The Mikado

I'm not a big Gilbert & Sullivan fan, but I greatly enjoyed this production of The Mikado. I saw it last week and have been unable to get many of the songs out of my head. Gidon Saks who plays the Emperor was outstanding. All the cast were excellent, although the woman who plays the love interest might have been her suitor's mother.

Individually and as an ensemble, the performers are wonderful, marvelously talented, thoroughly watchable, and downright enchanting.

Because a Facebook friend was in a recent Los Angeles production of "The Mikado," and I cheered him on, other friends mentioned other versions, including the English National Opera version (with Eric Idle). I had started the festival by linking the 1939 movie version, available at YouTube, and so have now watched several different productions.

All are good. Of course.

This is the best.

There is a sparkle, a brightness, a joy in the performances I don't find quite matched in any other that I've seen.

The singing, the acting, the dancing, the directing, the camera work -- all work together wonderfully. As old and crippled as I am, I found myself wanting to see a local production with me as ... well, that's where reality stepped in. So I just will re-watch this CBC video and marvel.

There is one sad note: That extraordinary talent who played Katisha died in May of last year, 2018. I sat absolutely enthralled by her scene with Ko-Ko when he sang "Tit Willow." Christina James' obituary said that, despite her astonishing talent as a performer, she would be best remembered as a teacher. If she were a better teacher than performer, then her students must considered among the luckiest in the world.

I highly recommend this superior version of "The Mikado," and you can find it at YouTube.

Like with the Stratford production of The Gondoliers, their Mikado was a production I didn't care for much when I first saw it. Re-watching it after some years with a stronger view of Gilbert and Sullivan than I did on first viewing, I realised how wrong I was, exactly the same reaction re-watching their Gondoliers production. Before re-watching this 1984 production, the 1987 one with Eric Idle and Lesley Garrett was my favourite. After seeing it, I've changed my mind, I'll always love that performance but this Mikado was just amazing in every regard, even better than Stratford's Gondoliers and much better than their Iolanthe(which I was mixed on).

The settings are I agree a little on the spare side, but this is in a beautiful sense rather than an ugly one. The costumes are wonderful, very colourful. The music is as always a pleasure, The Mikado I do consider one of G&S's best operettas along with Pirates of Penzance and HMS Pinafore. The orchestral playing is full of life and sparkle, and the conducting is brisk yet sympathetic to the singers. The chorus are well balanced with ethereal female voices and sonorous male ones, and look animated on stage, which helps make the staging even more enjoyable. The staging is broad and really quite bold even for G&S productions, but also witty, full of energy and directed with a firm hand. The hi-jink antics are funny indeed.

Is it entirely faithful to the operetta? Not quite. The list song is updated, there are a couple of small liberties in the score and there are some more modern Canadian references. But this didn't matter to me. I'm only mentioning it because it might matter to somebody else. The reason being that these are actually well-delivered and funny, one of the problems with Stratford's Iolanthe was how overdone some of the stage business was. I didn't get that sense here, and the acting is much more subtle while remaining generally true to their roles.

Faring weakest is Gidon Saks as the Mikado. Now that is not to say at all that he is bad, for example he does fare considerably better than the Mikado in the 1982 D'Oyly Carte production. He does have a good voice and has an imposing and fierce presence. I just felt that at times he hammed it up too much. The rest of the cast are much more impressive. Stealing the show is the Pooh-Bah of Richard McMillan, who in a very self-important role is hilarious especially in his banter between him and Eric Donkin. What was also interesting about McMillan was that I don't think I have seen or ever will see a Pooh-Bah this tall before. Eric Donkin's Ko-Ko is wonderfully uptight, and of what I've seen of him this is him at his most relaxed and entertaining without resorting to hamminess.

Marie Bardon as Yum Yum is delightful. She is alluring, has a bright tone to her voice and is never dull in her acting, in fact she is very bubbly. Henry Ingram may not quite be your idea of a youthful Nanki-Poo, but more than makes up for it with a beautiful voice and spirited acting. Christina James makes for a Katisha that is formidable and poignant, and her voice is well-projected and coloured if perhaps not for all tastes. Karen Wood also makes an impression as Pitti-Sing. Allen Stewart-Coates makes much of little as Pish-Tush, a role I usually don't find interesting, but one that is sung strongly and acted with great personality.

As for the video directing and lip sync, they're very good as well. Overall, the best Mikado I've seen, and while I will check out the Stratford production of Pirates of Penzance, it'll have to be really good to be as good or even surpass this, and seeing as this was so good even with minor imperfections I personally doubt it.

9.5/10 Bethany Cox

The best version of the Mikado anywhere. The Stratford Festival of Canada did several Gilbert & Sullivan operettas over a number of years, all directed by Brian Macdonald. They manage to keep all the humour and lightness, and discard the stodginess and antiquated creakiness that can creep into more "traditional" presentations. This is a filmed version of a stage performance, and the sets are beautifully spare and economical. The entrance of the Mikado is wondrous, the costumes are glorious, and the performers are really able to act their roles, bringing them to life. Pooh-bah is hilarious, a modern civil servant in Japanese dress, busy scheming how to protect his job and perks. The singing may not be top "opera" quality, but it is more than compensated for by the fine acting and dancing.

I think that over the years, I've seen the Mikado about a dozen times, ranging from D'Oyly Carte with Martyn Green playing Ko-Ko to seeing Groucho Marx's role on television. While my memories of Martyn Green remain fairly fresh, it's his dancing in the "Here's a Howdy Do," that still brings a smile to my face. If you have access to the 1953 film called the Story of Gilbert and Sullivan starring Robert Morley and Maurice Evans or even better if you can see the 1939 Mikado with Kenny Baker as Nanki-Poo, you'll see what I mean. Be that as it may, however, this exuberant performance filmed at Stratford, Ontario will make a Mikado fan of you forever, even if you aren't one already. The role of Pooh Bah is brilliantly played by Richard McMillan and his movements belie his height. The rest of the cast is excellent and the staging is simple and effective. In short, both Gilbert and Sullivan would have been proud of this production