I cannot imagine that anyone would not enjoy this.Superb production,brilliant cast I can't remember how many times I have watched this and still totally enjoy it.Such a shame that Jonathan Miller,Richard Angas &Richard Van Allan are no longer with us.
''Which I'm at liberty to diverge to you, in the form of a song.'' Love how self aware this opera is. Not sure if that was in the original text, but if it wasn't, its a neat addition.
G&S were wonderful at poking fun. The whole theme is a poke at the wild fascination the Britts had with Japan in that part of the century and they pull it off without being sanctimonious, as is often the case today.
@@corinnesekinger To tell you the truth they're making fun of British society (especially bureaucracy) just like they always do. Gilbert was fascinated with Japan (like most westerners at the time) but had no real idea how government was administrated there. The setting was about giving audiences something they hadn't seen before, a hint of the exotic. Plus he could make the critique of Britain more scathing because it was ostensibly about Japan.
_Ruddigore_ also poked fun at the characters' tendency to break into song, in that Mad Margaret says Despard and his men are crazy because they "sing choruses in public".
3:26 If you want to know who we are 6:00 A wandering minstrel I 11:09 Our great Mikado, virtuous man 16:41 Young Man, Despair 19:59 Behold The Lord High Executioner 22:07 Taken From the County Jail 24:27 I've Got A Little List 29:59 Comes A Train Of Little Ladies 31:57 Three Little Maids From School Are We 35:31 So Please You Sir, We Much Regret 40:20 Were You Not To Ko-Ko Plighted 45:24 I Am So Proud 47:34 To Sit in Solemn Silence 53:11 With Aspect Stern And Gloomy Stride 55:00 The Threatened Cloud Has Passed Away 57:32 Your Revels Cease 1:01:28 For He's Going To Marry Yum-Yum 1:02:30 The Hour Of Gladness 1:05:22 Ye Torrents Roar
Ever since I saw Chariots of Fire when I was little and heard 3 Little Maids I have always wanted to hear the rest. I love watching and listening to Gilbert and Sullivan because it reminds me of my dad who died when I was really young. Thanks for this version. I love Eric Idle and he is brilliant.
This Light Opera has been part of my life for the past eighty years and I've enjoyed every minute of it. And this is the best I've seen. Thank you so much.
The Mikado is my favourite Gilbert and Sullivan operetta and this, without a shred of a doubt, from the first time I saw it many years ago, has been my favourite performance of it. Thank you so much for posting it. Even those who don't necessarily like opera have to appreciate the brilliant performances, the masterful direction, the stunning stage design and of course, the music..... the wonderful music.
THANK YOU FOR THIS!!! This operetta is my favorite, and I hope that Gilbert and Sullivan will be appreciated more by today's younger audiences. Hopefully this gets even more views!!! X)
When this was first televised I recorded on my Betamax video recorder but when the recorder went to that great electronic repository in the sky I lost the ability to playback. I always regretted the loss but am so pleased to view it again. Many thanks.
Seeing this again and it's absolutely grand. When I first watched this, the change of venue was off putting but it is really is grand. As far as talent, they had me at Eric Idle and Lesley Garrett but...this is an awesome cast. The ENC nailed it. .
Thankyou Mr Manson, for posting this, albeit some years ago. In these gloomy days of 2020, it has provided much needed mirth and amusement. And I do regret finding it so long after its' posting.
It's down in the dumps 2021 with Draconian intrusions on our freedoms, and this kind of entertainment and satire by the great Gilbert and Sullivan is refreshing; it gives some hope in these dark days. Erik Idle makes this production--he's the icing on the cake.
SUBLIME! I enjoyed the ENO's recent revival of this dazzling production and it was indeed one of the finest performances of anything I have ever seen... Thank you for this upload, Jim Manson! And -- my word, What a Cast!!!!!!!!!
This is such an excellent production - a landmark, really. Not sure if it's still being revived, but hopefully there's been a better recording made in the ensuing years since 1987! If not, there should be!! This one is shot very peculiarly.
No matter how many times I watch this glorious, irrepressible, fantastic Jonathan Miller version of this, I am always absolutely knocked sideways by it! I am beyond certain that Schwenk and Sir Arthur would have adored it too! The cast is just magnificent - nothing more need be added and while it seems sacrilegious to elevate individuals by mentioning them, asides from the immortal Eric Idle who joyously brings that unique, Pythonesque, working class hero passing himself off as a nob - who can fail to garland the sainted Dame Felicity in a role she was born to - and absolutely relished? Have you EVER seen a camper Katisha?! Just sensational and it's one of the few highlights - like seeing Callas in Puccini or Sutherland in Bellini - that I don't look back in regret at having missed😄 While unfortunately not catching Idle, I did at least see most of the original cast in the early days and have happily enjoyed several of the subsequent revivals at the ENO. Thanks to our host for keeping it up here for so long, always such a delight to return to....
Having seen a D'Oyley Carte version years ago, I was a little put off by the costumes and British accents in this version at first, they seemed so out of character. But by the middle of the first Act I was totally in love with this production. I think it's wonderful!
