We know that the Carl Rosa Opera Company often toured with a company in excess of 100 members and the Trust has received many enquiries regarding performing members who may (or may not) have appeared as choristers, orchestral musicians or supernumeraries (non-singing actors) in productions with the Carl Rosa Opera Company. It is usually not possible to answer these queries with a definite yes or no, due to a simple lack of information. Firstly, it was not the custom to list anyone other than solo performers and company administrators in the printed programmes of the period. Secondly, almost all business records of the company do not appear to have survived.
What HAS survived are a few meagre scraps of tantalising information detailing rehearsal calls in the later part of 1912 and also covering the period when initial production of Goldmark’s Queen of Sheba was taking place – these handwritten notebooks record some or all of the names of chorus members as well as references to “L[ocal]. O[rchestra].” Work is ongoing to transcribe these and it is hoped to present the information here in full.
We are also hoping to add details of enquiries to date as a “bulletin board” to record detail of possible participants and to encourage feedback from others who may have relevant information.