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Fundraising Events
We are currently selling Raffle Tickets to raise funds, if your are interested you can ask any member for details.
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Past Productions
YEAR PRODUCTION YEAR PRODUCTION 1916 The Mikado 1976 Fiddler on the Roof 1917 Silver King & Patience 1977 Paint Your Wagon 1918 Yeomen of the Guard 1978 La Vie Parisienne 1919 Olivette 1979 Musical Showtime 1920 Proof 1979 The King and I 1920 The Gondoliers 1980 Annie Get Your Gun 1924 The Wrong Flat 1981 Music to Delight 1925 Under the Red Robe 1981 Oklahoma 1926 Ruddigore 1982 My Fair Lady 1934 The Maid of France 1983 Viva Mexico 1934 The Pirates of Penzance 1983 The Pajama Game 1934 Yeomen of the Guard 1984 Music Hall 1936 Highway Love 1984 Guys and Dolls 1937 The Mikado 1985 Music Hall 1938 Merrie England 1985 The Music Man 1951 Pirates of Penzance 1986 Music Hall 1952 Miss Hook of Holland 1986 Hello Dolly 1953 The New Moon 1987 Music Hall 87 1954 Waltz Without End 1987 Finian's Rainbow 1955 The Quaker Girl 1988 Music Hall 88 1956 The Dubarry 1988 Carousel 1957 Magyar Melody 1989 Music Hall 89 1958 Pink Champagne 1989 Half a Sixpence 1959 White Horse Inn 1990 Music Hall 90 1960 Naughty Marietta 1990 Call Me Madam 1961 The Student Prince 1991 Music Hall 91 1962 Pirates of Penzance 1991 Gigi 1962 Oklahoma 1992 Music Hall 92 1963 Showboat 1992 No, No, Nanette 1964 Valley of Song 1993 Anything Goes 1965 Carousel 1994 Fiddler on the Roof 1966 South Pacific 1994 Music Hall 94 1967 Brigadoon 1995 Springtime Revue 1968 Old Time Music Hall 1995 My Fair Lady 1968 Merry Widow 1996 Showtime 1969 Oliver 1996 Brigadoon 1969 The Desert Song 1997 Guys and Dolls 1970 Orpheus in the Underworld 1998 Kiss Me Kate 1971 The Gypsy Baron 1999 Curtain Up 1972 The Land of Smiles 1999 Calamity Jane 1973 Variety Showtime 2000 Carousel 1973 The New Moon 2001 Oklahoma 1974 The Mikado 2002 Oliver 1974 Calamity Jane 2003 Cole 1975 White Horse Inn 2004 Blitz
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History
We have 40 to 50 performing members supported by a further 30 offstage during show weeks, and 80 to 100 Vice Presidents. We normally meet twice every week for about 45 weeks leaving very little spare time for other interests. Children, Parents and Grandparents act together, and the majority remain members for between 25 and 45 years. It is difficult to assess how many people have been entertained by the Society; currently it averages about 3000 per year and in total the figure has probably exceeded 250,000.
The Society was formed in 1916 following a meeting in the Snowden Temperance Hotel and Cafe (now the Abertillery Sports Club). The first performance, The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan, was given in October of that year at The Metropole Theatre under the direction of M. E. Thomas. The Society was very highly regarded throughout the 1920's and 30's when live entertainment was at its pinnacle, and the Metropole played host to London shows on tour. We like to think that we still maintain a high standard, those that saw Carousel October 2000 may have a similar view.
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World War II enforced a break from 1939 and it was not until 1951 that the society was re-formed, with a performance of the Pirates of Penzance at Llanhilleth's Workman's Hall. Throughout the 50's, the productions were held in the Pavilion Theatre, Abertillery, before the Metropole was re-opened in March 1962 with Maurice David, (a wartime leader of a concert party that contained the great British actor, Jack Hawkins) in charge. The Society had continued to be successful since then, but with the Metropole being threatened, the Society again had a battle on its hands.