Having never seen this until now, I started crying when Eric Idle came in, just remembering all the joy he gave me as a child and teen with all the Monty Python movies. He is a brilliant Ko-Ko here!
Love this version of The Mikado! Am going to see a production of this wonderful musical this week at the Ohio Light Opera in Wooster, Ohio. This will be the third time I have seen it there... totally excited!
Who knew Susan Bullock would become a leading Wagnerian soprano? And Katisha is that marvellous contralto voice only England can do! (even if she is channelling Maggie Smith!)
I remember seeing this on PBS when it aired and I loved it. I've seen many productions of it and every company puts their own spin on it. What makes it fun also is that the play is adaptable to various periods while remaining relevant as a parody of British class.
I still have videos of when the Doly Carte opera company did the last performances of G&S operas, used to be on Sunday night TV here in New Zealand. Wow have never seen it costumed like this could be the way the Japanese see it or how it was satirically written all those years ago
Rather similar to the remark by Ken (below), Gilbert & Sullivan 'G & S' has been very much a part of my life, having been raised on it by my parents who were very keen on the Operettas and used to take me to The Savoy Theatre in London. I have seen The Mikado performed by many different Theatrical Companies etc. but this is definitely one of the best.The ony slight reservation that I have is that the cast could be made to look more Japanese. After all this was meant to have happened in mid nineteenth century Japan, not England.
From a Yank who has lived in France for decades - why, oh why has no one done an adaptation into French? It’s not because G & S is « quintesentially British » - Offenbach is similarly French but as been successfully adapted into English as has Franz Lehar. My dream would be to see this done at the Opera Comique in Paris
As far as I know, the Mikado was the only Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta translated in other languages, I don't know if there's a French one, but I suggest you to search on theaters' sites.
The revival with Susan Bullock as Yum-Yum and the late Donald Adams as Pooh-Bah and that wonderful Eric Shilling as Pish Tush was really superb, pity it was that bloody awful Richard Suart as Ko-Ko
I saw this at The Coliseum in 1987 before any reviews came out. Stunning. The video doesn't really do it justice - particularly the opening "If you want to know who we are, we are gentlemen of Japan" which seems a little racist, but was exactly the opposite when seen on stage.
I see no wickedness; that was my point. My problem was explaining to a friend's opera loving Singaporean wife that the 'slitty eyes made with fingers' thing was a joke aimed at British preconceptions . It came across clearly on stage, but doesn't work half as well in the video. She very soon 'got into' it, but that opening sticks with me as being awkward on film, brilliant on stage.
One can't help feel that the flash and zing of that imperishable score is not served particularly well by the muted pastels and pale flannels of this production. The Mikado is a jolly burlesque of Japanese culture. This could be anything.
not necessarily. The Mikado was written to mock the complicated and often corrupt "criminal justice" system of Victorian England. This production calls back to those roots very nicely, I think.
This is my first time seeing this production. I liked the choreography. I'm just a little confused. Are they supposed to be Japanese, or expats living in Japan?
They are supposed to be Japanese but the story is supposed to be something that pokes barb fun at the English Austicracy in the time of the 1880’s under Elizabeth 2nd’s 4x grandmother Victoria as queen of England so long in fact quite a long time before she was succeeded by her son Edward.
The original G&S productions (and in fact most modern productions to this day) do go for more Japanese-like costumes and makeup. See, for example, the Buxton production on the Mikado (also on YT). This particular production by Jonathan Miller and the ENO tried to break with that tradition by setting it in a 1920s 'grand hotel' environment.
I liked this version, saw the recent one at the cinema last week, and thought it a shame that they didn't do anything different at all. Same costumes, same choreography, same forced jokes. Shame.
It's not tradition though is it, otherwise they wouldn't have set it in the 1920's and they'd wear kimonos and kabuki make-up. The point I was making is that while this was considered cutting edge to make such a drastic change back in the 1980's, however to come back to a show you've updated 30 years ago and make no changes bar "As some day it should happen" at all is lazy directing. If this were an amateur theatrical group with an amateur director, then fine. But it doesn't say much about the Arts scene when the foremost British theatre company who pride themselves on updated and innovative performances roll out the same productions after some time off.
+CawChem - You're right. It's just something I've been doing since I was 15, with performances of the whole canon (including Utopia and Grand Duke). I actually quite enjoy this version, my point was that I think it's lazy directing just to roll out exactly the same production over and over without tweaking or amending anything.
lasalleman I've read that when Prince Akihito visited the UK in 1886 they cancelled the production, but then the Prince mentioned how he'd been looking forward to seeing it so they quickly uncanceled the performance for him. He was apparently "disappointed" at a lack of real insults.
***** It should also be noted that, while casual racism was very much the order of the day, there was also a mania in England for all things Japanese at the time. Indeed, the orderly Japanese were sometimes viewed as the English of the East.
+MJ100man It's not causal racism, it's a warning that we're not in real Japan, just the 'theme park version' . It's obvious that the characters and morals are Victorian British more than anything.
Eric Idle was very game to take on this role, it must have been a fun challenge. But his singing voice doesn't match the rest of the cast. I think he was hired to be the token celebrity for financing.
