Our Proud History

Our Proud History

Shrewsbury Amateur Operatic Society was founded in 1923 by Madame Nina Robinson and the early shows took place at the Royal County Theatre. Apart from periods during the Second World War and the Covid lockdown period, the Society has sung and danced its way into the hearts of several generations of audiences to the people of Shropshire and beyond. In 1936 the Society moved to the Granada Cinema, a 1500 seat venue, but unfortunately, in 1972 the Granada Cinema closed and the Society moved to the Music Hall. In 1985 the Music Hall underwent a major renovation with a totally refurbished stage area and much more modern technical equipment, but once again we needed to find a new venue, as in 2009 the Music Hall closed. In 2011 SAOS opened at the new Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury, playing to full houses with our production of Oliver!

Since then, we have performed award-winning shows at Theatre Severn such as Titanic the Musical, Chess, Fiddler on the Roof, Sister Act, Return to the Forbidden Planet, A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Jesus Christ Superstar, Wizard of Oz, Ghost – The Musical, Sunshine On Leith and our most recent epic productions, School Of Rock and Beautiful - The Carole King Musical.

In September 2019 the members took the momentous decision to change our name from Shrewsbury Amateur Operatic Society to Shrewsbury Musical Theatre Company. We did this to reflect the evolution of the company from light opera to West End musicals.

A century on and the Company is still flourishing. Every year we welcome new members to our friendly group, for roles on and off-stage. If you would like to join us for a future production, please look out for our updates via social media and this website. We guarantee you a warm welcome.

Snippets of some of the oral history interviews conducted in celebration of our 100th birthday in 2023. Precious memories, funny stories and a glimpse into our vibrant history and our contribution to Shrewsbury's cultural heritage. Click the subtitles icon at the bottom for captions. This video was made possible with funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The full interviews are available via Shropshire Archives.

SMTC In the Press

Take a look at some of our press cuttings preserved by the wonderfully talented Heather Game, dating back as far as 1963 and starting with SAOS's production of The Merry Widow, performed to 12,000 people!!!

Click the scrapbook to take a look inside.

SMTC Past Productions

With huge thanks to The National Lottery Heritage Fund, we have been able to digitise and share so many of our show programmes and photos from over the past century. Please click the links below each show name for a look down memory lane. (The original hard copies of these programmes are available to view at Shropshire Archives.)

