2 - The Mikado

The Mikado

The MikadoNanki-Poo

Ko-KoPooh-BahPish-TushYum-Yum

Pitti-SingPeep-BoKatisha

Jon LinfordAlex WithersBrandt HurleyDevon ThielRyan WithersLindy Lee WilsonNicole ChamberlinAmanda EdwardsSheryl MoserCourtney Whitear

Chorus Men Bryan WeatherstonBradley HickeyCraig GriffithChristan PollardJerry Costner Jr.Joe LawlessThomas LinfordTravis Fowles

Chorus WomenAmy CederquistChristina BrandtErica AshbyJeannine WithersJordi LawlessNykele ShapiroSariah WertmanRose KiernanVictoria Anne RaceVictoria Roberts

Dancers Kelly BakerChelsea StubbsJessica Wiseman

Aubrey PackhamAshley Messenger

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Theatrical DirectorVocal Director

ChoreographerMusic Conductor

Set DesignerAssistant Set Designer

Lighting DesignerAssociate Lighting

DesignerSound Designer

Makeup Designers

Scene Shop DirectorCostume Shop Director

Stage ManagerAssistant Stage Manager

Assistant DirectorRehearsal Accompanist

Richard J. CliffordDavid OlsenMackenzie EmeryRobert TuellerRichard J. CliffordScotty BatemanGary C. BensonKolby Clarke

Antonia CliffordAnneli ThompsonAshley MessingerRay VersluysPatty RandallAlex SmithAmanda RawlingsJen ShumwayBryson King

Costumes Designed For Utah Symphony and Opera

BY SUSAN ALLRED

Additional Costumes DesignedBy Susan Whitfield

Artistic Personnel

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OrchestraTromboneDallin TolleyKeishi FujiLindsey Chandler

CelloElise OlneyJocelyn LymanChris Morgan Laura PriestErica SeibelLezlie SmithAndrew GordonBrennan OntiverosKeli Davis

PercussionThomas DavisJarom Rial Athena StowersAndrea Vera

Violin IKiara StaheliJoseph BrighamBecca PassNick HarkerAngela HelmMaddie Stevens

Violin IILinda SeareGretta HansenKristine FullmerMissy McKennaJulianne EldridgeNichole Pinder

ViolaMark ShipleyChrissy HohmannRebecca AurichNatalie SavageMegan UchytilAbbie Bellingston

Bass Daniel RustEmma ParkerMerilynne Wilde

Flute Natalie SmithMaren YoungEliza Done

OboeSara WhiteMegan ClarkLizzy Henderson

ClarinetRachel JohnsonApril BurgerSarah CarrollTerence Jensen

BassoonRob HillmanCaitlin Guerra

HornChristine HigleyAJ DavidsonDavid JonesAndrea Woods

TrumpetDJ ClementsAshley Yockey

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Technical PersonnelLight Board OperatorPatrick Laing

Sound Board OperatorDavid Cammerron

Weapons MastersCameo GoodsonJesse Beyon

Spotlight OperatorsCandilyn CarlsonDava TurtleHannah GunsonErica Blacker

DeckhandAlexandra Halterman

Stage HandsConnie RomrellErika Ann Kremer

DresserJasmyne NearLeslie Harris

Super Titles EditorTricia Jurrus

Super-titlistLysa Hansen

CarpentersAlex GaxiolaBradley GaborCalvin BryantEpper MarshallGeordan NevilleSterling RobinsonScott AndersonZack Smith

Welder Chandler Webb

Head Painter Katie Bowns

Painters Abigail LentineMonica ChistiansenKrisin MitchellBeatrice Ramos

Prop MasterAshley Messinger

Prop ArtisanKate Lines

Master ElectricianPatrick Kelly

Electricians Brian HairJen ShumwaySara Robinson

Costume ShopChealsea Carokddon

StitchersKara DecourseyAmy SmithJersusha DowdaHeather PlumbJasmyne Near

6 - The Mikado

SummaryThe three main characters of The Mikado are Ko-Ko, Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum. Ko-Ko, who was the appointed Grand High Executioner, was caught flirting with Yum-Yum. Flirting at this time was illegal and punishable by death. When Nanki-Poo hears Ko-Ko is to be killed, he returns his love for Yum-Yum in an attempt to save what is precious to him.

