The Mikado

In most of the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, the libretto was written to poke light-hearted fun at the institutions of the day. Some of these works can be updated with great effect and others lose some of the magic. This particular version takes place in London around the 1920’s and it is all quite acceptable until the Mikado starts to throw his weight around in act 2. The plot loses a little in credibility at that point. Nevertheless this was an excellent production with the music adapted extremely well for piano, keyboard and percussion by musical director Daniel Paine. My highlight for the evening was the solo “The Sun whose Rays” by Yum-Yum (Gudrun Lehmann-Shanks). The accompaniment was so simple but so beautiful and effective. Yum-Yum was very strongly supported throughout the show by a Nanki-Poo (Richard Cooper) whose singing was delightful and libretto extremely clear and also supported well by her two sisters, Pitti-Sing and Peep-Bo (Lou Salmon and Meg Atrill). All the other principals produced good words and music, especially Ko-Ko (David Martin) with his “Little List” and “Tit-Willow”. Pooh-Bah (Simon Smith) excelled in his pomposity as Lord High Everything Else. I must also make mention of Yum-Yum’s three skittish schoolgirl friends (Caroline Baylis, Tracy Lynch and Carrie McLeod) who reacted to everything that was happening throughout the whole performance. On this Friday evening, the part of the Mikado was understudied because of illness. Sarah Smith had learnt the part in 24 hours and coped well with the Mikado’s songs and words. Towards the end of the show, there is a solo (Alone, and yet alive!)  by Katisha (Sue Knight). This is a lovely song with pathos and feeling but because the music was taken at a much faster pace than the writers intended, we were unable to empathise with her wretched and tortured state. The set – a hotel foyer – was impressive; costumes befitting the period reflected; the three main dancers did an exceedingly good job; and the whole production moved with ease from scene to scene, thanks to the director (Veronica Cringle). 

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