Under his leadership, the LACLO produced or co-produced several of their own shows, a number of which went on to wider success, including Song of Norway (1944), Magdalena (1948), Kismet (1953), Peter Pan (1954) and Gigi (1973).
He moved to California to work for Sid Grauman at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood where he staged spectacle prologues in the late 1920s.
The company opened its first season in 1938 with Franz Schubert's operetta Blossom Time, presented in English with stars John Charles Thomas and Francia White.
One major triumph for the company was the 1944 operetta Song of Norway which Lester commissioned Milton Lazarus, Robert Wright, and George Forrest to create using the music of Edvard Grieg.
Perhaps the most successful original work to be produced at the LACLO was the 1954 musical version of Peter Pan which Lester orchestrated as a star vehicle for Mary Martin.