Three Towns Operatic Society are celebrating five decades in the entertainment business.
The group started their their 50th anniversary celebrations with the cutting of a fantastic cake by founder members David Kay of Lowton and Margaret Laithwaite of Atherton.
The cake was donated by The Baby Centre in Leigh from the Rolling Pin Bakery, Newtown, Wigan.
About Three Towns Operatic Society
The society was formed in July 1968, and rehearse on Tuesday evenings at Tyldesley Methodist Church.
Interestingly, local newspapers were influential in the formation of the Society. On 23 May 1968, Neville Parry, a music teacher at Tyldesley Boys Secondary School issued an invitation in the local paper appealing for music lovers who were interested in forming a group to perform musical productions. This met with an enthusiastic response, and in that same year the Society was formed, taking the name, Leigh, Atherton and Tyldesley Amateur Operatic Society.
The Society changed its name to The Three Towns Operatic Society in 1969. Its first staged production was Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers, performed at Leigh Boys Grammar School in May 1969. The Society has grown considerably since those early days and continues to flourish. It now attracts members from a much wider area.
Anniversary celebrations
To celebrate their 50th Anniversary, the Three Towns will be holding a dinner in October, performing a concert on 16 & 17 November and in May 2019, performing the most popular of Gilbert & Sullivan’s operettas ‘The Mikado’ Tuesday 14 to Saturday 18 May at Joseph’s Hall.
You can find out more about the society on their website at www.thethreetowns.net.