Our history
The Hounslow Light Operatic Company was founded in 1903, three years after Sir Arthur Sullivan’s death and while W S Gilbert was still alive (he died in 1911).
Sydney Rendell, the organist at St Stephen’s Church, Hounslow, was one of the founder members, and the connection with St Stephen’s continues to this day. Sydney Ashton and Charles Thomason whose family owned the local paper, the Middlesex Chronicle, were also founder members.
The first show was HMS Pinafore, performed at Hounslow Town Hall, known as the ‘Baths Hall’, for three nights in February 1904, followed by The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance and The Gondoliers.
The First World War put productions on hold but from 1918 Gilbert & Sullivan shows continued, punctuated with the occasional Tom Jones, Merrie England or Rebel Maid, until 1940 when the Second World War stopped productions until 1947. Productions then continued mostly yearly, sometimes twice a year, until 2020 when we were forced to postpone our Roaring Twenties revue due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Show trivia
HLO’s most-performed G&S shows are The Mikado with 14 performances (15 if you count 2021’s Mikado from Scratch) and The Gondoliers, also with 14 – most recently in 2023. The least-performed is Princess Ida with three (four if you count the 1992 concert version) and The Sorceror with four.
There are two G&S shows HLO has never performed: Utopia Limited and The Grand Duke, the last two shows Gilbert and Sullivan collaborated on. They’ve never been as popular as the better-known shows.
Where we've performed
We’ve performed in many venues in Hounslow and around, from the Town Hall and Holy Trinity Hall in the first half of the 20th century, to Cranford Community School, Watermans Arts Centre and Feltham Assembly Hall in the second half.
Our centenary in 2003 was also the occasion of our first performance at Hampton Hill Theatre, a spectacular production of The Mikado ‘in the round’.
A changing name
Our change of name to HLO Musical Company is the latest in a long line of name changes.
The company was originally founded as The Hounslow Light Operatic Company but other names that crop up over the years include Hounslow Amateur Operatic Company, Hounslow and District Musical Society, Heston, Hounslow and Isleworth Light Opera and Dramatic Society, Heston and Isleworth Operatic Society and most recently Hounslow Light Opera Company. The new name keeps the link with our past while looking forward to the future.
