musical comedies, with more music history connections than even Cellier's Dorothy.

The Ensemble Sounds GREAT!

The ensemble sounds GREAT! A lot of dedicated people have really worked very hard to learn the score. It is absolutely marvelous to be able to hear all the vocal lines. Our production will have 21 voices, with a full double sextet as well as the individual lead vocal lines and a 10-piece salon orchestra.

It is amazing! I've only imagined what Florodora might sound like from listening to Midi - which really just can't give the correct vocal effect. I can't wait to hear what it sounds like when it gets put together with our orchestra (sitzprobe, July 25th is the first time cast meets orchestra).

They sang Florodora songs in public!

Last night during a cabaret at the Cafe Trieste in San Jose, soloist from Lyric Theatre sang two numbers from Florodora - and not the two numbers that most people might imagine! Cara Arellano (who is playing Lady Holyrood) sang the tounge-twisting When I Leave Town and Diane Squires (playing Dolores in our upcoming show) gave a beautiful rendition of Paul Ruben's The Queen of the Philippine Islands. In all probability it is the first time anything from Florodora, especially these two great numbers, got a public airing 'round these parts in a very long time.

The energetic and enthusiastically received program included numbers from Lyric's current and next season.

In other developments, we also found a Welsh Harp to use as a prop in act 2.