OUR HISTORY

1927 to the present

Tracey Arkell, was a local musician and the organist of St Marys Church and a keen fan of Gilbert and Sullivan. He put an advertisement in the local Twickenham paper asking for people to come and form an operatic society to perform the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, many came to that first meeting in the church hall and thus was founded the Twickenham Amateur Operatic Society ( now called TOPS) in 1927. Productions were staged at York House in Twickenham and the society presented G & S shows until the early I950s.  After Tracey Arkell retired the company was soon expanding its horizons, producing shows such as The King and I, Pink Champagne, Bitter Sweet and The Merry Widow.

 

In 1951, Peter Holloway became the Musical Director and the company went from strength to strength.  Peter also became Chairman and Director and saw the society celebrate its 50th production, Brigadoon in 1977 having overseen every production since his first in 1951.  Peter handed over the role of Director to his daughter Gillian in 1979  and in 1988, after nearly forty years as Musical Director, Peter relinquished his baton to Mervyn Bryn-Jones and Peter became the TOPS President.  Peter sadly passed away on December 21st 2001, in his 94th year and to commemorate his long association with TOPS a memorial plaque was unveiled at a reception in Richmond Theatre during the run of 'Carousel' in July 2002 at the theatre.

 

In 1988, having outgrown the facilities and audience capacity of York House, the society moved its production of lvor Novello's 'The Dancing Years' to the Queen Charlotte Hall in Richmond, which became a very happy home for the society providing the stage for many successful and memorable productions. Just twelve years later, TOPS found itself with capacity audiences again and an ever-growing membership, so made the decision to move to a larger venue.  The society was very proud to enter the new millennium presenting its production of Oklahoma! at the historic Richmond Theatre in July 2000.

 

TOPS is renowned for its all-singing, all-dancing chorus and was been privileged to have had Babette Langford as its Choreographer between 1960 and 2016.  Babette's dancing inspiration and sheer enthusiasm has contributed so much to the life of TOPS. Babette became an honored Vice President of TOPS, in 2000 she was awarded the Richmond Arts Council Accolade and in July 2014 she was awarded the NODA Flame Award. She was awarded the Order of the British Empire Medal in the 2019 Queen's New Years Honours List.

 

Gillian Wade (TOPS Director) first joined the society in 1964 and appeared in many productions before becoming Director in 1979, During her time as Director, she saw the company continue to flourish and grow into a successful and award-winning society.  In 1993, Richmond Arts Council acknowledged this when they presented Gill with their highest award -The Accolade- for Services to  Musical Theatre. After the death of her father, Peter Holloway, in 2001 Gill was elected President of TOPS thereby following in her father's footsteps.

 

In 1996, Mervyn Bryn-Jones retired as Musical Director and the baton was passed to John Davies, who conducted both Broadway Pirates and Barnum. Paul Reynolds, a professional musician, composer and theatre producer was with the company from 1997 to 2003 as Musical Director then John Davies took up the baton again for 'Fiddler on the Roof'. Mervyn made a welcome return to conduct 'My Fair Lady' in 2005, The Scarlet Pimpernel in 2006, 'Hello Dolly!' in 2007, 'Oliver!' in 2008, Guys and Dolls in 2011 and his last production was Oklahoma! in 2012.

 

In September 2008, Dave Roberts was appointed to the role of Musical Director for TOPS when he musically directed Godspell and Smokey Joe's Cafe. TOPS produced Godspell at the newly built Live Room at the RFU Stadium in Twickenham and were honoured to be the first company to use the multi million pound facilities. TOPS had come home to Twickenham - at least for a short while.

 

In 2013 after directing The Pirates of Penzance TOPS Director Gill Wade retired; she had directed the company since 1979. Gill and her husband retired to the peace and tranquility of Salisbury in Wiltshire and we're delighted that she coninues to be President of the company that has been a part of her life for so long.

 

TOPS presents it's productions at various venues in the area. In 2013 The Pirates of Penzance was performed in the magnificent surroundings of The Normansfield Theatre in Teddington, a Victorian theatre which formed a wonderful backdrop for G&S. In 2013 TOPS began what was to become a regular tenure at Hampton Hill Theatre.

 

Peter Holloway's grandson, Ian Stark became TOPS Chairman in July 2014 and TOPS has gone on to even greater things, winning no fewer than fourteen Swan Awards in that time. We were awarded NODA's prestigious Flame Award in 2019. The Flame Award is given to individuals or societies for 'inspirational contribution to the pursuit of excellence in theatre'.

 

We celebrate our 100th birthday in 2027!