PROGRESS ON “SNARK” REMAKE and ANTHOLOGY!
Mike Batt has been working for the last three to four years meticulously reconstructing a full, theatrical-length audio version of his musical The Hunting Of the Snark, based on the epic Lewis Carroll nonsense poem. This has never been available for public consumption and contains many songs from the show that were/are not on the original 1984 star-studded concept album. After removal (by AI) of the orchestra and chorus of the State Theatre performance, (Sydney), and that of the Prince Edward Theatre (London) version,– sadly, for cost reasons and understandable Musicians’ Union rules - the isolated featured voices will be chosen from a selection from the Sydney and London theatrical performances with a few new voices added. The new orchestral accompaniment is being created using samples from the Berlin Orchestra – a high-quality sample library issued by Orchestral Tools, based in Berlin. Early signs are very promising.
“It’s incredible how good the vocals sound” said Batt, “considering that both the Sydney and London recordings were just cassette bootlegs taken by somebody without my knowledge or permission. I had low -to-no hopes, but was astonished when the vocals were able to be prised away from the backing tracks and brought back to life. They are in mint condition – it’s almost unbelievable. I will add a small, but real orchestra in the UK for authenticity once I have the full production prepared, and before final mixing ”.
Dramatico is currently talking to the artists whose restored voices may be used, as the bootleg recording were made anonymously, by fans unknown. Leading man, Philip Quast (The Bellman) has already given his approval for his performance to be used, and others are imminently expected.
It is hoped that the first ever recording of the full-length musical, using mixed cast from all available recordings, (featuring both David McCallum as Lewis Carroll and Kenny Everett and Daryl Somers sharing the role of the Billiard Marker) will be available for release on April 1st next year in time for the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s publication of the original poem, - April 1st 1876.
A sheet music folio of the entire show, - plus score and parts for hire for amateur productions and professional orchestras will be made available to coincide with the release.
More updates will appear here as the project progresses.