Sault Opera celebrates its 15th Anniversary with a special variety show performed for one night on February 16 called "Encore!" featuring excerpts from opera, operetta, and musicals from 19 shows out of its past repertoire of 32 shows. It was presented with an ensemble of 27 former and present Sault Opera actors/singers with orchestral accompaniment for about half of the numbers and the other half done with excellent piano accompaniment by Jane Anstice, who had taken the job on a very short 2-week notice. This program was conceived in November of the previous year by a committee consisting of Arno Ambel, Brenda Gravelle, Terry and Jill McPhee, and Terry Harpe; the title "Encore!" came from Keith Waldie.

"Encore!" was produced by Herb Johnson, directed by Brenda Gravelle, music directed by Arno Ambel, with Terry McPhee as the Master of Ceremonies. Lighting was done by Rutger Becker and stage management by Dirk Becker. The program consisted of 35 numbers with the cast consisting of: Wilf Beauchamp, Bruce Bedell, Nancy Butcher, Jo-Ann (Morgan) Egan, Brenda Gravelle, Louise Griffith, Helene Henderson, Sister Barbara Ianni, Herb Johnson, Bambi Kuehne, Judy Kuehne, John King, Dario Laurenti, Christine McBride, Rob McDowell, Jill McPhee, Terry McPhee, Debra Morin, Debra Ollikkala, Marla Pritchard, Jo Ramakers, Heidi Rauk, Francine St. Jules, Gary Vipond, Larry Whalen, and Karen Willert. The show received a good review, was well-attended, and made a net surplus of over $600.

Sault Opera concluded its 1984/85 season with "The Music Man" in early May. The company called in Caroline Smith from Toronto to direct the show along with Gordon Henderson as producer, Arno Ambel directing the music, Dirk Becker as stage manager and set designer, and many others behind the scenes. This show featured 30 lead parts and 29 chorus members, with Terry McPhee and Marla Pritchard playing the two major lead roles of Professor Harold Hill and Marian Paroo. Among the many excellent actors playing the lead parts, the show also featured the Harmoneers Barbershop Quartet with Wes Triplett, Don Bazely, John Tully, and Al Carscadden. In addition, some local public personages from the Sault were "hauled in" for a cameo appearance. The show received accolades by Sault Star reviewer Robin Waples with special mention going to Terry McPhee, Marla Pritchard, the Barbershoppers, Dave Bumbaco, David Beare, Sonya Ostrowski, Clinton Walker, Rob McDowell, and Louise Griffith with her "Ladies".

In an attempt to plug the show, Sault Opera held a parade on Saturday, April 27 down Queen Street in conjunction with the Queen Street Merchants Association. The parade, marshalled by Brenda Gravelle, featured a float by Sault Opera with the Barbershoppers, the Sir James Dunn School Band playing the tune of "76 Trombones", the Elks band, the Navy League marching band, the Air Cadets, the Shriners, and the Sault Street Rodders supplying vehicles for the Mayor and other dignitaries. The theme was "In celebration of Spring and The Music Man".

In spite of all the publicity and good reviews, box office sales for "The Music Man" fell short of expectations. Moreover, the company did not receive any grant assistance to cover the salary of professional director Caroline Smith and production costs exceeded revenues as her salary had to be paid from Sault Opera funds but she was worth every penny of it. However, costume costs were kept to a minimum thanks to wardrobe mistress Barb Fournier who utilized the company's existing stock of costumes.

In October, Sault Opera produced "Hello Dolly" with Joy Lowry directing the show, under the assistance of a Theatre Ontario grant, along with the triumvirate of Herb Johnson, Wilf Beauchamp, and Terry McPhee producing the show. Arno Ambel directed the music with the assistance of Chris Guzzo. Wilf Beauchamp designed the set according to Ms. Lowry's guidelines with the scenery and lights designed and operated by Dirk Becker. Tomira Sierzputowski and Marijke Ramakers co-ordinated the costumes, Terry Harpe assisted in the choreography, and Christy Loftstrom was the stage manager. Brenda Gravelle, Terry McPhee, Shelley Gold, Stephen Rutti, Terry Harpe, Gary Vipond, Ted McKinney, Jill McPhee, and Francine St. Jules played the primary leads, with Theresa Laurenti, Randy Smith, Tim O'Brien, and Michael Harpe playing the secondary leads along with a chorus of 27.

The opening night performance had some unpolished numbers, which led to a rather poor review (headlined "Ho-Hum Dolly"). In spite of the poor review, the primary leads carried the show excellently and the public response was very good, as were the box office sales. Although there initially was a shortage of male parts and the blocking suffered somewhat from the scheduling, everything managed to "come together" at the last moment.

Following "Hello Dolly", Sault Opera sponsored the Canadian Opera Company Touring Ensemble's production of "La Traviata" on November 20, which was initially taken with some apprehension and trepidation. The performance was adequately sold out and made quite a hit with the reviewer and the audience. An outstanding feature of this production was the novel staging concept by a young and talented stage director from the Netherlands, Hans Nieuwenhuis. Against expectations of "doom and gloom", the show made a net surplus of over $200.

A lot of "hullabaloo" incurred after Arno Ambel forbade a camera operator of the accompanying Global Television Network crew to take his position in an empty seat with the camera on his shoulder, thereby blocking the view of the paying audience members in the seats behind. This minor incident involved all the media and the Mayor of Sault Ste. Marie for the next several weeks. Upon receiving reports of the Sault made to look like a "culturally backwards place full of dingy taverns and strip clubs" (Sault Ste. Marie did not receive the signal from the Global TV Network at that time, so reports came from former Sault residents living in Southern Ontario), then-mayor Joseph Fratesi demanded that the Global TV Network broadcast a retraction for presenting its viewers an unfavourable impression of the city.

With a lot of "spunk", Sault Opera managed to "hold its own" in the stormy financial times of 1985, keeping its reputation of presenting a well-rounded variety of ably and well-presented musical stage shows.