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S O M (Save our Met Campaign)
A Brief Outline of the Metropole Theatre's usage
The Operatic Society, because of the uncertain future of the Metropole Theatre, started a campaign to retain the facility and restore it to a useable condition. The building is about 120 years old and used to contain a superb ballroom and Victorian style Theatre. Huge numbers of people will recall the pleasures of dancing in the Market Hall. Unfortunately the ballroom floor was damaged beyond repair when it was converted to an indoor Market during the 1970's.
The Theatre was probably unique in South Wales being in regular use until February last year by both amateur organisations and professional groups. I believe the Local Authority took over the theatre from private ownership in the early 1960's, since then the Operatic Society alone has presented 59 Shows, whilst using it for about 3 months of stage rehearsals before each one. The Youth Drama Society has used the Theatre for its annual shows, pantomime and rehearsals since they started about 15 years ago, and it has been used in recent years by the Male Orpheus, local Schools and various fund-raising events. Recently, the Museum Society thought their accommodation problem had been resolved when they moved into the ground floor area in a blaze of publicity.
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Events leading to the current situation
Most people will appreciate that Councillor Nigel Daniels (Chairman of Leisure) has led and pushed Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council (BGCBC) into gaining a significant Lottery Grant (through the Arts Council of Wales) to carry out improvement work to the Metropole which was due to be completed during May 2000.
We have publicly acknowledged the effort that Nigel has put into getting the grant, and the support he has shown the various Abertillery organisations as Chairman of Leisure. The grant had been welcomed with enthusiasm and anticipation, all appearing to go well until BGCBC invited local Organisations to a meeting on Friday 14th April 2000 to "discuss issues and implications for the planned Metropole refurbishment".
Work had been stopped and, in the words of a council spokeswoman, quoted in the South Wales Argus, the theatre is "closed for the foreseeable future". What a Millennium gift to the people of Abertillery when, to quote Robert Page (his father kept Langdon's) "almost every other major community between Land's End and John O'Groats is currently being enhanced by the provision of a performing arts venue, worthy of mounting all but the most sophisticated of Productions".
During the meeting the council presented a series of pictorial views, taken with a digitised video, of a large number of defects. In the opinion of our representatives, many defects shown could be rectified in isolation without too much resource. The significant features centre around the moisture levels in some parts of the outer stone walls, the water has rotted some of the structural timbers supporting the Balcony and Mezzanine floor, where they are buried in the walls. More reports by Consultants are in preparation, but it is clear that the Theatre cannot be returned to a usable condition without carrying out remedial work.
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There was a popular view that some County Borough Councillors appeared to have already decided that there would be no turning back. The Operatic Society held a meeting on Monday 17th April 2000, to disseminate information provided by BGCBC on Friday 14th April 2000, and it was unanimously agreed that we would immediately start a campaign called Save Our Met (SOM). Our efforts to date have been directed at organising a petition to help gauge the level of support, and facilitating an "Open" meeting, so that the townspeople could be appraised of the situation. We tried to target about one third of the 14,000 adult population, and handed a Petition of over 4,200 names to Nigel Daniels on Friday 28th April 2000 - good going for just over one week's effort.
Over 210 people including Councillors, Council Officers and Llew Smith MP attended the meeting held in Ebenezer Chapel on 26th April 2000 at 7.30pm. I outlined the situation and probable effects and then invited the Council to show their video. This was followed by an open discussion, which included some very searching questions from members of the public concerning previous work and inspections. The meeting was terminated at 10.00pm and it was generally felt that our objectives were satisfied. The Council is now preparing technical reports for review and we are ready to apply further pressure as necessary to encourage them to obtain grants and provide funding for the work. We will provide updates to this page as information becomes available.
If the theatre is lost to Abertillery a significant part of the town's heritage will disappear and, more importantly, so will its availability to future generations of residents.
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Update
The news about the Metropole Theatre was greeted with shock, anger and recrimination, because our future was extremely uncertain. We had contracts in place with Joseph Weinberger the performing rights-holders, to present Carousel during October 2000. With Oklahoma already under contract for the following October, we had been looking forward with great expectation to performing in the refurbished Theatre.
