Atlanta Lyric Theatre, was formed in 1980 by Tedi and Robert Langdon and Sally Knap as the Southeastern Savo yards, a repertory theatre company dedicated to presenting the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. The company’s first production, Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado, was performed at Emory University in December 1980. Later, the company’s productions were moved to the Marist School, the 14th Street Playhouse, Center Stage Theater, and then to the Robert Ferst Center for the Arts on the campus of Georgia Tech where the company’s main stage performances were produced for seventeen seasons.