The Auckland Amateur Operatic Society was formed in 1919 and its first production was 'The Gondoliers' by Gilbert and Sullivan. The Society was funded by members who were required to pay an annual subscription. Subscriptions financed at least one large scale musical drama or comedy each year to which subscribers were guaranteed at least two seats.
These productions were staged at His Majesty's Theatre while rehearsals and smaller productions took place in the miniature theatre in Grafton Road purchased by the Society from the proceeds of the Tutankhamen seasons.
The Society's objects, described in a 1945 programme, were:
'To cultivate and advance the arts of the opera, drama, music , and ballet in New Zealand in their various branches, and to provide healthy instruction and amusement for the members of the Society by the production of operas, other musical and dramatic entertainments and ballets, for the benefit of the Society and for charitable, philanthropic and patriotic objects'.
The Society changed its name to the Auckland Operatic Society in 1962 and then, in the 1970s, to the Auckland Music Theatre.
A keyword search on the Ephemera database will provide the names and dates of other musicals performed by the Auckland Amateur Operatic Society, the Auckland Operatic Society and Auckland Music Theatre. | 