As an adult based organisation performing popular Musical Shows, we needed a facility which had an appropriate stage, auditorium and amenities. There is no such facility in the district with the exception of the Met or one that could be permanently used, we had been told that both the Beaufort and Brynmawr theatres are fully booked to the end of the year. We looked to the council to do all in their power to provide a suitable facility as a temporary measure. Earlier generations of councillors and previous officers have actually pointed at us and said, look what we are doing for the town by providing Entertainment and Leisure facilities for groups such as these. We have been used as proof that they were fulfilling their obligations.
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We deserve a major place in the Arts Development plans for the town, having consistently attracted large audiences for 84 years and could do so for a further 84 years. Alternative forms of entertainment, which are quite rightly being encouraged by the council, are of a cyclical nature, subject to change from generation to generation, but we can provide a stable basis across generations for their plans. A Meeting was called by the council on Friday 28th April 2000, to discuss alternative venues for immediate future use. We went there expecting to be offered the Comprehensive School as a temporary solution, either in its current or modified form. Having performed there for Charitable causes in the past, we have had experience of the place. Based on this our agreed position was that it was totally unsuitable, and even after considerable modification was unlikely to be suitable other than for Concerts. Further, the timescale for modifications required, preclude its use for the forth coming Show.
Our members are drawn from diverse backgrounds but they do include Builders, Electricians, Engineers, Accountants, Bank Managers, and very importantly, people with huge amounts of common sense and a common aim. They had considered alternatives from every aspect, and the view was that the temporary conversion of the Abertillery Leisure Centre Sports Hall, on a campaign basis warranted serious study. Obviously, before any decisions could be made, a feasibility study into the design, implementation and costing of this proposal needed to be carried out, but the members would not rest easy until the results were known. The Council agreed to a study and a further meeting was planned for Friday 5th May 2000, when the results would be discussed and hopefully a way ahead decided.
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Click here to visit the Blackwood Little Theatre site. www.blackwoodlt.org.uk
Click here to visit the Abertillery site. www.abertillery.net
This site has been visited by 
people.
Site updated 4 January 2005
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Past Productions
| YEAR | PRODUCTION | YEAR | PRODUCTION |
| 1916 | The Mikado | 1976 | Fiddler on the Roof |
| 1917 | Silver King & Patience | 1977 | Paint Your Wagon |
| 1918 | Yeomen of the Guard | 1978 | La Vie Parisienne |
| 1919 | Olivette | 1979 | Musical Showtime |
| 1920 | Proof | 1979 | The King and I |
| 1920 | The Gondoliers | 1980 | Annie Get Your Gun |
| 1924 | The Wrong Flat | 1981 | Music to Delight |
| 1925 | Under the Red Robe | 1981 | Oklahoma |
| 1926 | Ruddigore | 1982 | My Fair Lady |
| 1934 | The Maid of France | 1983 | Viva Mexico |
| 1934 | The Pirates of Penzance | 1983 | The Pajama Game |
| 1934 | Yeomen of the Guard | 1984 | Music Hall |
| 1936 | Highway Love | 1984 | Guys and Dolls |
| 1937 | The Mikado | 1985 | Music Hall |
| 1938 | Merrie England | 1985 | The Music Man |
| 1951 | Pirates of Penzance | 1986 | Music Hall |
| 1952 | Miss Hook of Holland | 1986 | Hello Dolly |
| 1953 | The New Moon | 1987 | Music Hall 87 |
| 1954 | Waltz Without End | 1987 | Finian's Rainbow |
| 1955 | The Quaker Girl | 1988 | Music Hall 88 |
| 1956 | The Dubarry | 1988 | Carousel |
| 1957 | Magyar Melody | 1989 | Music Hall 89 |
| 1958 | Pink Champagne | 1989 | Half a Sixpence |
| 1959 | White Horse Inn | 1990 | Music Hall 90 |
| 1960 | Naughty Marietta | 1990 | Call Me Madam |
| 1961 | The Student Prince | 1991 | Music Hall 91 |
| 1962 | Pirates of Penzance | 1991 | Gigi |
| 1962 | Oklahoma | 1992 | Music Hall 92 |
| 1963 | Showboat | 1992 | No, No, Nanette |
| 1964 | Valley of Song | 1993 | Anything Goes |
| 1965 | Carousel | 1994 | Fiddler on the Roof |