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The History Behind the NamesPish Tush’s name is an old English saying “pish, posh” meaning that something is ridiculous.

Nanki-Poo is baby talk for “handkerchief” even though handkerchiefs were not used in Japan at the time.

Pooh-Bah is now a word that means “a person holding many public or private offices,” according to the Webster dictionary.

Ko-Ko is the only true Japanese name used in The Mikado, but it is unclear whether Gilbert and Sullivan knew that at the time.

Yum-Yum’s name is baby talk for something delicious and appealing. Yum-Yum is quite deserving of her name as she appeals to both Ko-Ko and Nanki-Poo.

Pitti-Sing is baby talk for “pretty thing.”

Peep-Bo is “Bopeep” backwards, playing on the nursery rhyme.

“Mikado” means “high gate,” implying that the Mikado is too high for any average person to talk to, and the high gate is the closest they can get.

8 - The Mikado

Gilbert and SullivanThe dynamic duo’s popularity in producing comic operas made them a household name. Audiences loved hearing Sir W.S. Gilbert’s witty and satirical lyrics enfolded in Sir Arthur Sullivan’s beautiful melodies. Both artists were established in their given fields before they formed a partnership in 1870, but their combined genius surpassed what either could do individually. Concerning one of their fourteen operettas, a Times reviewer’s remark made it clear that these men were on the same wavelength when he said, “It’s as if…the poem and music had proceeded simultaneously from one and the same brain.”

The Japan of Pure Invention: Gilbert and Sullivan’s the MikadoJosephine Lee, University of Minnesota Press, Minneanapolis

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History and ContextThe Britain/Japan Relationship

Japan opened to the western world in 1853, allowing its culture to flood into British homes. The recently industrialized British citizens viewed the Japanese as primitive. Japanese art was viewed in the same light: ancient, childish, and lacking depth. Yet, it was something new and fashionable.

Satire

Gilbert and Sullivan chose a Japanese setting for The Mikado in an effort to capitalize on this Japanese craze as well as hide their social commentary and satire regarding British life. Satire is the use of humor, exaggeration, or irony to criticize certain issues or people.

British Double Standards

The British zeal for violence, sex, and corruption is satirized in The Mikado. Although British citizens saw Japan as barbaric, they thirsted for the brutal stories of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jack the Ripper, and Sherlock Holmes. The Victorian generation often professed virtue and advancement, but frequently failed in achieving both, which The Mikado reveals through clever satire.

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SettingAlthough The Mikado adapts well to different times and locations, this productions maintains the original Japanese setting. Lots of rich Japanese décor like paper fans and lanterns are used to help create the illusion of a world across the world. Gilbert and Sullivan chose Japan for their setting before the big opening of the Japanese Exhibition in Knightsbridge, when all of London was fascinated and captivated by the Far East and its many traditions. Taking advantage of this craze brought audiences flocking to the show. However, just because the play takes place in Japan doesn’t mean that it’s about Japan, or that the play has anything to do with Japan; the show is really about British culture and politics during the 1800s.

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Interview with Set Designer Richard Clifford

What has been your greatest challenge in creating the set?

We used the [Japanese] wood block prints [for inspiration]. So, the biggest challenge was integrating the two-dimensional world of the wood block prints with the three-dimensional people that inhabit it. From some points of the [theater], the set is going to look very two-dimensional. The whole story has a certain two-dimensionality to it.

Could you expand on the two-dimensionality of the story?

The characters of The Mikado are thinly veiled types of British society and might easily be identified as “stock” characters. The types of these characters can be seen in countless other shows. There is a handsome lover in disguise who falls in love with a beautiful young lady who is engaged to marry her ward. A jilted lover returns to capture her lover, etc. The character types are reintroduced into a different scenario and we delight in their ability to fall in and out of trouble.

(Interview Continued on Next Page)

12 - The Mikado

Interview Continued

What, if any, aspects of the Kabuki* style will you draw from for this performance?

Some of the exaggerated physicality is from the Kabuki style. We are using a very painterly—a very graphic style. We are also using a silk curtain from the Kabuki; so that when you come in there will be a grand scene of a fluttery silk curtain that will reveal the set.

