The Society was founded in 1947 by a group of enthusiasts, the first production being HMS Pinafore performed in the Town Hall, Bournemouth.  In 1948 the Society moved to the new Royal Theatre, and then to the Palace Court Theatre, but from 1978 productions have been at the Towngate Theatre in the Poole Arts Centre, which became Poole’s Centre for the Arts, the Lighthouse, in 2002.

 

We celebrated our 50th anniversary in 1997 by putting on The Yeomen of the Guard at the historic ruin of Corfe Castle here in Dorset and every few years we take a show up to the International G&S Festival at Buxton in Derbyshire.

 

We are a registered charity and make generous donations to local good causes.  The charities that benefit each year are decided at the Annual General Meeting in February and members of the Society put forward ideas that are discussed and voted on at that time.

 

In the early part of the year we work up for a concert season in April and May and there are 3 or 4 public concerts and several smaller private ones with popular numbers from many of the operas and often including some non G&S numbers too.

 

Our main production each year is always during the last week in October and takes place in the theatre of Poole’s Lighthouse, the Centre for the Arts.  We aim to do all the G&S operas and not just the very popular ones and you can see that we have achieved that aim too under Past Productions.

 

Then after the main show leading up to Christmas, a group of members sing carols at some 20 venues to raise money specifically for the Macmillan Cancer Unit at Christchurch.  Over the years we have been able to give them well over £35,000.

 

We rehearse at the United Reformed Church Hall in Ropley Road, Iford on a Wednesday evening (click here for a map), but for our main show rehearsals, these are usually concentrated and involve rehearsing on 2 or 3 evenings per week for a short period.

 

So there is something going on all year and we also have regular social events and parties too!  We are a friendly group who enjoy singing the wonderful G&S music and who are extremely proud of our very good reputation in the area.

 

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