@@brucknerian9664 I was lucky enough to get into one of the dress-rehearsals, was at the first night, and saw the show itself a further five times in its first run. Idle would throw in the occasional topical ad-lib, and it was worth catching multiple performances just to see what he'd do next. The whole cast was great, including the chorus and dancers.
Okay I admit that I have a love of inappropriate expressions but the greatest moment for me was when KoKo sang "Oh bugger the flowers..." instead of "Oh bother..".
@@freakrx2349 It's actually sending up the English middle classes pretending to be Japanese, hence the over-the-top posh accents and 1920s flapper dance routines.
The first line says "if you want to know who we are, we are gentlemen of Japan"? Huh? Oh, this is a English written musical piece set in a Japanese setting that satirized English society that has now been changed from its original Japanese costumes and setting back into an English locale and clothes. I've been love with this Musical since I saw it as a teenager on a community college stage set in traditional Japanese locale and costumes. Ever since most Productions I've viewed on CZcams are staged with strangely weird or grotesque Japanese makeup and costumes or set completely in Western settings such as an English Seaside Resort or the White House at titipu.Gov. What gives! This production is entertaining though. But I think it would be hilarious if they used the same costumes and setting but it was performed by an all Japanese cast and in the beginning the cast recited "If you want to know who we are, we are gentlemen of England. On many a sign and jar, and many a screen and stand."
Well, fine, an innovative version. But the characterization (almost desfigured with exagerated makepup, eye shadows, and so on) takes out big "plus" of MIKADO - social criticism within a natural but imaginitive foreign environment...But nobody is perfect, is it?
What I don't like is the playing to the camera and some of the other things added which the audience never sees e.g. the dancing headless suits. I am not a fan, either, of the 1920s resort hotel setting. Gilbert was meticulous in his study for the design of sets and costumes. This is someone thinking he knows better than the master. Otherwise the performances are good, the rest being an unfortunate distraction.
Love the music always have, I don't like the new 20's look though, it makes more sense to keep it pure with Kimono's it doesn't make sense trying to make it English. spoilt it completely, I was going to the cinema to see it until I realised it would be this version.
+Phil H With the Mikado the usual excuse given is that it could be construed as racist (and has in the US I believe), and also because it's largely lampooning British society anyway.Although there may be some merit to the latter point, much like many of the G&S operettas it is clearly not really set in Japan, but a fantasy version of reality. It is even more ridiculous when you consider it is the only one of the operettas to have been performed in Japan (where it was quite well received I'm told). As for La Boheme, could it be due to the popularity of RENT? Which is based on La Boheme and set in 1990s New York.
+Marian Ellison The English seem to be addicted to the are between the two world wars. They seem to look on it as a sort of Golden Age and never miss a change to update and shoehorn ANYTHING into the period - whether appropriate or not.
+TheStockwell 'Golden age' for the privileged few.. Many of us 'English'are not addicted to this time , an era of poverty, low wages, exploited miners , tuberculosis, diptheria, rickets, hunger Marches, no decent health provisions, where boys and girls had to leave school at 13 or 14 to work in the mills or in Service, and the factories and the mines to keep the wealthy, wealthy.. while the latters children went to Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge.. so yes looked on as a golden age by those with inherited wealth and power who could afford to travel 'Up to London for the Opera'.
Feels a bit cringey, especially the way they handle their eyes to emphasize "we're Japanese!" Compared to the Canadian production... bit jarring, this.
Too bad it isn’t in Japanese dress....I cannot take a mikado in western dress seriously on any level, not even the comedic. When the men began to sing, “We are gentlemen of Japan,” in tuxedos I wearily pressed ‘stop.’ Unfortunately, I had already seen one of the men ape pulling his eyes into a slant with his white gloves....is that the extent of “Japanese” influence in this staging?? Truly, I couldn’t stop the video fast enough, it’s just insulting on so many levels. I’ll have to listen to the audio later, this is just horribly ridiculous.
The plot of this operatta doesn't make sense considering its setting. No, Japanese schoolgirls don't go to school in Kimonos they go to school in drab uniform like their British template. No, they don't know what an "Ipswich Switch" is regardless of which social class in Japan you ask that question. And yes, the Japanese wore western threads like what you see in the production, more often that not MUCH MORE AGGRESSIVELY than the West. In Japan during the period this Operatta was made Japan is westernizing... HARD to the point they consider the old ways as worth nothing but the paper it is written on and should be forgotten. Even if you disregard the cultural meta context of the operatta, its "Japanese setting" is absolutely not integral to the operatta. If you know anything about this piece, you would have realized that its setting is nothing more than a cosmetic fig leaf to its true plot: it being a biting near-libelous satire of the British aristocracy and how their influence is a corrupting force...
Henry Jurkiewicz the singing is bad, the acting is awful, and the fact that they changed the setting to a hotel makes no sense whatsoever. And not that it matters but haircuts make me want to shave everyone in this because bald is better than their hair in this.
+Claire Croshaw I wonder why they decided to set it in the 1920s? But then his "little list" is 21st century. Other than that, I am enjoying so far. Looking forward to watching Act 2 later.
+LeesaDeAndrea I understand that it's a tradition to update the "little list" so that it resonates with the audience. The performance that came to my city several years ago was in the traditional Japanese setting, yet they rewrote that song to include references to what was happening in my city's politics at the time.
