 Reed became the lessee of St. George's Hall in 1867, and there he initially produced and conducted "The Contrabandista" by Arthur Sullivan and F. C. Burnand, "The Beggar's Opera" and other English operas in small-scale productions, as well as non-musical plays.Around the same time, at the Gallery of Illustration, he presented works with libretti by, among others, W. S. Gilbert, William Brough, Gilbert à Beckett, Robert Reece and Arthur Law.His composers included Frederic Clay, George Macfarren, Alfred Cellier and Hamilton Clarke as well as Sullivan and Reed himself.