About Us

LEOS was formed in 1955 and performed its first show”The Mikado” at The People’s Hall in 1957.

In 2009, 95 shows later, LEOS continues to entertain audiences and is proud to welcome you to explore its web site and invite you to our forthcoming performances.

Pre-show Preparation

Members of LEOS are busily rehearsing for their production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s, “The Likes of Us”, which they are presenting at May Hall, Trent College, from Tuesday, 13 April to Saturday, 17 April. This is the regional premiere for the show that started the two authors on their successful careers. The article that follows gives an idea of all the work that has to be done before any show can be put on.

On Friday evening, the set is taken in and the stage prepared for the show. On Saturday, once the lorry has been loaded at the scenery rooms and off-loaded at May Hall, all the raised seating blocks are put into place and assembled and the bars and backstage materials, the stage extension, the props, the sound and lighting desks will go into their places as May Hall is transformed from a school hall into a theatre. Cloths and lights will be hung to set the atmosphere for the many and varied scenes in the show. All of this is carried out by a small army of people that are both on and offstage.

Sunday morning and the final touches are put to the stage before the band call takes place at 2.00pm, the first time that the cast will have heard the orchestra. Following that, there is a technical rehearsal at about 6.00pm which will run to late evening. This is the first time that the cast will use the props that have been made over a period of months, or the appropriate furniture.

On Monday, lights may need re-setting and tab tracks may need moving and, whilst that is going on, front-of-house staff are putting cushions out on chairs in the hall before Dress Rehearsal begins at 7.30pm.

On Tuesday, the foyer flowers are arranged and the bars are set up, dress rehearsal photographs mounted on the display board, the chairs put into place and labelled and final sound and lighting checks completed. Then, it’s opening night, the time we’ve worked so hard for since “Pickwick” was presented last October and all we need now is an audience to make it all worthwhile.

…and that is how a school hall is transformed into a theatre!

We hope you think that our efforts were worthwhile.