This was typical of ENO at the time: move the opera to a time and place where people wear suits, to save money. They did this to practically every production. It's why I stopped going. The Japanese costumes are one of the main things one goes to a production of The Mikado to see.
I think its less about saving money and more about making more socially acceptable. I can imagine to do it the way it was shown originally back in the late victorian era could be offensive to some people nowadays.
Please watch an authentic production. The town of Titipu in JAPAN with JAPENESE residents - no one looks Japanese or are dressed in authentic costume. Lesley Garret - yikes. The camp dancing is a real turn off
Authentic? The entire opera is a biting satire of everything wrong with England as a culture and uses Japan as a medium of such absurdity. There is no place in Japan named "Titipu" and that should hint you how "authentic" Gilbert and Sullivan wants to present "Japan" on stage...
Oh dear! The dead hand of Jonathan Millar, he who thought he had a better sense of humour than W S Gilbert. I mean why did he stop there with his reinterpretation? Why didn't he have the 'Three Little Maids' transposed for basso profundo? There are plenty of Ukrainians or Russians who would have jumped at the chance, Fyodor Chaliapin would have, I'm sure. No, Millar just couldn't recognise the talent of others. What a shame when you absolutely MUST be famous, or is it 'notorious', for SOMETHING, come what may. PS The Men's chorus was outstanding, as were the dancing waiters - but one wonders - why?
I watch this over and over. Superb! Best production ever, in my humble opinion 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
The best Katisha ever!!! Can't take my eyes off her
You cannot take your eyes off of her even though she herself hated doing that part.
@@gemoonopra She was outstanding though!
I cannot imagine that anyone would not enjoy this.Superb production,brilliant cast I can't remember how many times I have watched this and still totally enjoy it.Such a shame that Jonathan Miller,Richard Angas
&Richard Van Allan are no longer with us.
I love it that they do the entrance of Koko twice. It always cracks me up.
THE Best production of the Mikado EVER! (in my humble opinion) Thanks!!!
This version is perfection. Young and fresh, and the orchestration is completely balanced. Thanks so much.
''Which I'm at liberty to diverge to you, in the form of a song.'' Love how self aware this opera is. Not sure if that was in the original text, but if it wasn't, its a neat addition.
G&S were wonderful at poking fun. The whole theme is a poke at the wild fascination the Britts had with Japan in that part of the century and they pull it off without being sanctimonious, as is often the case today.
@@corinnesekinger To tell you the truth they're making fun of British society (especially bureaucracy) just like they always do. Gilbert was fascinated with Japan (like most westerners at the time) but had no real idea how government was administrated there. The setting was about giving audiences something they hadn't seen before, a hint of the exotic. Plus he could make the critique of Britain more scathing because it was ostensibly about Japan.
_Ruddigore_ also poked fun at the characters' tendency to break into song, in that Mad Margaret says Despard and his men are crazy because they "sing choruses in public".
3:26 If you want to know who we are
6:00 A wandering minstrel I
11:09 Our great Mikado, virtuous man
16:41 Young Man, Despair
19:59 Behold The Lord High Executioner
22:07 Taken From the County Jail
24:27 I've Got A Little List
29:59 Comes A Train Of Little Ladies
31:57 Three Little Maids From School Are We
35:31 So Please You Sir, We Much Regret
40:20 Were You Not To Ko-Ko Plighted
45:24 I Am So Proud
47:34 To Sit in Solemn Silence
53:11 With Aspect Stern And Gloomy Stride
55:00 The Threatened Cloud Has Passed Away
57:32 Your Revels Cease
1:01:28 For He's Going To Marry Yum-Yum
1:02:30 The Hour Of Gladness
1:05:22 Ye Torrents Roar
Great adaption.
I went to see this not long after I saw it on tv.
Ever since I saw Chariots of Fire when I was little and heard 3 Little Maids I have always wanted to hear the rest. I love watching and listening to Gilbert and Sullivan because it reminds me of my dad who died when I was really young. Thanks for this version. I love Eric Idle and he is brilliant.
Just wonderful!! I remember when I saw it in the '80s I loved it.. Still wonderful!
This Light Opera has been part of my life for the past eighty years and I've enjoyed every minute of it. And this is the best I've seen. Thank you so much.
I wish I got into it sooner. What on Earth would the Japanese have thought of this work?
@@tomasinacovell4293 They done it in all 1920s British High Society.
@@trionabyrne72 - Right'o, I even went and studied up on it and then there is this: czcams.com/video/WfzpePn_9P0/video.html
You obviously haven’t seen authentic productions, with correct costume, make up and choreography. This is one camp joke
Absolutely the finest production of this ever made. The energy, wit and pure genius are sublime. Thanks.
The Mikado is my favourite Gilbert and Sullivan operetta and this, without a shred of a doubt, from the first time I saw it many years ago, has been my favourite performance of it. Thank you so much for posting it. Even those who don't necessarily like opera have to appreciate the brilliant performances, the masterful direction, the stunning stage design and of course, the music..... the wonderful music.
