The Pismo Light Opera Theatre was founded in 1981 by Gaynor Trammer, a local real estate agent who taught voice at Arroyo Grande High School. The company of singers and dancers was based on a company in Anchorage, Alaska where Trammer had performed. To establish the initial financial backing, several community fund-raising concerts were performed. The first full-stage production, “The Gondoliers” by Gilbert and Sullivan was opened on July 24, 1981. Since the opening, P.L.O.T. has performed 60 major productions as well as many fund-raisers, ballets, concerts and more.

For the first eleven years of its operation, P.L.O.T. occupied a performance space in the auditorium of the old Pismo Beach City Hall on Wadsworth Avenue and Bello Street. Originally designed as the assembly hall for the Pismo Beach Elementary School, the auditorium had been used as a basketball court, a dance hall, space for the City Planning Commission, and as a storage room for City Hall supplies. In 1991, the County of San Luis Obispo declared the building unsafe, and since the loss of its permanent home, PL.O.T. has been known as the Pacific Light Opera Theatre. Recently, with the prospect of a permanent return to Pismo Beach around the corner, the group’s name has changed to the Pismo/Pacific Light Opera Theatre. Productions have been held in numerous venues throughout the county, reaching a wide range of Central Coast residents.

Over the twenty-two years it has existed, it has presented 60 major productions of musical theatre and several co-productions. These shows include “Oklahoma,” “South Pacific,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Kismet,” “The Mikado,” “Annie,” “The King and I,” “Brigadoon,” “West Side Story,” “Showboat,” “Oliver,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” and “Damn Yankees.” Recent productions have included, “Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris” which was presented at the Pewter Plough Playhouse in Cambria, “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” at the First Presbyterian Church in San Luis Obispo, and “Mame”a co-production with Unity of San Luis Obispo. P.L.O.T. has also partnered with the Women’s Shelter Program to receive a Safe Schools grant for an after school program at Paulding Middle School in Arroyo Grande. Most recently, P.L.O.T. board members have worked on the new locally produced film, “Melinda’s World.”

Currently know as the Pismo/Pacific Light Opera Theatre, the organization recently announced its return to Pismo Beach during their “PLOT-A-THON” which was broadcast live on Charter Channel Public Access 2 in February, 2004. Proceeds from this fundraising event will go to creating a permanent home in Pismo Beach.