The Launceston Musical Society began in Launceston in June 1981 as the Light Opera Society as a break-away group from another local theatre group.
The LOS represented a group of people wanting to perform vocally. Barry Birtwistle led the group as Musical Director and they began to practise regularly and perform annually Light Operas such as HMAS Pinafore, The Gyspy Barron, The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance etc
In its early days the LOS met weekly – more like a choir and performed in the Broadland House School Hall until 1991 when they held Naughty Marietta in the Princess Theatre for the first time. Since then the LMS has performed primarily in the Princess or the Earl Arts Centre.
In 1995 the LOS made another shift to the full-scale musical and staged Oklahoma! Shows like Music Man, Showboat, South Pacific followed. In 2001 The LOS changed its name to the LMS to reflect more accurately what they were about and staged the popular crowd pleaser Sound of Music. This proved to be another turning point for the LMS as it played to full houses and set the Society up financially so that, during the next few years the LMS was able to raise the bar considerably and produce increasingly higher quality productions. Anything Goes, Hello Dolly, 42nd St, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Guys and Dolls, Blood Brothers, Spamalot and Legally Blonde.
After a long hiatus and, having just celebrated our 40th birthday, we are heading back to the Princess Theatre this December.
