The Black & White Mikado

Fantastic to see NMAODS bring their production of The Black & White Mikado to the stage in a new to them venue and with a new to them Musical Director Lynn Lee, I believe there was illness involved so Lynne Lee stepped in at relatively last minute. That being said, the audience would never have known as the cast followed her direction as if they had been with her following her baton all their lives.

The Black & White Mikado is a very striking, visual show and this production did not disappoint. The costumes and wigs were to a very high standard and very fitting for the 1920’s era. It was so nice to see the whole cast in character shoes - I would just mention as a side note to be careful when exiting the stage as there was a little bit of wing noise that came through to the audience over the dialogue still being acted on the stage. The set itself was very minimal and quite striking in its simplicity. I enjoyed the use of projections reminiscent of a silent movie to fill in background information for the audience, it is a shame that NWTAC stage isn’t a raked stage though as at times the way the cast were placed across the stage blocked the audience from reading them fully. I also believe that the slides were being changed surreptitiously on stage by one of the actors with the aid of a specially designed glove #ifyouknowyouknow.

Seb Lassandro as Ko-Ko was an absolute delight and definitely one of my backbone performers - as soon as he bounced on stage he gave us everything. He used his face marvellously and even the flicking of his wig was done with real purpose - he showed every facet of Ko-Ko’s character eloquently without over acting or scene stealing - a very generous actor. His rendition of “I’ve got a little list” had the audience laughing , gasping and clapping with its cleverly rewritten inclusion of current media events.

Another stand out performer for me and definitely one to watch out for on the circuit was Jack Brierley (The Mikado), again a clever understated performance that seemed completely effortless. His dialogue was delivered clearly with pace and comedic inflection. The three maids - Charlotte Crossley, Rebecca Tonge and Steph Eckhardt all worked perfectly together and gave us a lovely solid performance. At times some of the notes sounded a little raw and forced, but we do have to take into account Covid and nerves from not being able to perform for so long. I particularly enjoyed the tone of Rebecca’s vocals, but at times it was a little difficult to hear as the audience themselves were a bit noisy and “shuffly”. 

Jill Ratcliffe stepped in at fairly last moment to play Katisha after the original lady cast had to pull out due to issues from contracting Covid. Jill gave us a strong performance and took us on a journey to explore Katisha’s softer more empathetic side beautifully. I know that there was a light problem during one of Jill’s songs which was a shame visually but did not detract from the deliverance.

Lawrence Shoebridge (Nanki-Poo), Dave Seager (Pooh-Bah) and Mike Nash (Pish-Tush) all played their characters very convincingly and got the story told. The whole ensemble worked well together. It was very evident that it was a team on the stage, all intent on bringing the show safely home to a rousing close.

Thank you NMAODS for your hospitality to myself and my guest and of course the personal parking space (nice touch). I hope to see you all again very soon, stay safe.

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