New Zealand Opera Group's first opening night

18 October 1954

New Zealand Opera Company poster, 1958
New Zealand Opera Company poster, 1958 (Alexander Turnbull Library, Eph-F-OPERA-NZOC-1967-01)

Soon to be renamed the New Zealand Opera Company, the Group performed Gian Carlo Menotti’s comic opera The telephone in Wellington. The performance was broadcast live on radio.