The Mikado

'The Mikado' is something of a peculiarity in the G&S canon and does rather stand out from the rest of their works in that its plot and the treatment of both the characters and the thematic drive make it very much a 'one-off' and did not seem to provide a template for the operas which followed it. The plot is a beautifully worked jewel: tumbling headlong from one comical paradox to the next, driven by its own very individual topsy-turvy logic; it's an almost perfect exercise in what one might call'organised chaos'. As possibly the most famous and well respected of all the G&S operas - 'The Mikado' can certainly lay claim to the title of both their most popular and historically resonant offering - and with such a well known and well loved piece, it's always interesting to see how a society will approach their own production: will they bring something fresh and different to the show and add a few individual touches to make the production very much their own? Fortunately, chaos was certainly not the order of the day as the team at Woodhouses made the 'Mikado's sublime madness flow seamlessly providing excellent entertainment to a very appreciative audience. 

As with my show report last year, I think it's worth stressing at this early stage the vital - and tireless! - role played by Anthony Hunt as the sole piano accompanist for the show. It's something of a Herculean task to play the entire score single handedly (I imagine he actually used both of his hands but you see what I mean...) and Anthony excelled in getting through the evening without collapsing in a heap by the time we got to the Act Two finale! Great work Anthony.

Another potential for disaster came with the last-minute replacement of Ko-Ko due to ill health. George Smith stepped in at the eleventh hour and given the colossal amount of time Ko-Ko spends on stage, the huge amount of lines to learn and music to master, was furnished with a libretto to help him through the evening. There's no denying this hampered his performance somewhat but George did a fantastic job and brought his own very individual take on the character to the stage which was much appreciated by the audience. A very difficult role to pull off at the best of times, Ko-Ko was in safe hands though: well done George.

Our Gentlemen of Japan made for a stirring start to the show with some nice stylised choreography making the most of the setting and the fan work was - mostly! - very well done too. A simple yet effective oriental stage design with a beautifully well painted backdrop (I loved the cherry blossom) set off the sumptuous costumes very nicely indeed. Lawrence Shoebridge was a very confident Nanki-Poo who breezed through proceedings with an admirable degree of insouciance, which was interesting. Pompous Pooh-Bah (holder of every office of state and a few more besides) was nicely played by Duncan Routledge who was also in fine voice, giving a rumbling gravitas to each of his musical appearances. Pish-Tush is often an overlooked and underused character in 'The Mikado' but he fairly sparkled into life in this production in the capable hands of Nick Lowe. My favourite song in the show ('Our Great Mikado, Virtuous Man') was well handled by Nick and the gentlemen with some nifty choreography thrown in for good measure too.

'Comes a Train of Little Ladies' introduced us to the female chorus as they made a graceful entrance, again very well kitted-out in a colourful array of very fetching kimonos. Less pleasant was the collective sound of the vocals from our girls as they sang their way onto the stage - a rather off balance alto/soprano split possibly, or perhaps the ladies needing a little time to get their stage legs, vocally speaking? - but that said, this disharmony was very short lived and the singing soon improved. Our Three Little Maids were all in fine form however, led by a very lively performance from Janet Marshall as Yum-Yum. Hers was a very good performance indeed; fine clear vocal work, perfect enunciation and a loveably mischievous nature, Janet's Yum-Yum was a great creation. Completing the trio,  Andrea Marshall's Pitti-Sing also made for pleasant company for the evening and Kirsty Hough was a twinkly Peep-Bo too. 'Three Little Maids from School' fairly sparkled with some excellent vocal work and some equally impressive choreography. George Smith's Ko-Ko did a great job of injecting a great deal of humour into proceedings, his mysteriously adopted Brummie accent (?!) adding a lugubrious edge which helped to endear him to the audience even further: this knowing world-weariness was a nice touch. I wasn't so sure about the updated 'Little List' though; there were some excellent new targets in there but it was rather more miss than hit for me. There also seemed to be a few rather odd choices of tempo for one or two of the songs, speeding up and slowing down seemingly at random during some of both the solo and chorus numbers. This sometimes left the performers either racing ahead of, or left behind the accompaniment which was a shame. That said, it wasn't a devastatingly pernicious problem as it occurred infrequently enough to make the occasional outburst noticeable by its oddness rather than becoming a tiresomely regular event.

