Historical information

The Kew Light Opera Company was formed in 1952, and mounted a number of musical and variety productions each year until it was subsumed in the "Q" Theatre Guild in 1957. Most of the Company's performances took place in the Kew Recreation Hall in Wellington Street, Kew. A list of its productions by year includes:
1952 Florodora
1953 The Cingalee
1953 San Toy OR The Emperor’s Own
1953 Celebratory variety performance
195? While the Sun Shines
1954 A Country Girl
1954 Our Miss Gibbs
1955 The Toreador
1955 The Arcadians
1956 The Maid of the Mountains
1956 Whiteoaks
1956 Good night Vienna!
1957 A Country Girl

The "Q" Theatre Guild, which subsumed the earlier Kew Light Opera Company, performed in the Kew Recreation Hall from 1957 and later in the Kew Town Hall from 1960. Its productions include:
1957 The Geisha
1958 Maritana
1959 They All Do It (Cosi Fan Tutti)
c.1959 Blossom Time
1959 Love’s a Luxury
1960 There And Back & The Bohemian Girl
[1960 Die Fledermaus]???
1961 Gay Rosalinda
1961 The Land of Smiles
1961 Kisses For A Kid & Hansel and Gretel
1962 Die Fledermaus
1964 Monsieur Beaucaire
1964 Macbeath [The Beggars’ Opera]
1964 The Beggars’ Opera
? And So To Bed

Significance

The Marion Tilley scrapbook is a significant record of performing arts in Melbourne during the 1950s and 1960s. The scrapbook includes programmes, photographs, newspaper reports and personal annotations which are a rich source of detail about repertoire, performers, and artistic sensibility in the period.

Physical description

Scrapbook of newspaper reviews cast photographs and programmes of the Kew Light Opera Company (later amalgamated into the "Q" Theatre Guild). Compiled by Marion Tilley, a cast member and wardrobe mistress for both companies, it was donated to the Society by her daughter. The scrapbook covers performances during the years 1952 to c. 1965.

Inscriptions & markings

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