American Light Opera Company


The American Light Opera Company was a semi-professional theatre company performing light operas and musicals in Washington, D.C. from 1960 to 1968. It was founded by a group of former and current members of the University of Michigan's Gilbert & Sullivan Society.

History

Its first production, The Mikado, took place on 17 June 1960 at Naval Ordnance Laboratory in White Oak, Maryland. Over the next few years, the company grew rapidly, with five to six productions a season, usually performed in the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University. The company also performed at the White House, and its chorus appeared several times with Washington's National Symphony Orchestra. The company began to suffer financially once they moved from the smaller Trinity Theatre to the larger Lisner Auditorium, which they had difficulty filling consistently; the financial problems eventually forced them to shut down. Their final performance was West Side Story performed at Western High School in Washington D.C. on 28 January 1968.
Notable past performers with the company include the actress Georgia Engel, the dancer and choreographer George Faison, the opera singer Richard Stilwell, and the performer "Rusty" Russ Thacker. The President and Executive Director of the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., Donn B. Murphy, directed several productions for the company: Show Boat, Finian's Rainbow, South Pacific, The King and I, Camelot and West Side Story.
Some productions toured to Baltimore, Richmond, and Norfolk, VA.
In April 1985 a reunion of company members was held at the National Theatre.

Productions