Festival Puccini produced the first performances of a Puccini opera on the lake shore, in front of the Maestro's house. In a provisional theatre, the "Carro di Tespi Lirico" with its stage built on piles stuck in the lake, a travelling opera company performed "La bohème" directed by Forzano and conducted by Mascagni. The same company came back in 1931 when Beniamino Gigli and Adelaide Saraceni performed in "La bohème", while Rosetta Pampanini and Angelo Michetti performed "Madama Butterfly". This was the beginning of what was to become a major opera festival. However, in the years before 1949, due to the political
Cambridge Theatre in 1958, Tommy Steele in "Half a Sixpence" in 1963 (678 performances), Bruce Forsyth in "Little Me" in 1964 (334 performances), "The Black Mikado" (1975–76), and in the late 1970s the Kander and Ebb musical "Chicago" ran for 590 performances. More recently the 'rock'n'roll' musical "Return to the Forbidden Planet", which was based on Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and used 1950s and 1960s songs opened in September 1989 and lasted until early 1993, winning the Olivier Award for Best New Musical—beating the favourite, "Miss Saigon". The controversial show "Jerry Springer - The Opera" had a run from 14 October 2003 –