Program for Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe presented by Amateur Opera Association of Brooklyn

A program note in the interior dates the Association from 1874 when “a few ladies and gentlemen organized a small club for the purpose of studying light English opera. Their object was more social and musical enjoyment at home than public representations.” After its start as a “private and parlor society,” the Association grew in “strength, prosperity, and popularity,” employed a professional conductor and designers, and began performing at the Academy. The program note also takes pains to dissociate the group from the professional stage, considered disreputable, stressing that it has sent “but few representatives” into theatrical careers, and instead has “done much to encourage domestic happiness,” noting that “during the last seven years fourteen marriages have occurred between ladies and gentlemen of the company.”