| 1966 | South Pacific | 1994 | Music Hall 94 |
| 1967 | Brigadoon | 1995 | Springtime Revue |
| 1968 | Old Time Music Hall | 1995 | My Fair Lady |
| 1968 | Merry Widow | 1996 | Showtime |
| 1969 | Oliver | 1996 | Brigadoon |
| 1969 | The Desert Song | 1997 | Guys and Dolls |
| 1970 | Orpheus in the Underworld | 1998 | Kiss Me Kate |
| 1971 | The Gypsy Baron | 1999 | Curtain Up |
| 1972 | The Land of Smiles | 1999 | Calamity Jane |
| 1973 | Variety Showtime | 2000 | Carousel |
| 1973 | The New Moon | 2001 | Oklahoma |
| 1974 | The Mikado | 2002 | Oliver |
| 1974 | Calamity Jane | 2003 | Cole | 1975 | White Horse Inn | 2004 | Blitz |
Back to top
History
We have 40 to 50 performing members supported by a further 30 offstage during show weeks, and 80 to 100 Vice Presidents. We normally meet twice every week for about 45 weeks leaving very little spare time for other interests. Children, Parents and Grandparents act together, and the majority remain members for between 25 and 45 years. It is difficult to assess how many people have been entertained by the Society; currently it averages about 3000 per year and in total the figure has probably exceeded 250,000.
The Society was formed in 1916 following a meeting in the Snowden Temperance Hotel and Cafe (now the Abertillery Sports Club). The first performance, The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan, was given in October of that year at The Metropole Theatre under the direction of M. E. Thomas. The Society was very highly regarded throughout the 1920's and 30's when live entertainment was at its pinnacle, and the Metropole played host to London shows on tour. We like to think that we still maintain a high standard, those that saw Carousel October 2000 may have a similar view.
Back to top
World War II enforced a break from 1939 and it was not until 1951 that the society was re-formed, with a performance of the Pirates of Penzance at Llanhilleth's Workman's Hall. Throughout the 50's, the productions were held in the Pavilion Theatre, Abertillery, before the Metropole was re-opened in March 1962 with Maurice David, (a wartime leader of a concert party that contained the great British actor, Jack Hawkins) in charge. The Society had continued to be successful since then, but with the Metropole being threatened, the Society again had a battle on its hands.
Back to top
S O M (Save our Met Campaign)
A Brief Outline of the Metropole Theatre's usage
The Operatic Society, because of the uncertain future of the Metropole Theatre, started a campaign to retain the facility and restore it to a useable condition. The building is about 120 years old and used to contain a superb ballroom and Victorian style Theatre. Huge numbers of people will recall the pleasures of dancing in the Market Hall. Unfortunately the ballroom floor was damaged beyond repair when it was converted to an indoor Market during the 1970's.
The Theatre was probably unique in South Wales being in regular use until February last year by both amateur organisations and professional groups. I believe the Local Authority took over the theatre from private ownership in the early 1960's, since then the Operatic Society alone has presented 59 Shows, whilst using it for about 3 months of stage rehearsals before each one. The Youth Drama Society has used the Theatre for its annual shows, pantomime and rehearsals since they started about 15 years ago, and it has been used in recent years by the Male Orpheus, local Schools and various fund-raising events. Recently, the Museum Society thought their accommodation problem had been resolved when they moved into the ground floor area in a blaze of publicity.
Back to top
Events leading to the current situation
Most people will appreciate that Councillor Nigel Daniels (Chairman of Leisure) has led and pushed Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council (BGCBC) into gaining a significant Lottery Grant (through the Arts Council of Wales) to carry out improvement work to the Metropole which was due to be completed during May 2000. We have publicly acknowledged the effort that Nigel has put into getting the grant, and the support he has shown the various Abertillery organisations as Chairman of Leisure. The grant had been welcomed with enthusiasm and anticipation, all appearing to go well until BGCBC invited local Organisations to a meeting on Friday 14th April 2000 to "discuss issues and implications for the planned Metropole refurbishment".
