Trent Opera
The Mikado
With Trent we expect the unexpected and tonight we were not to be disappointed. The orchestra started the production with a lively overture. One or two harsh notes from the brass section but other than that it was very good. The tabs lifted to reveal the most minimalist set I have ever seen. It consisted of a plain white backcloth, a large white material covered stage and a large red raised section in the centre in the shape of a circle. This was sloped up from the front at an angle of about five degrees. After a few seconds it became clear that the floor of the stage now represented the Japanese flag. All the sides were black. There were nine black bentwood chairs on the stage, five of them on the red raised circle and two on each side. At the front left was a hat stand.
As act one started the gentlemen of Japan walked on - they were dressed in morning suits with tails and each had his face made up in traditional Japanese theatre style. They sang well but their actions were not slick enough - each movement was so obvious with the newspapers, etc. that anyone out of time with the others stood out - and this happened quite a lot. Also through the opera I grew a little tired of the expressionless faces of the men's chorus.
Nanki-Poo entered - he destroyed the black, white and red theme by being dressed in a light blue band uniform jacket - as the adjudicator also mentioned he looked more like Buttons from Cinderella than a Japanese strolling player? He seemed to be a little nervous but he had a lovely soft, light tenor voice with excellent diction. It seemed no effort at all for him to sing and project the words right to the far reaches of the theatre. Reasonable reaction from the gentlemen as they first ignored him and carried on reading their Japanese newspapers. Eventually he won them over and Pish-Tush explained that Ko-Ko had not been beheaded, as Nanki-Poo thought, but was now the Lord High Executioner! Pish-Tush had a very good voice and his diction and projection were excellent. It's a pity his wig looked like someone had dropped a black mop onto his head. All the men's wigs were very poor, Ko-Ko was constantly having to put his hand up to to his wig to ensure that it did not fall of and Pooh-Bah's made him look like Matt Lucas from Little Britain on a bad day!
Pooh-Bah's entrance was "different" - he was pushed on on a wheeled platform, sitting at a desk on which were his files and a laptop computer. He had a lovely voice and played the part of a pompous dignitary with great skill - but for me he could have been even more so? Excellent interaction as he go money off Nanki-Poo for passing him information about Yum-Yum.
Ko-Ko bounded on - he was dressed more casually than the others - how the operetta was lifted on his arrival - he had so much enthusiasm for the part and this, accompanied by his excellent voice and diction took it to a different level. He was full of fun and his little list, completely rewritten with references to current news and people in the audience including the adjudicator, was a gem. Great interaction with Pooh-Bah as they plan for the wedding.
Enter the ladies chorus - how cunning of the director to allocate roles - the more mature ladies came on first - they were again following the colour theme and were wearing severe black business suits, white blouses and red decorations in their hair - they were the teachers I assumed? They were followed by the younger members of the society who were dressed as schoolgirls - wearing white blouses, ties, black skirts and long white socks - a typical bunch of Japanese St.Trinian's! Yum-Yum, Peep-Bo and Pitti-Sing entered - these were three much racier young ladies - with shorter skirts and were far more flirty than the previous ones. They sang an excellent "Three little maids ....." All three had lovely voices although Pitti-Sing was a little quite at times. The girls had great fun when they discovered Pooh-Bah, and when Ko-Ko kissed Yum-Yum. When they spotted Nanki-Poo they were ecstatic - of course when Ko-Ko discovered how he loved Yum-Yum he was whisked of pretty sharply. Pooh-Bah had a good quartet with the girls.
Once they were left alone Yum-Yum and Nanki-Poo were very moving towards each other - a delightful scene as they sang "Were you not to Ko-Ko plighted"
Ko-Ko gets informed that the Mikado is to visit - they have fun reading the letter - it is in Japanese???? Pooh-Bah will not volunteer to be executed and Ko-Ko is they sing an excellent trio. The next time Ko-Ko tries to do a bit of soliloquizing he goes into real Richard III mode - hump back, Sir Larry and everything. Very funny - He is interrupted by Nanki-Poo who is about to kill himself - they have great fun as Ko-Ko persuades him not to do so but to be executed - the deal is not to Nanki-Poo's taste until he suggests marrying Yum-Yum for a month first.
All is happiness and light when suddenly the impressive actress playing Katisha enters - she is wonderful - tall and dominant (although she could have been a little more evil for my taste) She again carries the theme - she is wearing a long black dress and cape/coat with a red scarf round her neck - the white is part of her hair and also her feather hat. She has a magnificent contralto voice with excellent diction and projection. As she sings her solo "The hour of gladness" all the cast turn away and freeze - really well done. When she finishes they drown out her voice as she tries to tell them that Nanki-Poo is the son of the Mikado.
The first act comes to a close in a riot of colour and movement - this was the high point of the opera for me - after the slow start we had built up to this crescendo of sound and visual delight - it left me wanting more.
For act two we still had the same set - the Japanese flag - but there was a bench in the centre of the red circle and a line of chairs going off to the right side of the stage. All the girls were in white towel or white bath robes. The scene was meant to be a beauty parlour. Yum-Yum was on the central bench being made ready for her wedding - like the others she was in a long white bath robe. As the ladies turned to face us for their chorus singing they had facepacks on and cucumbers over their eyes - most amusing - they were being attended to by Pish-Tush who was acting in a very effeminate manner (the adjudicator referred to him as the eunuch!) Yum-Yum sang a lovely rendition of "The sun, whose rays..." although I could see the moon projected onto the backcloth I did not see the sun? Perhaps the orange glow was representing the sun?
The girls had a great time, especially Peep-Bo, as they realised that the wedding would not last more that the month. Nanki-Poo tried to console them and the Madrigal "Brightly dawns our wedding day" was beautifully sung by all. Ko-Ko delights in telling them that the wife of any man who is executed has to be buried alive. This puts Yum-Yum off the idea of marrying Nanki-Poo - much to Ko-Ko's delight. They sing a good trio "Here's a how-de-do!" - Ko-Ko really making the most of his dancing skills.
The Mikado arrives - he looks like a Mafia Godfather - in a long coat, short top hat and sunglasses. He has an excellent voice and has a menacing air about him. He flirts with the girls and offers them sweets. He sing a good song "A more humane Mikado..."
Ko-Ko, Pitti-Sing and Pooh-Bah describe how Ko-Ko has "executed" the prisoner - much to the delight of the Mikado until Katisha realises that the person they have killed is Nanki-Poo - the dialogue here is well done resulting in an clear rendition of the Glee "See how the fates...".
Katisha sings a really moving song "Hearts do not break!". and then Ko-Ko tries to persuade her to marry him - how well she knocks him about! He sings a delightful song "On a tree by a river..." I liked how he kept looking at Katisha to see how his song was influencing her. She agrees to marry him and they sing the duet "There is beauty in the bellow of the beast"
Katisha pleads for them to be reprieved and then when the Mikado agrees Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum appear again this leads to a stirring finale when the cast sing "For he's gone and married Yum-Yum.
Overall I enjoyed this production - I did not like the men's' chorus - they seemed to get lost in the background somehow? Perhaps it was the expressionless faces, the bland costumes, the inaccurate actions??? I can not place it but they did nothing for me to add to the production. The ladies were better - especially the splitting of the cast into mature and young ones ;-)
The lighting was as good as could be expected when you have such a blank canvas for a set. The props did what was expected of them and kept to the minimalist theme. I have already mentioned the terrible wigs worn by the principal men. Ko-Ko had great problems with his red braces which were constantly coming adrift.
I really missed the visual side of the Mikado - modern productions are all very well but let us replace something which is visually stunning with something equally so?
All the principals were well cast
