Celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, Lindley Amateur Operatic Society is bringing past, present and future together with two singalong shows.

The concerts, tonight and tomorrow evening in St Stephen’s Church, will feature songs from old favourites as well as those from new musicals that the society hopes to stage.

It will be a celebration in more ways than one, as in recent years the society, like many others, has been under threat from the rising costs of staging productions. But chairman Jane Pritchard says members were determined to fight for the organisation, which was founded by a group of parishioners and is affiliated to St Stephen’s. “There was no way we were going to close in our 80th year,” she said.

Lindley Amateur Operatic Society in The Full Monty, 2013 - from the left, Winstan Robinson, Ian Roberts, Rob Pogson, Dan Killeen, Jonty Wilson, Chris Comber.
Lindley Amateur Operatic Society in The Full Monty, 2013 - from the left, Winstan Robinson, Ian Roberts, Rob Pogson, Dan Killeen, Jonty Wilson, Chris Comber.

The Christmas concerts, which start at 7.30pm (tickets are £8 on the door), will raise funds for both the church and the society, which is planning a major production of the Barry Manilow musical Copacabana at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield next summer.

“Our big shows are normally in February,” said Jane, “but this year we took the decision not to have a big show at the LBT due to funding problems. We had a little show in the church instead because as a group we wanted to stay together. We had a bit of a re-think about how we do things and we have risen from the ashes.”

Staging Copacabana will cost the society something in the region of £23,000 - covering everything from hire of scenery and musicians to performing rights and microphones. “It is hugely expensive,” says Jane, “which is why we need to raise some money.”

The society’s first-ever show was The Irish Girl, a musical that is no longer performed. But over the years it has produced many of the genre’s most popular shows - from Me and My Girl to My Fair Lady.

Several members of the society have enjoyed decades in musical theatre. Long-serving Lindley singer Margaret Murray has clocked up 50 years with the society and is still performing in the chorus; while choreographer Christine Jagger is the holder of a 40-year National Operatic and Dramatic Association medal. Jane herself has been awarded a 25-year NODA medal.

The society has members from all age groups and even family groups. Jane became involved five years ago when her son Chris Pritchard, now 16, joined to sing in the chorus of the King and I. Her partner is Andy Robinson, the society’s musical director.

Among those taking part in the anniversary concerts will be the vicar of Lindley, the Rev Rachel Firth, who is the society’s president.

“We have chosen uplifting music,” said Jane. “We’ve got children performing as well. The first half of the concert will celebrate what we have done for the past 80 years and the second half will look forward and will include songs from shows like Dracula and the Witches of Eastwick.”