Littlehampton’s LPOS Musical Productions are enjoying their 70th birthday this year – and they are doing so from a position of strength.
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00:00Go for it.
00:02Good afternoon, my name is Phil Kewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers.
00:06Lovely to speak to Simon Jones, Chairman of Alports Musical Productions from Littlehampton.
00:11Now, fabulous year this year, celebrating 70 years for the company.
00:15And the wonderful thing, you've picked a really good time to be Chairman, haven't you?
00:19Because things haven't been better than this, have they, for a long time.
00:23You're in a really good position with the company.
00:26Exactly. The company is the healthiest position it's been in for a long time.
00:30We've got lots of new members, lots of new young members that, again, are complementing the more the older...
00:38No, hold on. The people who have been there for longer in the society.
00:43How do you explain that you're doing so well?
00:46Because so many companies are struggling a bit at the moment, post-pandemic, cost of living, but you are flourishing.
00:51It is. It's all about the social aspect around that.
00:55It's about the dedication and the application of our members.
00:58And it's because LPOS is such a welcoming and inclusive society that people keep coming back.
01:04And everybody has got a common goal.
01:06Everybody's goal is to sort of make LPOS as successful as it possibly can be.
01:12And you were saying that everyone says about their company or they're very friendly, very welcoming, etc.
01:17But this company genuinely is, isn't it? It really is.
01:20They are. They are.
01:21They are. I mean, I've been a member, I think it was 2001.
01:25I think so, since 2001.
01:27And when I joined, the people, everybody fell over themselves being welcoming, you know, and making you feel part of it.
01:36So somebody new coming inside to an established company, usually, or, you know, it can be that there's obviously clicky bits of things.
01:44And there was none of that. It was all everybody in.
01:46Couldn't do, you know, couldn't do more to make me welcome.
01:50It was. And I've not forgotten that. And that's the thing.
01:53And you're saying every success is based on the past history, isn't it?
01:57As you're saying, all your success as chairman, everyone who's ever acted or performed with the company, the current success is down to them, isn't it?
02:04That's the thing.
02:07So it's looking back at our previous 70 years and realising that the only reason we're here is because of the hard work and dedication of the people who started the company back in 1955.
02:18All of those subsequent committees, subsequent chairs, subsequent cast, subsequent crew, subsequent stage people, everybody, all of those sort of building up in this pyramid to where we are.
02:29We are today. And, you know, it's it's it's recognising that looking backwards.
02:34You know, when we used to be called Little Hampton Players Operatic Society, which were now LPOS Musical Productions, because we know we've moved away from just doing operatic stuff or Gilbert and Sullivan looking to more modern musicals.
02:47It's looking at the next 70 years from here.
02:51But appropriately for the 70th anniversary production, you're going back to the show with which you began, aren't you?
02:58That's it. We're doing Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience on the 21st of June at the Windmill, which is a staged concert performance with a bit of a tweak.
03:08It's set in Mewsbrook Park in Little Hampton.
03:11So if you come and have a come and have a watch, there'll be some Easter eggs in there and some interesting things that people will be able to spot, as well as a narration which covers quite a lot of other Gilbert and Sullivan highlights that people will be able to keep an eye out for.
03:27Fantastic. Well, congratulations on the 70th for the company and fabulous to hear that the company is in such a good place as you celebrate.
03:35Oh yes. Seven decades. Well done you. Lovely to talk to you.
03:39Thank you very much.