*Kabuki is a classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is also known for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.

How does the flatness of the characters relate to the style or set?

The characters are stock characters of which we expect certain types of behavior or reaction. The interesting part occurs when stock characters act against our expectation or in a creative way in the context of their new situation.

In both traditional Kabuki and in The Mikado, the veneer of stock characters allows the audience to safely examine the constructs evident in their own lives by proxy. In the drama, it is easy to speak openly for or against social institutions with the intent of learning more about them or questioning their efficacy.

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Is there anything in the scenery that has a specific symbolic value?

The Cherry Blossoms symbolize a generational rebirth. The Wisteria is very fruitful –an idea of continuation. And the Pine Tree is a spiritual symbol –a place of creation, so the pine tree symbolizes original space, and longevity.

14 - The Mikado

“I’ve Got a Little List”

Ko-Ko sings “I’ve Got a Little List”. The lyrics consist of the people Ko-Ko plans on beheading. The lyrics of the list change with each version of the play, but the song never loses any of its appeal.

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Our Favorite “Lists”

Child’s version of The Mikado

“The donkey who of nine-times-sixand eight-times-seven prates, And stumps you with inquirieson geography and dates, And asks for your ideas on spelling ‘parallelogram’ All narrow-minded peoplewho are stingy with their jam,And the torture-dealing dentist, with the forceps in his fist They’d none of them be missed – they’d none of them be missed.”

New York 2010 Version of The Mikado

“There’s that radio commentatorwho is such a hypocrite,With all those pills a-poppin’ he’s a stupid little. . . twit.And that wedding of the centuryof which much has been said,Is it on or off, are Jen and Ben afflected [sic] in the head?And then of course the Red Sox, who to name I can’t resist,They’re all upon my list, I don’t think they’ll be missed.”

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Themes in The Mikado

Political Corruption

Corruption runs rampant in The Mikado. Pooh-Bah holds the title of several different political positions under the Mikado and Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner. During the operetta, Pooh-Bah discusses his growing salary with each new job title and is open to accepting “insults” (bribes) in order to satisfy one job title, but not another.

Because Gilbert and Sullivan wrote The Mikado in response to the political turmoil of the Victorian Era, the play invites comparisons between not only Queen Victoria and the Mikado, but between political officials of the time and Ko-Ko as a mockery of the entire British government in one laughable but ultimately human character.

Romance and Politics

Ko-Ko’s character is representative of different European political figures throughout history. Ko-Ko’s flexibility in his choice for a marriage partner compares to marriages of convenience in royalty. Queen Victoria (Queen of England during Gilbert and Sullivan’s lifetime) married her cousin, Prince Albert, but was courted by several political leaders before her marriage.

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Death/Execution

Ko-Ko’s, the Mikado’s, and Pooh-Bah’s casual treatment of death make a mockery of the excessive British use of the death penalty. England has an established history of executing criminals for less-than-deserving crimes such as: “shoplifting, petty theft, stealing cattle, or cutting down trees in public places.”

Though England no longer legalizes capital punishment, The Mikado’s treatment of death warns viewers of governments who may misuse their authority in overzealous patriotism or blatant conflict of interest. The play also points out injustice in the modern day implementation of capital punishment. Many nations still practice the death penalty, occasionally at the expense of justice and innocent life.

18 - The Mikado

The Mikado Fun Facts• Gilbert died from a heart attack after he

rescued a woman from drowning.

• Gilbert once said that he first got the idea for The Mikado when an old Japanese sword that hung in his study suddenly fell down.

• The Queen knighted both Gilbert and Sullivan.

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• Sullivan composed the tune for the hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers.”

• In the 1999 film version of The Mikado called Topsy-Turvy, Yum-Yum was played by Shirley Henderson (Moaning Myrtle in Harry Potter).

• Sullivan’s full name was Arthur Seymour Sullivan, but he did not like people to know his middle name because he was embarrassed by his initials.

• The infamous Zodiac Killer quoted The Mikado in some of his letters.

• The location of “The List” within the script tends to wander with each rendition.

• “The List” changes to address current issues in every production. It started as Gilbert’s rant about society.

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