SIXTY is no age these days is it? Well, we don’t think so anyway. Since November 1964 Haworth West Lane Baptist AOS have been producing Gilbert & Sullivan comic operettas and other musical entertainment at the Haworth venue.

Up to 2019 we produced a fully staged G&S show every November and latterly a spring concert. Now we have a spring and Christmas concert, with a semi-staged G&S show in summer when the audience is invited to be the chorus.

To celebrate our 60th anniversary we are rehearsing for a concert celebrating 60 years of song. Whilst we won’t forget our G&S roots, there will be music covering the full 60 years, including music from Doctor Who, James Bond and Harry Potter. There’ll be chances for the audience to join in, or sit back and let us entertain.

Last week we celebrated our 60th anniversary with past and present members. Over tea and cake we shared memories and remembered absent friends. There’s a long tradition of producing musical shows at Haworth West Lane Baptist Church, with productions including Merrie England, The Maid of the Mountains and Tom Jones. In 1964, after a break, Haworth West Lane Baptist Church Choir was re-formed to perform G&S shows. The first production was The Mikado, with Terry Lofthouse as Musical Director and Frederick W Pye as producer.

In the early years, the Society was renowned for its interval refreshments: supper served by the ladies of the church to each person in the audience - up to 200 people each evening. Early shows were on the Sunday School stage but since the church was renovated shows have been staged in the chapel, with seating in the old pews and former cinema seats. The Society has toured shows over the years, at Keighley Playhouse, Holy Family School and Skipton Auction Mart. In 2002 The Mikado was presented at Hebden Bridge Cinema then as part of the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival at Buxton Opera House. In 2007 Ruddigore was at East Riddlesden Hall, by invitation from the National Trust.

In recent years our productions haven’t always followed traditional G&S settings. The Gondoliers was set in 1960s Venice and our last Mikado was set in a London department store. In 2014 we brought HMS Pinafore and Trial by Jury to the present, setting the former in a naval base. We have come a long way since The Mikado in 1964. Here we are 60 years later continuing to entertain the people of Haworth and beyond. Well, sixty is no age, is it?

* Join us for concerts on Wednesday, May 8 at 7.30pm and Saturday, May 11 at 2.30pm at Haworth West Lane Baptist Church. For tickets go to ticketsource.co.uk/haworth-aos. There is also a performance on Friday, May 10 at 7.30pm at Eldwick Church. Tickets from society members or on the door. Visit haworthamateuroperaticsociety.co.uk