About Us

The Manor Operatic Society was formed in the l950’s at St. Swithuns Church on the Manor estate and moved with about twenty members to the Manor Community Centre following a spate of vandalism (yes, it existed even then!). The Community Centre was the home of the Manor Community Association, which was the first of its kind, being formed in 1924. The Association was constituted into various sections of differing interests (e.g. dancing, photography, badminton) and the Operatic Society became such a section. Shows were produced at the Centre (seating capacity about 100!) until 1964 when “West Side Story” was staged at the Montgomery Theatre, Sheffield. It was a financial disaster – and members spent many months organising jumble sales to make up the deficit. It became clear that the Society would not be able to continue too long under these circumstances.

In 1966 they approached Brian Platts to come along and produce for them. Brian decided to take on this challenge and, together with some of his friends from other Societies, managed to swell the chorus and give the Society a new lease of life. What a fortuitous event that turned out to be. The first show he produced in 1966 was “Maid of the Mountains” at the Montgomery Theatre when the audience numbered twenty on the first night. The local reviews were however quite good and audiences improved by the end of the run, thereby avoiding a financial disaster.

In December 1970 we presented our first Pantomime “Humpty Dumpty” produced by Brian Platts. Fate took a hand when the man due to play the Dame died suddenly, and Brian was asked to take on the role. The rest, as they say, is history because Brian was an instant success and made the role his very own. It is in this role, playing the Dame that Brian continued every year until 2005, when he was struck by illness.

Tragedy again struck the Society in 1971 when, two weeks before “Finian’s Rainbow” was due to open, there was a catastrophic fire at the Montgomery Theatre. With all tickets sold and costumes and scenery ordered, it would appear that the only course would have been to cancel the show. Due to the kindness of Hurlfield School, the show went on and was a huge success. The Theatre re-opened in October 1972 when the Society continued to present shows and pantomimes until December 1986 when the Society decided to move to the Sheffield City Hall, in order to satisfy the ever- increasing demand for tickets.

 Again tragedy struck on the opening day of “Cinderella” when deep snow covered the City of Sheffield and, consequently only a handful of people turned up for the opening night, although all the performers and helpers somehow managed to turn out. An announcement on Radio Sheffield the following day informed all holders of tickets for the first night’s performance would be allowed in free to a special performance at 11.00 am on the following Saturday. This made the number of performances on that day up to four, producing a record number of people passing through the City Hall in one day.

The Society’s aim has always been to provide family entertainment at affordable prices. Up until 2004 it was possible for two adults and two children to see our shows for a total cost of £5.00.

Manor Operatic Society has been successful since 1966 and has been fortunate to be able to support many local charities along the way. Brian Platts is still a Trustee and Director of the Society and was awarded the MBE in 2000 for services to Manor Operatic Society. We still have a few of the original group (two of whom are over 90 years old). We hope to continue to perform spectacular and lavish productions, as in the past, which have included camels, horses and cows, together with high wire trapeze acts, and even a brass band on stage.

Please see details of our next production, which we hope you will support.

Mabel Delamore

Latest Updates

Booking detials for our next pantomime.

Previous Updates

New page about our production of "Rags" in 2001

Announcing our 2007 production of "Anything Goes"!

New page about our 2004 production of "The Wiz" is now available.

Cast list and photos are now available for our 2006 pantomime - Humpty Dumpty. More to follow!

Welcome to our brand-new website!