The Mikado

Not being a Gilbert and Sullivan purist, I very much enjoyed Duncan Hamilton’s innovative presentation of this well loved operetta. He adapted the story brilliantly and I was amazed at how well it worked.  I directed ‘The Mikado’ myself a year ago and have taken part in it four times previously so know it inside-out!

Under the direction of Diana Vivian the orchestra was well balanced and the overture was beautifully played. They continued in that mode throughout the piece and never overpowered the singing. During the overture the projections of newspaper headlines interestingly set the scene for what was to follow and there was meticulous attention to detail throughout - properties were exceptionally good. The hairdressing salon on stage was impressive and all the paraphernalia associated with air travel was there too. The colour scheme of red and white, mix and match was striking, and the opening scene was full of business with each person on stage portraying a specific character.

Samuel Gibbons with his selection of buskers’ instruments played the part of Nanki- Poo with obvious enjoyment and confidence, and it was easy to see him as a modern day heart throb.

As Ko-Ko, George Priestly was terrific. His frenetic behaviour and absolute gift for comedy was a joy to behold.

The stately Pooh-Bah was strongly played by Nathan Auerbach who in his smart white suit added sobriety, as befitted a man who held himself in such high regard.

These three men all displayed notable vocal ability.

Pish-Tush is not a large part but Geoff Vivian also had an opportunity to impress with his singing voice.

Helen Clutterbuck is a very good actress and she brought out the comedy, which is sometimes not pointed enough in this principal role, and her singing was also very good.

Her two fellow ‘performers’ Pitti-Sing and Peep-Bo played by Amanda Buchan and Samantha Johnson respectively gave good performances and the three girls together presented an attractive pop trio.

Katisha was played brilliantly by Rachel Jones who has a commendable contralto voice. I liked her toughness, pushing around her bodyguards – very funny moments there which we in the audience enjoyed. All of the characters translated well into the modern setting and hers was particularly inspired.

The idea of a ‘Donald Trump’ Mikado was topical and the audience seemed to love it. Andrew Few had a good American accent, although it wasn’t always easy to hear everything he said, but he had clearly studied the mannerisms and he sang well in the role.

Jo Langdon as Princess of Monte Carlo was added to ‘Mi-ya-sa-ma’ which is unusual but it worked nicely.

Taking the names from other G and S characters for the passengers arriving in the arrivals lounge was another fun touch and gave an opportunity for chorus members to have a moment of their own. I wonder if there wasn’t a man available to be the Pirate King, or maybe Rachel Jones was a deliberate choice and meant to raise a laugh, but it didn’t seem to do so.

The colour scheme in act two was again attractive as was the Willow Plate swipe.

The blue lighting was super and the lighting plot for the whole production created atmosphere. Sound was well balanced.

There were priceless moments such as the two toned hair-do Yum –Yum displayed after ‘Braid the Raven Hair’ and the arrival of Ko-Ko with that impossible selection of sporting gear.

I didn’t think that the birds floating around really worked, despite the fact that it added a moment of comedy when he ‘plunged into his willowy grave’ It was very distracting as Ko –Ko sang the lovely and moving ‘Tit Willow’.

Chorus members kept their individual characters the whole time and were used to maximum effect but the amount of business on stage through the solos, even the beautiful ‘The Sun Whose Rays’, unfortunately detracted and distracted from the soloist and it was difficult to appreciate their personal performance.

I can see the comedy in having a tiger on the stage, especially one who can tap dance as well as Gordon Cowell can, but again we in the audience weren’t looking at, or listening to, Katisha and Ko-Ko, but were enjoying the tiger.

That aside I thought the production was amazingly clever and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing ‘The Mikado’ from a completely different perspective. It was a triumph of originality.

The chorus splendidly supported the principals in both acting and singing.

Costumes were suitable for the setting and make-up was fine.

Your programme cover is striking and the contents are clearly set out. The photographs are of good quality as is the programme.

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