Bath Light Operatic Group

We are a Musical Theatre group based in the City of Bath, UK. We produce a large musical at the Theatre Royal, Bath each Autumn, and a Concert or Smaller Musical each Spring at the Roper Theatre, Bath. The beginning of the group can be traced back to 1948, when the Oldfield Park Rangers Company presented a performance of Hiawatha. HMS Pinafore followed the next year. In 1951 Males were added to the company and the whole was thereafter known as BATH YOUTH OPERATIC GROUP. Their first performances were The Pirates of Penzance (1951), The Mikado (1952), and Patience (1953). In 1954 with five shows under the group’s belt came the move to a real theatre, THE PALACE THEATRE, BATH opposite the present Theatre Royal with a stage of 7.31 Meters square and a capacity of 800 it was not so different to the Theatre Royal but with only 8 small dressing rooms must have been a squeeze. The group only stayed at The Palace for two years producing The Gondoliers (1954), and The Quaker Girl (1955) (Pictured above). At this time the group’s constitution was established under the then management committee. In 1956 the group moved to its final home THE THEATRE ROYAL, BATH where they produced The Geisha (Pictured above), and apart from in 1982when the theatre underwent extensive renovations we have been there ever since. In 1961 The group was renamed THE BATH LIGHT OPERATIC GROUP to reflect the removal of the upper age limit, however the emphasis has remained on attracting young members.In 1968 in an attempt to recoup large production costs Cyril Haskins (the then Musical Director) started a series of annual concerts titled SONGS FROM THE SHOWS. These concerts have continued annually and contribute significantly to the yearly running costs of the group. They have developed into a three-nightly presentation, presented for a long time at the elegant PUMP ROOMS, BATH with a grand piano, also at the very large and opulent BANQUETING HALL in the GUILDHALL, BATH. In 2013 we moved to the hi-tech and sleek modern venue, THE ROPER THEATRE, Bath