The Mikado

Never saw this version of The Mikado til today (2018). Musically (both orchestrally and vocally) it is first rate. However, visually, this Mikado is not only dull, it is pointlessly monochromatic. I've never seen a version of this delightful operetta with such uninspired costumes. In addition the floorplans for the sets were fine (for television) but the execution of the sets was worse than NBC's recent The Wiz. Extremely flat and under-decorated. Make up as well was very stage like and lacked the "white face" used by Japanese women of the period. It is this makeup that is supposed to make Katisha so frightening to look at! But alas, she was neither ugly nor physically out of proportion.

If the brilliant Sullivan score and the lyrics of WS Gilbert were not present here, this would not make it past the first five minutes before the viewer would turn it off.

This Mikado seems to be much maligned for reasons actually that I can understand. However I found it one of the better D'Oyly Carte Gilbert and Sullivan productions, not as good as Cox and Box, The Sorcerer, Iolanthe and Patience, but better than Pirates of Penzanze, HMS Pinafore and Yeomen of the Guard. I don't consider this production the definitive Mikado, in my opinion that's the 1987 one with Eric Idle and Lesley Garrett. Is it perfect(this production that is)? No it's not, the chorus choreography, excepting the entrance of the little girls which was nice and delicate, was rather dull and uninvolving, especially for the men, and William Conrad as well as singing flat most of the time sleepwalks through the role of the Mikado. Also while not suffering as badly as Pirates did, the video quality has a rather dated quality to it. However, it is elevated significantly by the beautiful garden set of Act 2, the wonderful orchestral playing and conducting and lovely singing from the ladies of the chorus, as well as some creative staging involving a hot-air balloon and a steam-powered train. Conrad aside, the performances are great. John Stewart is good overall as Nanki-Poo with a fabulous rendition of Wandering Minstrel and an ability to be emotive and comic. Kate Flowers is a beautiful Yum-Yum with a wonderfully sung The Sun Whose Rays and Gordon Sandison with his sense of comedy really makes the most of the relatively insubstantial part of Pish-Tush. The three standouts however were Anne Collins, Clive Revill and Stafford Dean. As Katisha, Collins manages to be heartbreaking and arrogant. Revill seems to be really relishing the sly character of Ko-Ko, and his singing I actually found more than serviceable, his Tit-willow rendition is quite touching. Dean is hilariously smug and pompous as Pooh-Bah, showing a real gift for comedy. In conclusion, I liked this one a lot. It is not perfect and there are better Mikados out there, but I don't think it is as bad as people say. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox

The singing is superb! The acting is great! You will enjoy this production of The Mikado very much. The principal singers are extra fine and the Ambrosian Opera Chorus and London Symphony Orchestra are led by Alexander Faris in a rousing fashion. The Mikado is perhaps the most often performed of all of the 14 Gilbert and Sullivan operas. You will quickly discover why after seeing this fine production.

Enjoy!

This production seems to have come under a lot of criticism but personally after listening to countless productions of The Mikado I found it actually to be rather good. Firstly I think that Clive Revill was an excellent Ko Ko as he managed to capture the sly yet pathetic nature of the character well and his delivery of the spoken parts is brilliant and really livens them up. Secondly Stafford Dean as Pooh-Bah was also top notch and his rendition of the dialogue describing all his roles was a scream. An Honourable mention must also go to the actors playing Pish-Tush who manages to flesh out a fairly insubstantial part effectively. I think it is also worth mentioning for G&S fans that this production has managed to avoid the temptation of fiddling around with the Little List song and the Mikado song and inserting topical references as so many theatre productions seem to do these days and the dialogue was commendably faithful (I'm enough of a nerd to compare the Libretto to my Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan). The only reason i'm not giving this full marks is because William Conrad's Mikado was a bit flat particularly in the Humane Mikado song which is after all one of the highlights. However Conrad was OK during the Mikado's dialogue (capturing the character's paradox of handing out bloodthirsty punishments in a kind manner) and the part isn't big enough for the slightly flat performance to affect the overall piece. In summary then a very good traditional production that is well worth seeing.

By far the best role in the production was Stafford Dean's Pooh-bah, a brilliant performance of multiple roles by a single player, often in a single sentence. John Stewart as Nanki-Pooh was fabulous in his rendition of Wand'ring Minstrel. He was also very emotive in his scenes with Yum-Yum, and hilariously comic elsewhere. Katisha and Ko-Ko were both extremely touching in their scenes together, in many ways the central roles of the show, calling for the most character development and growth. It was also amusing how Katisha, who comes on stage in a hot air balloon, is wearing rose-colored aviator goggles, which she discards when she sings her first sad aria.

It was unfortunate that the lesser roles had so much less to do. Pish-Tush and Pitti-Sing were given some time to shine, but I would have liked to see more of Peep-Bo. The little comic touches on Pish-Tush's part did well to amplify a smaller role. The same can be said for the costumes (several Victorian outfits, an actual trombone), and the train.

The chorus and the dancing were very exuberant and joyous. The entrance of the girls from school was sweetly delicate. The dances involving the men were less so. The opening sequence was rather bland by comparison, and the entrance of Ko-Ko was only saved by Ko-Ko's antics.

I much prefer the expanded set version of these plays. Not only is there more room for movement, especially dancing, but there are more environments for different scenes. The garden in particular was very good, both for the opening of act 2 and the setting for Ko-Ko's courtship of Katisha.