The present MAOS has no connection with the two pre world war II societies which put on shows in Maltby, but was formed by a group who performed in the Church of the Ascension's pantomime (1948 - 49)
"Floradora" was the Society's first show staged the week commencing the 27th February 1950, with Aaron Gibson as Producer and Joe Knock as Musical Director. The first President of the Society was Lady Mary Lumley from 1949 - 52.
Rehearsals were held in the Church School Rooms, and the production staged at the Church Hall, Meadow Lane. As is still the case, funds were needed to pay for the shows. At first, the Society held whist drives, beetle drives, raffles, dances and pea and pie suppers. Some members would take a handcart around Maltby collecting jumble for Jumble Sales.
There is still a need for a social committee to raise funds. Now barn dances, bonfire night festivities, raffles etc figure importantly in our fund raising activities.
Although Maltby Parish Church Hall had a large room with a stage at one end, there were a great many jobs to be done to turn it into a "theatre" for the week.
In the hall, chairs had to be hired and two platforms built at the back to raise the last few rows of seating. A "Pit" had to be constructed to enclose the orchestra. Chairs had to be tied together, numbered and the rows lettered.
Onstage, lighting had to be hired (footlights, proscenium lights, large spots and floods for the wings and spots for the hall.) Our friendly electricians had to erect all this and deal with the miles of cable needed. Scenery was hired the smallest possible (I think 12ft high) because the hall's sloping roof meant that scenery could not be stacked in the wings if it was too high. Curtains had to be found to hang in the wings and mask the off stage area.
Off stage right, a few steps led down to a small kitchen (where our tea ladies kept us going), with a further flight of steps leading to a cellar where the coke was stored for the boiler, providing a large space under the stage. This space became the "dressing rooms", with makeshift grey curtaining separating ladies from gents.
All too frequently there was a fresh delivery of fuel just before show week, so a mountain of coke became a space consuming hazard!!
As there was no more space backstage, our make up room was a Scouts' but about 20 yards away, reached through a door in the gents' dressing room.
The scenery and costumes were delivered on the Friday before the show. That evening was spent finding out how it all fitted together. Saturday morning was spent preparing the hall, stage and dressing rooms ready for the dress rehearsal on Saturday evening. (No Sunday rehearsals were allowed at that time.) Scene shifters hoped to get sets in place in record time, electricians prayed that the lights would not fuse with all the extra loads, (actually, once, during a performance of "The Desert Song", the lights did all fail just as Sid el Kar hit his top note in "One Flower" very effective), and cast members tried to remember to exit on the correct side.
This was important, for if you went off "stage left" when you needed to re enter from "stage right", you had to go outside, round the back of the building, enter through the gents' dressing area, climb the stairs, go through the kitchen, go up the second flight of steps and into the wings. This was because you could only cross the stage between scenes when the curtains were closed, as there was no room behind the back cloth. This once led to an amusing incident (again in "The Desert Song") when a red trousered bottom gradually moved across the stage behind the "sand dunes" when a French Legionnaire found himself on the wrong side. To make matters worse, this took place whilst the two lead principals were delivering a tender love song!!
Shows were presented at the Church Hall until 1959, when the Hall was sold.
A new venue had to be found, and we moved to the Rotherham Civic Theatre for our 1960 production, "The White Horse Inn. "What a difference!! We had a green room, several dressing rooms, and access to the stage on both sides. Buthow vast the stage seemed to be, and with only the Sunday dress rehearsal to accustom us to the size, how very frightening!" Unfortunately, later in 1960, Mrs Helen Davis, who had taken over the role of Musical Director after "Floradora," died suddenly. It took a while to decide on a new M D, hence there was no production in 1961, but since then a show has been staged every year and in 1999, to celebrate our 50th year, we performed "The Pajama Game."