About MMS
Who We Are | Our Colourful History | What's Next
At 105 years young, Mosman Musical Society (MMS) is alive and flourishing today with a buzz of excitement rarely found in community theatre. One of Australia's oldest continuously running musical societies, MMS is definitely on a roll. Bursting at the seams with enthusiasm, MMS possesses the talent, creativity and leadership needed to realise its potential.
Nowadays MMS stages one or two shows a year (depending upon the size of our active membership) along with the occasional concert to showcase our singers' various talents and musical interests.
MMS is completely modern in its approach to performing stage musicals.
Working mostly in an intimate theatre space in Mosman Returned
Servicemen's Club, MMS has developed a chamber style economy of
presentation loved by audiences and performers alike. MMS consistently
achieves high standards, despite limited resources. It is a great
source of pride to us that performers are known to ask each year what
MMS is doing before committing themselves to any other project.
Established in 1903, Mosman Musical Society kicked off in grand style with a concert performance. This was quickly followed with the society's first fully staged production of a musical show, The Mikado, in 1904. There was no looking back. Apart, that is, from a brief cessation of activities due to World War II, when most of the society's singers were absent in the services. Year after year, MMS staged productions (often three a year) and concerts, covering the whole repertoire from opera and oratorio to operetta and light musicals, with vocal and orchestral concerts thrown in for good measure. Some of these shows were so successful they transferred to city theatres for short runs, something inconceivable today. The roster of shows produced by MMS over its century of existence reads like a history of the musical in the 20th century. Home grown stars thrilled their audiences for decades. In his autobiography Chapters and Chances, Reg Livermore talks about his involvement with MMS as a boy, wondering why its stars such as Betty Cheal and Betty Parsons were not being seen in big professional theatres. They deserved to be. Tastes and styles have changed over the years, but we will always be proud of our rich history and conscious of our place in its tradition.
In the late 1990s MMS updated its constitution and incorporated, before proudly celebrating its 100th Birthday in 2003 with a Gala Dinner, a concert entitled 100 Years of Song and the critically acclaimed and record breaking Centenary Production of Guys And Dolls. 2004 saw a critically acclaimed Cabaret and in 2005 we performed the sweetly titled concert Bibs & Bobs, before the delightful October production of another Broadway classic, Sweet Charity. In 2006 we broke our box office records with a sensational production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice classic 'rock opera' Jesus Christ Superstar. In 2007 we were back on the boards with a superb concert, Altogether Now! in March, followed in May by the NSW premiere season of Bat Boy - The Musical, a funny and moving show brought to life by a brilliant cast and production team. We topped that off with the towering success of our second major show for 2007, in October's A Night On Broadway, a deservedly popular smash hit.
Our major show for 2008! First produced by MMS in 1973, then again in 1983, we are pleased to announce the return of a real musical theatre classic, Fiddler On The Roof. Enjoy the superb music and profound drama of this beautiful show, directed in intimate style by Robert Pelletier.
Playing Mosman Returned Servicemen's Club
October 31 - November 8, 2008.
2008 will be another exciting year of musical performance for Mosman Musical Society - make sure you join in and become part of the excitement!