The Leicester Amateur Operatic Society began life in 1890 as ‘The Amateurs’, a title still used affectionately by its members today. Throughout its first half-century the society performed at numerous venues such as Leicester’s Royal Opera House on Silver Street, The Theatre Royal on Horsefair Street and the Palace Theatre on Belgrave Gate. These venues were sadly demolished in the mid-1900s but the society continued to thrive, becoming ‘L.A.O.S.’ in 1947 and finding a new home at De Montfort Hall in the 1960s.

 

In 1974, LAOS were proud to gain a regular slot at the newly opened Haymarket Theatre, where they performed until the theatre’s initial closure in 2003. Since then, the Society returned to De Montfort Hall and The Little Theatre, Dover Street whilst Curve was under construction, in anticipation of presenting a sell-out of The Full Monty in Curve’s opening season in 2009. 9 to 5 was the first time that LAOS has performed in the Curve Studio.

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