This marvellous production was my introduction to Gilbert and Sullivan. It's superb and SO funny!
THANK YOU FOR THIS!!! This operetta is my favorite, and I hope that Gilbert and Sullivan will be appreciated more by today's younger audiences. Hopefully this gets even more views!!! X)
When this was first televised I recorded on my Betamax video recorder but when the recorder went to that great electronic repository in the sky I lost the ability to playback. I always regretted the loss but am so pleased to view it again. Many thanks.
Chris, I still have the video tape I recorded in on, i've converted it to dvd.
@@colinhaggart2260 It's good that I can now see it on CZcams
Seeing this again and it's absolutely grand. When I first watched this, the change of venue was off putting but it is really is grand. As far as talent, they had me at Eric Idle and Lesley Garrett but...this is an awesome cast. The ENC nailed it.
.
Thankyou Mr Manson, for posting this, albeit some years ago. In these gloomy days of 2020, it has provided much needed mirth and amusement.
And I do regret finding it so long after its' posting.
I still miss my Dad's scratchy LP of the Groucho Marx version 😄
Really good Pish-Tush in this version.
I love his Northern English accent and his perpetual sneer.
I love the way they done the mikado musical into the British 1920s style.
It's down in the dumps 2021 with Draconian intrusions on our freedoms, and this kind of entertainment and satire by the great Gilbert and Sullivan is refreshing; it gives some hope in these dark days. Erik Idle makes this production--he's the icing on the cake.
Felicity Palmer. Best. Katisha. Ever.
Very glamour.
It really gets in amongst you, as P G Wodehouse might have put it.
Thank you posting this. It is in such high quality
SUBLIME! I enjoyed the ENO's recent revival of this dazzling production and it was indeed one of the finest performances of anything I have ever seen... Thank you for this upload, Jim Manson! And -- my word, What a Cast!!!!!!!!!
'Are you in sentimental mood?'🎶
No...
This is such an excellent production - a landmark, really. Not sure if it's still being revived, but hopefully there's been a better recording made in the ensuing years since 1987! If not, there should be!! This one is shot very peculiarly.
dallasdood There is indeed a more recent version of this production - mostly a different cast, of course!
I saw this production at the ENO. It was great !!!!
No matter how many times I watch this glorious, irrepressible, fantastic Jonathan Miller version of this, I am always absolutely knocked sideways by it!
I am beyond certain that Schwenk and Sir Arthur would have adored it too!
The cast is just magnificent - nothing more need be added and while it seems sacrilegious to elevate individuals by mentioning them, asides from the immortal Eric Idle who joyously brings that unique, Pythonesque, working class hero passing himself off as a nob - who can fail to garland the sainted Dame Felicity in a role she was born to - and absolutely relished? Have you EVER seen a camper Katisha?!
Just sensational and it's one of the few highlights - like seeing Callas in Puccini or Sutherland in Bellini - that I don't look back in regret at having missed😄 While unfortunately not catching Idle, I did at least see most of the original cast in the early days and have happily enjoyed several of the subsequent revivals at the ENO.
Thanks to our host for keeping it up here for so long, always such a delight to return to....
Thanks,. Terrific fun. The best.
That really was "the Eric Idle" of the Monty Python trope.
Yeah, he also played Rat in the 1996 live action adaptation of the wind in the willows.
There;s a fabulous moment at about 36 minutes when you realise Garrett can only dance with one leg.
It would be more civil if you called her Lesley.
But both are very nice.
Annie Spencer, quite correct, only the greatest singers are known by their surnames....Caballe, Sutherland, Callas, Pavarotti.
@@1pureboy1 Zing!
And that is what you got from this.
I'm surprised - but very thankful - this is still online. Wonder when CZcams will ban it on "you know what" grounds.
Having seen a D'Oyley Carte version years ago, I was a little put off by the costumes and British accents in this version at first, they seemed so out of character. But by the middle of the first Act I was totally in love with this production. I think it's wonderful!
48:35
Having never seen this until now, I started crying when Eric Idle came in, just remembering all the joy he gave me as a child and teen with all the Monty Python movies. He is a brilliant Ko-Ko here!
In the 1996 live action film, he played Ratty.
@@trionabyrne217 omg really?
@@katherinewilson1853 Sure!
Love the hammy Olivier Richard III @48:27
Love this version of The Mikado! Am going to see a production of this wonderful musical this week at the Ohio Light Opera in Wooster, Ohio. This will be the third time I have seen it there... totally excited!
no doubt about it, " the mikado" is and should be the 1operretta that keeps g&s fans alive !!!!!!!!
It really isn't the most prominent in many departments, but enjoyable all the same.
@@mensamoo it is the best known of the works of gilbert and sullivan though !!!
Who knew Susan Bullock would become a leading Wagnerian soprano? And Katisha is that marvellous contralto voice only England can do! (even if she is channelling Maggie Smith!)
And indeed perform again with Eric Idle in 2012 in the Olympic Closing Ceremony.
I was hooked watching this production by ENO of the Mikado! Excellent stuff.
I remember seeing this on PBS when it aired and I loved it. I've seen many productions of it and every company puts their own spin on it. What makes it fun also is that the play is adaptable to various periods while remaining relevant as a parody of British class.