1923 The Gondoliers (learn more here)

1924 Iolanthe

1925 The Mikado | The Yeomen of the Guard

1927 The Pirates of Penzance | Ruddigore

1928 Merrie England

1929 The Gondoliers

1930 Tom Jones

1931 Trial by Jury | HMS Pinafore

1933 The Rebel Maid

1936 The Vagabond King

1937 Dorothy

1938 The Mikado

1939 The Yeomen of the Guard

1947 Merrie England

1948 Tom Jones

1949 The Gondoliers

1950 Veronique | The Mikado

1951 The Quaker Girl

1952 The Rebel Maid

1953 The Desert Song | Iolanthe

1954 The Arcadians

1955 The Yeomen of the Guard

1956 The Geisha

1957 The Dubarry

1958 The Gondoliers

1959 The Gypsy Baron

1960 White Horse Inn

1961 Die Fledermaus

1962 Passion Flower

1963 The Merry Widow

1964 Oklahoma!

1965 Showboat

1966 Gipsy Love

1967 The Count of Luxembourg

1968 The Pirates of Penzance & Trial by Jury

1969 La Vie Parisienne

1970 My Fair Lady

1971 Camelot | Salad Days

1972 Orpheus in the Under-world | No, No, Nanette

1973 The Gondoliers | The Merry Widow

1974 Charlie Girl

1975 Paint Your Wagon

1976 Brigadoon

1977 Fiddler on the Roof | Gigi | HMS Pinafore

1978 The Yeomen of the Guard | The Boyfriend

1979 Die Fledermaus | Oliver!

1980 The Gypsy Princess | The King and I

1981 Oklahoma! | The Pirates of Penzance

1982 The Desert Song | Salad Days

1983 The Gypsy Baron | Carousel

1984 Irene | A Viennese Evening

1985 Guys & Dolls | Hans Anderson

1986 Kismet | Calamity Jane

1987 Mikado | South Pacific

1988 Half a Sixpence | Annie

1989 Fiddler on the Roof | The Gondoliers

1990 The Pajama Game | Bless the Bride

1991 Oklahoma! | Brigadoon

1992 Orpheus in the Underworld | Sweet Charity

1993 Carousel | My Fair Lady

1994 Die Fledermaus | Camelot

1995 Kiss me Kate | The Pirates of Penzance & Trial by Jury

1996 Viva Mexico! | Singin’ in the Rain

1997 Gigi | HMS Pinafore | The Zoo

1998 Annie Get your Gun | The Merry Widow

1999 Fiddler on the Roof | Anything Goes

2000 Me and My Girl | Mack & Mabel

2001 The Gondoliers | 42nd Street

2002 My Fair Lady | Crazy for You

2003 Hello Dolly | South Pacific

2004 Oliver! | Oklahoma!

2005 High Society | Half A Sixpence

2006 Pirates of Penzance | Kiss Me Kate

2007 Thoroughly Modern Millie | Return to the Forbidden Planet

2008 Jekyll & Hyde | Anything Goes

2009 Summer Holiday

2010 Sweet Charity

2011 Oliver!

2012 Titanic – The Musical

2013 Chess – The Musical | Songs From The Shows

2014 Fiddler on the Roof

2015 Sister Act

2016 Return to the Forbidden Planet

2017 A Tale of Two Cities

2018 Oliver! | Priscilla Queen of the Desert

2019 Jesus Christ Superstar | Backwards Broadway Concert

2022 The Wizard of Oz | Ghost – The Musical

2023 Sunshine on Leith | A Century Of Songs | School of Rock

2024 Beautiful The Carole King Musical | Nativity The Musical

The memorabilia shared via this page is openly licensed via CC BY 4.0.

Our Venues

The Royal County Theatre

In 1923 Madame Rina Robinson’s protégés were delighted to be performing their first production on a professional stage, but the elegant interior of the Royal County Theatre in Shoplatch was far from ideal with its tiny stage and small backstage area which could accommodate only the ladies of the cast. The men had to use an area of the nearby George Hotel as a makeshift dressing room! 

None of this detracted from the audience enthusiasm and the Society continued to perform popular light opera productions at the Royal County for more than a decade.

The Granada Theatre

In 1936, Shrewsbury Amateur Operatic Society moved to the larger Granada Theatre on Castle Gates, where cast members enjoyed performing on a huge stage and changing in luxurious male and female dressing rooms. 

The Granada played host to productions like Tom Jones, The Merry Widow and The Yeomen of the Guard. 

Apart from a break during the war years, performances continued there until the theatre’s closure in 1972, when the building was converted to a bingo hall. 

The Music Hall

The fabulous Victorian Music Hall in the town square was our much-loved home in the latter part of the 20thCentury, with shows such as The Pyjama Game, Carousel, Fiddler On The Roof and Half A Sixpence. 

In 1985 the Music Hall underwent a major refurbishment and we were temporarily rehomed to the splendour of Shrewsbury Castle. On our return to the Music Hall cast and crew were very excited to make use of the totally refurbished stage area and uber-modern technical equipment. Sadly, the excitement was relatively short-lived and we were on the move again. 

The Music Hall closed down in 2009 so the building could be converted into the Museum and Art Gallery you see today.

Oakengates Town Hall

In 1973 SAOS made the journey to Oakengates Town Hall, near Telford (now known as the Place Theatre), where they performed The Merry Widow.

Belvidere School

This was a regular rehearsal venue for SAOS throughout its history but in 2009 due to the closure of the Music Hall and with Theatre Severn still in the building stage SAOS duly took to the stage of Belvidere School for its run of Summer Holiday.

Theatre Severn

In 2011 the musical, Oliver! was our first production on the fantastic stage at Theatre Severn, the new purpose-built entertainment venue on the banks of the River Severn.  Since then, we have performed award-winning shows at Theatre Severn such as Titanic the Musical, Sister Act, Return to the Forbidden Planet, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and, in 2019, Jesus Christ Superstar, our last production under the name Shrewsbury Amateur Operatic Society.  

To reflect the evolution of the Company from light opera to West End style musicals we changed our name to Shrewsbury Musical Theatre Company and we continue to make use of the state of the art facilities Theatre Severn has to offer. It’s difficult to imagine how we might have staged some of our recent productions in our previous homes. Audiences would have missed out on a flying witch on her bicycle in our 2022 production of The Wizard of Oz, had we been at the little old Royal County Theatre.  

The magic of SMTC’S musical theatre continues to leap into the hearts of Shropshire audiences at our glorious Theatre Severn. Madame Rina Robinson would agree we’ve certainly come a long way over the past century and, to quote a young pig-tailed character in the aforementioned production, there’s no place like home!

The Barnes Theatre, Shrewsbury School

SMTC performed its first show in the newly renovated Barnes Theatre in December 2024, the perfect location to perform Nativity! The Musical as during the festive season, Theatre Severn is unavailable due to it being pantomime season.

The Barnes Theatre Auditorium is an intimate setting for plays, rehearsals, lectures and workshops and is complete with a full lighting rig and PA system. Unveiled in 2020 before an official opening in 2022 by revered actor and Old Salopian Sir Michael Palin, Barnes has plays host to over ten shows annually, including whole school plays and musicals, house plays, new writing and student-directed work.

Home to two state-of-the-art drama and dance studios, technical workshop space and generous front-of-house facilities, makes this a fantastic performance space providing a wonderful customer experience.