The
Los Angeles Civic Light Opera (LACLO) was an American theatre/
opera company in Los Angeles,
California. Founded under the motto "Light Opera in the Grand Opera manner" in 1938 by
impresario Edwin Lester, the organization presented fifty seasons of theatre before closing due to financial reasons in 1987. Typically the LACLO presented four to six productions during an annual season. The company produced or co-produced several of their own shows in addition to bringing in shows from Broadway to California, often with their original casts. Productions that originated at the LACLO and then went on to wider success, included
Song of Norway (1944),
Magdalena (1948),
Kismet (1953),
Peter Pan (1954) and
Gigi (1973). Initially the organization mainly presented American
operettas, but by the 1960s the company was presenting mostly
musical theatre; although the company never completely left its roots.