We recorded it on vhs in the 80s!
We recorded it!
35:07 "This is my bride elect!"
...you mean your fiancée? Eh, it still sounds better than "future wife".
I still have videos of when the Doly Carte opera company did the last performances of G&S operas, used to be on Sunday night TV here in New Zealand.
Wow have never seen it costumed like this could be the way the Japanese see it or how it was satirically written all those years ago
Rather similar to the remark by Ken (below), Gilbert & Sullivan 'G & S' has been very much a part of my life, having been raised on it by my parents who were very keen on the Operettas and used to take me to The Savoy Theatre in London.
I have seen The Mikado performed by many different Theatrical Companies etc. but this is definitely one of the best.The ony slight reservation that I have is that the cast could be made to look more Japanese. After all this was meant to have happened in mid nineteenth century Japan, not England.
They never would be missed
Felicity Palmer is a fantastic Katisha
tomdissonance she is
Too attractive for the role though.
Second only to the great Heather Begg.
Damn sexy too
@@norfabequipment8516 The 1920s British style of Katisha is splendid.
Pish Tush is very good in this version
+Kevin Atmore I agree with it! I really like his performance as a young wealthy sportive guy of the 'roaring twenties!'
+Theresa Geissler
And I love his Yorkshire accent!
Interesting depiction of Japanese culture from a western perspective!
Victorian perspective,. At that time very little was known about Japan as it had only just opened up.
It always was! See: "Topsy Turvey"
The "Japanese Culture" was just a trapping for what is essentially a biting satire against Victorian English society at the time...
I’m gonna watch it in haslemere
Pooh Bah looks so Posh in this 1920s British style.
Fool play with Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase :o))
does anyone know what happened to the 2015 run of this on youtube it seems to have completely disappeared
It looks like in meiji japan
From a Yank who has lived in France for decades - why, oh why has no one done an adaptation into French? It’s not because G & S is « quintesentially British » - Offenbach is similarly French but as been successfully adapted into English as has Franz Lehar. My dream would be to see this done at the Opera Comique in Paris
As far as I know, the Mikado was the only Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta translated in other languages, I don't know if there's a French one, but I suggest you to search on theaters' sites.
You are American. Enough said.
Because it's not opera. It's light opera.
@@65NART I'm American, and I'm aware of the subtleties of opera, light opera, musicals, and so on. 🥰🙃
54:12 sounded like something from Pirates
Sound like the piece when the sister are outside playing.
The introduction by Gilbert is interesting. Of course, he didn't live to see Hitler, who could be a bit of a Mikado himself.
5:22 aria de Nanky Pooh
The revival with Susan Bullock as Yum-Yum and the late Donald Adams as Pooh-Bah and that wonderful Eric Shilling as Pish Tush was really superb, pity it was that bloody awful Richard Suart as Ko-Ko
I saw this at The Coliseum in 1987 before any reviews came out. Stunning. The video doesn't really do it justice - particularly the opening "If you want to know who we are, we are gentlemen of Japan" which seems a little racist, but was exactly the opposite when seen on stage.
If "we are gentlemen of Japan" seems a little racist to you, there is something deeply wrong with you. You see wickedness where none is present.
I see no wickedness; that was my point.
My problem was explaining to a friend's opera loving Singaporean wife that the 'slitty eyes made with fingers' thing was a joke aimed at British preconceptions . It came across clearly on stage, but doesn't work half as well in the video.
She very soon 'got into' it, but that opening sticks with me as being awkward on film, brilliant on stage.
The costuming resembles My Fair Lady than the Mikado.
One can't help feel that the flash and zing of that imperishable score is not served particularly well by the muted pastels and pale flannels of this production. The Mikado is a jolly burlesque of Japanese culture. This could be anything.
not necessarily. The Mikado was written to mock the complicated and often corrupt "criminal justice" system of Victorian England. This production calls back to those roots very nicely, I think.
No one particularly cares how you may or may not feel.
The Mikado is a satire of contemporary English society, and has always been understood as such.
This is my first time seeing this production. I liked the choreography. I'm just a little confused. Are they supposed to be Japanese, or expats living in Japan?
They are supposed to be Japanese but the story is supposed to be something that pokes barb fun at the English Austicracy in the time of the 1880’s under Elizabeth 2nd’s 4x grandmother Victoria as queen of England so long in fact quite a long time before she was succeeded by her son Edward.
The original G&S productions (and in fact most modern productions to this day) do go for more Japanese-like costumes and makeup. See, for example, the Buxton production on the Mikado (also on YT). This particular production by Jonathan Miller and the ENO tried to break with that tradition by setting it in a 1920s 'grand hotel' environment.
I liked this version, saw the recent one at the cinema last week, and thought it a shame that they didn't do anything different at all. Same costumes, same choreography, same forced jokes. Shame.
+Tom Mullins It's called "Tradition". Produce your own version if you can.
It's not tradition though is it, otherwise they wouldn't have set it in the 1920's and they'd wear kimonos and kabuki make-up.
