Past productions 2013-2009
Autumn 2013: The Pajama Game
Another departure from G&S for HLOC with this tuneful tale of 1950s industrial relations.
Directed by Rachel White.
Summer 2013: Kindly Leave the Stage (play)
A theatrical production featuring warring married couples spills over into real life in this John Chapman farce. Directed by Scott Tilley.
Spring 2013: Concert - The Colour of Music
This musical riot of colour consisted of modern-day popular songs through those of yesteryear and as far back as the 16th Century – from ‘Mr Blue Sky’ to ‘Greensleeves’. And just for good measure there was poetry and a monologue as well.
Autumn 2012: Yeomen of the Guard
The most serious of Gilbert & Sullivan’s comic operas, this historical tale of a conspiracy to free a wrongly-accused officer from execution at the Tower of London is a Tudor treat, full of Gilbert’s signature word-play and some of Sullivan’s finest music.
Directed by Amber Dye with musical direction by Laurie Reeve.
Summer 2012: What I Did at School Today (Play)
A comedy by John Mee, following the misadventures of a group of primary school teachers. Directed by Rachel White.
Spring 2012: Concert - Victorious Voices
Songs and poems inspired by peace and war throughout the ages. From the knights of Camelot and indeed ‘Spamalot’ to the future conflicts of ‘Star Wars’ and ‘War of the Worlds’, there was something for everyone.
Autumn 2011: Anything Goes
It’s De-Lovely! This was HLO’s second outing for Cole Porter’s gloriously feelgood 1930’s shipboard romp.
Directed by Elizabeth Malone and Laurie Coombs, with choreography by Karen Munday and musical direction by Laurie Reeve.
Summer 2011: Cash on Delivery (play)
A farce by Michael Cooney, son of the great farce-meister Ray Cooney. Eric Swan, who has been fraudulently claiming social security benefits in his various lodgers’ names for many years, finds his con unravelling in a hilarious romp of cross-dressing lodgers and mistaken identities when a variety of unwanted visitors arrive at his house on a wet Wednesday morning. Directed by Jon Coop.
Spring 2011: Two's Company
A concert of duets and chorus numbers.
Autumn 2010: HMS Pinafore
Gilbert & Sullivan’s second full-length collaboration remains one of their most popular comic operas with its singing sailors, secret love affairs and a local wise-woman with a terrible secret.
Directed by John Drewry and Helen Smith, with musical direction by Laurie Reeve and choreography by Karen Munday.
Summer 2010: Black Comedy (play)
Peter Shaffer’s uproarious 1960s farce, in which a power cut and a series of unexpected visitors scupper an artist’s attempt to impress a millionaire art collector, his fiancée’s father, and his ex-girlfriend, was directed by Helen Smith and performed with two other pieces: ‘Florence’ by HLO member Ian Nethersell, and ‘The Raven’ by Edgar Allan Poe.
Spring 2010: Concert - A Grand Day Out
Songs and recitations about holidays, days out, favourite places and secret spaces.
Autumn 2009: Patience
Gilbert’s satire on the arty excesses of the Aesthetic Movement, as a pair of rival poets vie for the attentions of the village milkmaid, rings remarkably true in these days of celebrity worship.
Directed and choreographed by Matt Beresford, with assistant choreographer Karen Munday and musical direction by Laurie Reeve.
Spring 2009: Maskerade (play)
Based on the comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, this hilarious satire of ‘Phantom of the Opera’ features singing witches, incompetent ghosts, the Death of Rats (SQUEAK) and a cameo appearance by the City Watch. Directed by Ash Haji.