WE ARE THE BHOS!

Established in 1883, The Brighton & Hove Operatic Society has been a continuous presence on Brighton stages. As England's oldest Musical Theatre Society, they have performed in nearly all of Brighton's professional theatres, both past and present. BHOS has graced the stage over 80 times at Brighton's Theatre Royal and produced The Dome's annual Pantomime for the better part of 40 years between 1946 and 1986.

Although the word “Operatic” no longer fully reflects the company we are today, it is important to retain our name so we can celebrate our long and illustrious history. To date, we have produced 48 plays, 29 Pantomimes, and 168 Musicals, showcasing that we are much more than just an “Operatic Society.” However, due to our historical significance, we made the decision to incorporate our traditional name with more modern branding.

BHOS also has a long history of charitable initiatives. In 1900, we donated all profits from our Theatre Royal production of HMS Pinafore to the “Widows and Orphans Mafeking Fund.” The £100 donated (equivalent to £12,000 in today's money) so impressed the owner of The Theatre Royal that he gave BHOS special hire rates at cost as a thank-you. Although we understandably stopped full productions during both World Wars, we held many fundraising concerts for both civilians and soldiers. During the years of The Dome pantomime, we organized sponsored events to raise money so we could gift tickets to children who would not normally have been able to afford them.

Today, charity remains at the forefront of our minds as we aim to give away tickets for a whole performance to various local charities once again. As a theatre company, we heavily rely on our community's support, and we recognize the importance of giving back wherever we can. It was somewhat surprising to us that after we launched what we thought was a new charitable initiative, we discovered our past endeavors. It goes to show that charity has always been at the heart of the company.

However, the true purpose of BHOS is to provide opportunities for our local community to act, sing, dance, and create in the many ways that theatre requires. Performance, directing, designing, making... theatre provides a creative outlet that is extremely rewarding. We are proud that we have given our local community 140 years of opportunities to satisfy their creative ambitions.