The point I was making is that while this was considered cutting edge to make such a drastic change back in the 1980's, however to come back to a show you've updated 30 years ago and make no changes bar "As some day it should happen" at all is lazy directing. If this were an amateur theatrical group with an amateur director, then fine. But it doesn't say much about the Arts scene when the foremost British theatre company who pride themselves on updated and innovative performances roll out the same productions after some time off.
I don't think you quite get G&S.
+CawChem - You're right. It's just something I've been doing since I was 15, with performances of the whole canon (including Utopia and Grand Duke).
I actually quite enjoy this version, my point was that I think it's lazy directing just to roll out exactly the same production over and over without tweaking or amending anything.
Wonder how the Japanese at the time regarded this?
lasalleman I've read that when Prince Akihito visited the UK in 1886 they cancelled the production, but then the Prince mentioned how he'd been looking forward to seeing it so they quickly uncanceled the performance for him.
He was apparently "disappointed" at a lack of real insults.
Is it true that Susan Bullock who plays Peep Bo here, is Sandra Bullock's mother?
Definitely not ! 😳 They are only a few years apart in same age so.....
Is that Eric Idle as Coco?
Yes, the star from the Monty Python series
Gotta love the casual racism in the opening number.
MJ100man Welcome to something written in the 1880s.
***** It should also be noted that, while casual racism was very much the order of the day, there was also a mania in England for all things Japanese at the time. Indeed, the orderly Japanese were sometimes viewed as the English of the East.
+MJ100man It's not causal racism, it's a warning that we're not in real Japan, just the 'theme park version' . It's obvious that the characters and morals are Victorian British more than anything.
+Vladimir Shmelev MJ100man was simply following the dictates of his PC indoctrination.
It's satire of the Empire's views on foreign Cultures. So it's an outdated viewpoint of an outdated viewpoint, if that makes sense
Eric Idle was very game to take on this role, it must have been a fun challenge.
But his singing voice doesn't match the rest of the cast. I think he was hired to be the token celebrity for financing.
It's a character role, most Ko-Ko's don't have beautiful Verdian baritone voices.
And he’s in good company. Groucho Marx played Ko-Ko, and he can sing not better and, in fact, doesn’t really sing at all.
Eric is also an old friend of Jonathan Miller, whose production this is.
His enunciation though is spot on; and so is his acting ... it's to perfection; that more than makes up for the lack of a professional singing voice.
@@brucknerian9664 I was lucky enough to get into one of the dress-rehearsals, was at the first night, and saw the show itself a further five times in its first run. Idle would throw in the occasional topical ad-lib, and it was worth catching multiple performances just to see what he'd do next. The whole cast was great, including the chorus and dancers.
53:00
Good grief. What happened to the words....
What do you mean?
Okay I admit that I have a love of inappropriate expressions but the greatest moment for me was when KoKo sang "Oh bugger the flowers..." instead of "Oh bother..".
You can tell it's Japan 'cause it looks like a very expensive maid cafe
I believe it’s meant to represent Japan during the Meiji period when the country opened up, industrialized, and adopted western influences.
@@freakrx2349 It's actually sending up the English middle classes pretending to be Japanese, hence the over-the-top posh accents and 1920s flapper dance routines.
The first line says "if you want to know who we are, we are gentlemen of Japan"? Huh? Oh, this is a English written musical piece set in a Japanese setting that satirized English society that has now been changed from its original Japanese costumes and setting back into an English locale and clothes. I've been love with this Musical since I saw it as a teenager on a community college stage set in traditional Japanese locale and costumes. Ever since most Productions I've viewed on CZcams are staged with strangely weird or grotesque Japanese makeup and costumes or set completely in Western settings such as an English Seaside Resort or the White House at titipu.Gov. What gives! This production is entertaining though. But I think it would be hilarious if they used the same costumes and setting but it was performed by an all Japanese cast and in the beginning the cast recited "If you want to know who we are, we are gentlemen of England. On many a sign and jar, and many a screen and stand."
Well, fine, an innovative version. But the characterization (almost desfigured with exagerated makepup, eye shadows, and so on) takes out big "plus" of MIKADO - social criticism within a natural but imaginitive foreign environment...But nobody is perfect, is it?
well, it's a stage production filmed for tv, so the makeup is always that heavy in stage productions.
What I don't like is the playing to the camera and some of the other things added which the audience never sees e.g. the dancing headless suits. I am not a fan, either, of the 1920s resort hotel setting. Gilbert was meticulous in his study for the design of sets and costumes. This is someone thinking he knows better than the master. Otherwise the performances are good, the rest being an unfortunate distraction.
James Horn oh go away. It is a wonderful production.
The headless suits are seen by the audience. They just put them as an overlay to keep the camera focused on the trio without doing a long shot.
A while before I noticed the gay waiters @ 8:40.
I saw the original but never noticed til I was older. lol!
Love the music always have, I don't like the new 20's look though, it makes more sense to keep it pure with Kimono's it doesn't make sense trying to make it English. spoilt it completely, I was going to the cinema to see it until I realised it would be this version.
+Marian Ellison I saw 'La Boheme' at the Colliseum and this was reset in 1990's Paris.. The ENO tend to do this..