Work had been stopped and, in the words of a council spokeswoman, quoted in the South Wales Argus, the theatre is "closed for the foreseeable future". What a Millennium gift to the people of Abertillery when, to quote Robert Page (his father kept Langdon's) "almost every other major community between Land's End and John O'Groats is currently being enhanced by the provision of a performing arts venue, worthy of mounting all but the most sophisticated of Productions". During the meeting the council presented a series of pictorial views, taken with a digitised video, of a large number of defects. In the opinion of our representatives, many defects shown could be rectified in isolation without too much resource. The significant features centre around the moisture levels in some parts of the outer stone walls, the water has rotted some of the structural timbers supporting the Balcony and Mezzanine floor, where they are buried in the walls. More reports by Consultants are in preparation, but it is clear that the Theatre cannot be returned to a usable condition without carrying out remedial work.
Back to top
There was a popular view that some County Borough Councillors appeared to have already decided that there would be no turning back. The Operatic Society held a meeting on Monday 17th April 2000, to disseminate information provided by BGCBC on Friday 14th April 2000, and it was unanimously agreed that we would immediately start a campaign called Save Our Met (SOM). Our efforts to date have been directed at organising a petition to help gauge the level of support, and facilitating an "Open" meeting, so that the townspeople could be appraised of the situation. We tried to target about one third of the 14,000 adult population, and handed a Petition of over 4,200 names to Nigel Daniels on Friday 28th April 2000 - good going for just over one week's effort.
Over 210 people including Councillors, Council Officers and Llew Smith MP attended the meeting held in Ebenezer Chapel on 26th April 2000 at 7.30pm. I outlined the situation and probable effects and then invited the Council to show their video. This was followed by an open discussion, which included some very searching questions from members of the public concerning previous work and inspections. The meeting was terminated at 10.00pm and it was generally felt that our objectives were satisfied. The Council is now preparing technical reports for review and we are ready to apply further pressure as necessary to encourage them to obtain grants and provide funding for the work. We will provide updates to this page as information becomes available.
If the theatre is lost to Abertillery a significant part of the town's heritage will disappear and, more importantly, so will its availability to future generations of residents.
Back to top
Update
The news about the Metropole Theatre was greeted with shock, anger and recrimination, because our future was extremely uncertain. We had contracts in place with Joseph Weinberger the performing rights-holders, to present Carousel during October 2000. With Oklahoma already under contract for the following October, we had been looking forward with great expectation to performing in the refurbished Theatre.
As an adult based organisation performing popular Musical Shows, we needed a facility which had an appropriate stage, auditorium and amenities. There is no such facility in the district with the exception of the Met or one that could be permanently used, we had been told that both the Beaufort and Brynmawr theatres are fully booked to the end of the year. We looked to the council to do all in their power to provide a suitable facility as a temporary measure. Earlier generations of councillors and previous officers have actually pointed at us and said, look what we are doing for the town by providing Entertainment and Leisure facilities for groups such as these. We have been used as proof that they were fulfilling their obligations.
Back to top
We deserve a major place in the Arts Development plans for the town, having consistently attracted large audiences for 84 years and could do so for a further 84 years. Alternative forms of entertainment, which are quite rightly being encouraged by the council, are of a cyclical nature, subject to change from generation to generation, but we can provide a stable basis across generations for their plans. A Meeting was called by the council on Friday 28th April 2000, to discuss alternative venues for immediate future use. We went there expecting to be offered the Comprehensive School as a temporary solution, either in its current or modified form. Having performed there for Charitable causes in the past, we have had experience of the place. Based on this our agreed position was that it was totally unsuitable, and even after considerable modification was unlikely to be suitable other than for Concerts. Further, the timescale for modifications required, preclude its use for the forth coming Show.
Our members are drawn from diverse backgrounds but they do include Builders, Electricians, Engineers, Accountants, Bank Managers, and very importantly, people with huge amounts of common sense and a common aim. They had considered alternatives from every aspect, and the view was that the temporary conversion of the Abertillery Leisure Centre Sports Hall, on a campaign basis warranted serious study. Obviously, before any decisions could be made, a feasibility study into the design, implementation and costing of this proposal needed to be carried out, but the members would not rest easy until the results were known. The Council agreed to a study and a further meeting was planned for Friday 5th May 2000, when the results would be discussed and hopefully a way ahead decided.