La belle Hélène
From the beginning, the company interspersed serious opera with lighter works. In the early years the "Irish Ring" ("The Bohemian Girl", "The Lily of Killarney" and "Maritana") featured in Old Vic and Sadler's Wells seasons. After the Second World War, the company began to programme operetta, including "The Merry Widow" (1958), "Die Fledermaus" (1958), "Orpheus in the Underworld" (1960), "Merrie England" (1960), "La Vie parisienne" (1961), "La belle Hélène" (1963), and "The Gipsy Baron" (1964).