+Phil H With the Mikado the usual excuse given is that it could be construed as racist (and has in the US I believe), and also because it's largely lampooning British society anyway.Although there may be some merit to the latter point, much like many of the G&S operettas it is clearly not really set in Japan, but a fantasy version of reality. It is even more ridiculous when you consider it is the only one of the operettas to have been performed in Japan (where it was quite well received I'm told). As for La Boheme, could it be due to the popularity of RENT? Which is based on La Boheme and set in 1990s New York.
+Marian Ellison The English seem to be addicted to the are between the two world wars. They seem to look on it as a sort of Golden Age and never miss a change to update and shoehorn ANYTHING into the period - whether appropriate or not.
+Marian Ellison It is sort of like doing a Shakespeare in modern dress.
+TheStockwell 'Golden age' for the privileged few.. Many of us 'English'are not addicted to this time , an era of poverty, low wages, exploited miners , tuberculosis, diptheria, rickets, hunger Marches, no decent health provisions, where boys and girls had to leave school at 13 or 14 to work in the mills or in Service, and the factories and the mines to keep the wealthy, wealthy.. while the latters children went to Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge.. so yes looked on as a golden age by those with inherited wealth and power who could afford to travel 'Up to London for the Opera'.
Feels a bit cringey, especially the way they handle their eyes to emphasize "we're Japanese!"
Compared to the Canadian production... bit jarring, this.
Too bad it isn’t in Japanese dress....I cannot take a mikado in western dress seriously on any level, not even the comedic. When the men began to sing, “We are gentlemen of Japan,” in tuxedos I wearily pressed ‘stop.’ Unfortunately, I had already seen one of the men ape pulling his eyes into a slant with his white gloves....is that the extent of “Japanese” influence in this staging?? Truly, I couldn’t stop the video fast enough, it’s just insulting on so many levels. I’ll have to listen to the audio later, this is just horribly ridiculous.
Yawn.
The plot of this operatta doesn't make sense considering its setting. No, Japanese schoolgirls don't go to school in Kimonos they go to school in drab uniform like their British template. No, they don't know what an "Ipswich Switch" is regardless of which social class in Japan you ask that question. And yes, the Japanese wore western threads like what you see in the production, more often that not MUCH MORE AGGRESSIVELY than the West. In Japan during the period this Operatta was made Japan is westernizing... HARD to the point they consider the old ways as worth nothing but the paper it is written on and should be forgotten.
Even if you disregard the cultural meta context of the operatta, its "Japanese setting" is absolutely not integral to the operatta. If you know anything about this piece, you would have realized that its setting is nothing more than a cosmetic fig leaf to its true plot: it being a biting near-libelous satire of the British aristocracy and how their influence is a corrupting force...
This is such a great Operetta but this performance is just awful!
Claire Croshaw just what exactly did you find awful?
Henry Jurkiewicz the singing is bad, the acting is awful, and the fact that they changed the setting to a hotel makes no sense whatsoever. And not that it matters but haircuts make me want to shave everyone in this because bald is better than their hair in this.
I agree about the hotel setting , but surely the singing was spot on.
+Claire Croshaw I wonder why they decided to set it in the 1920s? But then his "little list" is 21st century.
Other than that, I am enjoying so far. Looking forward to watching Act 2 later.
+LeesaDeAndrea
I understand that it's a tradition to update the "little list" so that it resonates with the audience. The performance that came to my city several years ago was in the traditional Japanese setting, yet they rewrote that song to include references to what was happening in my city's politics at the time.
This was typical of ENO at the time: move the opera to a time and place where people wear suits, to save money. They did this to practically every production. It's why I stopped going. The Japanese costumes are one of the main things one goes to a production of The Mikado to see.
It was hardly saving money to dress them in those suits, though!
I think its less about saving money and more about making more socially acceptable. I can imagine to do it the way it was shown originally back in the late victorian era could be offensive to some people nowadays.
Please watch an authentic production. The town of Titipu in JAPAN with JAPENESE residents - no one looks Japanese or are dressed in authentic costume. Lesley Garret - yikes. The camp dancing is a real turn off
Authentic? The entire opera is a biting satire of everything wrong with England as a culture and uses Japan as a medium of such absurdity. There is no place in Japan named "Titipu" and that should hint you how "authentic" Gilbert and Sullivan wants to present "Japan" on stage...
A travesty.
Oh dear! The dead hand of Jonathan Millar, he who thought he had a better sense of humour than W S Gilbert.
I mean why did he stop there with his reinterpretation? Why didn't he have the 'Three Little Maids' transposed for basso profundo? There are plenty of Ukrainians or Russians who would have jumped at the chance, Fyodor Chaliapin would have, I'm sure.
No, Millar just couldn't recognise the talent of others. What a shame when you absolutely MUST be famous, or is it 'notorious', for SOMETHING, come what may.
PS The Men's chorus was outstanding, as were the dancing waiters - but one wonders - why?
I can't stand Gilbert and Sullivan.
I like the Mr Men books.
I am NOT an Intellectual!
I like Venus by Holst and ABBA.
I am NOT a music fan though!
Mike Fuller Are you a physicist?
Lifeless. Emotionless. Slow. Boring. What a weird duck. This performance does poor justice to such a wonderful opera.