Act One glides along gently, introducing us to each of the characters in turn and filling us in on the topsy-turvy world of Titipu. By the time we reach the Act One finale, it would appear that all's well and that the potentially tricky situation has been resolved; that is until the arrival of Katisha, here played with some ferocity by Jennifer Workman, who throws a rather hefty Oriental spanner in the works. Jennifer's no nonsense approach to the role suited the character well and she was certainly a force to be reckoned with! Act Two spins ever more out of control, driven by the plot's deliriously potty logic until the Mikado himself appears and - eventually - excuses the whole company in a typically Gilbertian ending. Austin McKenna exuded a faded dignity as the Mikado and his haughty disdain for the bewildering foolishness of the nonsense in Titipu was well done, with a rather good rendition of 'A More Humane Mikado' thrown in for good measure. 

This production had some very nice touches and Christine Taylor had obviously been keen to tailor the show to the performance space and to get the most out of the various talents of her cast. The 'fan snapping' was very well drilled - and wasn't overdone - and there were lots of authentically fake Japanese touches thrown in too: perfect for an authentically fake Gilbertian Japan! I wasn't sure about the Heron (Daniel Plant and Hope Ellis) who appeared in the Act One finale however; perhaps this was a bird of some symbolic meaning intended to bring luck to the happy couple but if this was the case, the bird might have put a bit more life into his visit to the stage rather than mooching about getting in the way with a face like thunder. I enjoyed seeing Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum get affectionate in Act One: this is a scene which can often drag but it was very nicely handled. Chorus movement was also very well done with a number of good routines and stage pictures on display throughout the show and given the limitations of the stage space, this was all the more impressive. Fortunately, the raise at the rear of the stage meant that the temptation to fall back on the traditional 'G&S Horseshoe' formation was removed too! I loved the dance which followed 'Braid the Raven Hair' - this was a lovely touch. I didn't care for the recorded fanfares and various other assorted noises which issued forth from the speakers in a couple of scenes though: perhaps they were shoved in to add corroborative detail, intended to give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald an unconvincing narrative...? I wasn't keen though. Speaking of which, there was an amusing moment in Act Two when our Pooh-Bah stumbled over that particular line and for one fleeting moment it looked as if the majority of the audience had taken a breath in order to prompt him in unison!

There were some excellent moments in this production which really entertained: 'Beauty in the Bellow of the Blast' was quite marvellous; both of the finales were put together with skill and made for a great finish before the curtain; the opening section of the second act went like a dream, the madrigal in particular was very impressive - in fact, Act Two taken as a whole zipped along without dragging and the plot unfolded in a way which was helped enormously by a real engagement with the script by everyone on stage - and the real enthusiasm of the principal cast fairly bounced off the stage.

The world of Gilbert and Sullivan can be a strange one. This superb series of operas have their fanatical supporters and a loyal following but ironically, this can be just as much of a hindrance as a benefit. I've yet to meet a G&S fan who doesn't know better than anyone else just exactly how a production should be staged, how the music should be played, how the characters should be brought to life etc: it makes for an almost impossible task for any production to escape a bruising from any members of the die-hard fundamentalist G&S brigade who might be in the audience. I applaud productions such as this one which keep the best of the G&S traditions alive by breathing new life into these timeless, classic - and staggeringly good - operas, rather than keeping strictly to the 'D'Oyly Carte rulebook' and let them wither from neglect. This was a solid production of a great opera and my thanks go to all at Woodhouses for a most enjoyable evening's entertainment and a very warm welcome. 

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