Mikado Concert Version

The Mikado or, The Town of Titipu is one of my favourite Savoy operas which was originally staged at the Savoy Theatre in London on March 14th 1885, it has Music by Sir Arthur Sullivan with Lyrics and book by W.S. Gilbert, it was number nine of their fourteen operatic collaborations. It is said that The Mikado remains the most frequently performed of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas and includes  some of their most well known songs such as “A Wand’ring Minstrel I”, “Behold the Lord High Executioner”, “Three Little Maids from School are We”,“The Sun Who’s Rays are all Ablaze”, and “I've Got a Little List"  to name but a few.

 With expert musical direction from conductor Ian Dunning this very colourful production by the Hoghton Players of the Mikado was a semi stage concert version in costume. There was good clear witty narration from Ian Wells masquerading as a newspaper reporter between each musical number which helped the audience follow the storyline and the action. The cast of principle soloist  produced some nice characters and sang their roles with confidence and enthusiasm. The soloist included, Gwyneth Farrer as Yum Yum, Pat Maitland as Pitti- Sing, Alison Davies as Peep- Bo, Iris Kelly as Katisha Walter Rogers as Nanki- Poo, Keith Cawdron as Pooh-Bah, Peter Dunning as Pish-Tush, Gordon Leek as The Mikado and with Ray Dutton as Ko-Ko who's updated version and rendition of the song “I've Got a Little List" was topical witty and funny, it was also a very big hit with the audience. The chorus of Titipudlian citizens supported the principal soloist well and appeared to be enjoying themselves, performing with lots of enthusiasm and pleasure. The proceedings were enhanced by the use of applicable props and lovely brightly coloured costumes, which gave that extra something to the performance, which worked very well. All the singers and performers were expertly accompanied and supported on the piano by the talented Ann Dickinson.

Congratulations to all involved in this entertaining colouful production which the audience appeared to enjoy very much, thank you for inviting us and for your hospitality, we had a lovely friendly enjoyable evening.

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