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Leslie Kritzer as Yum-Yum and Adam Monley as
Nanki-Poo
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Gilbert and Sullivan as Gospel? How about Blues or Swing? With the requisite hardiness of a classic, G&S's The Mikado emerges triumphant as The Hot Mikado in a brilliantly rousing production at CCM. It's been quite a while since there's been an ensemble as gifted and as tight as the one on the Patricia Corbett Theater stage. That includes everyone from the superb stage band to the supers to the stage itself.
This latest update on the British view of Japan propels the sleepy village of Titipu into somewhere on the order of Nagasaki in the 1930s. David H. Bell's book and lyrics retain much of W.S. Gilbert's original material while adapting lyrics with subtlety and sly humor. And Rob Bowman's musical adaptations are emphatic responses to the questions posed above: yes, yes and absolutely.
Gilbert supposedly got the inspiration for The Mikado from a samurai sword that came crashing down in his study. Gilbert went on to poke fun at the British craze for things Japanese, pretensions to power and, while he was at it, the upper-class fascination with baby talk. He didn't go in for subtlety -- not with characters named Yum-Yum, Ko-Ko, Nanki-Poo, Pitti-Sing and the immortal Pooh-Bah.
The Hot Mikado retains the nonsensical tale of a tyrannical Mikado who outlaws flirting on pain of death. The enterprising citizens of Titipu appoint Ko-Ko as Lord High Executioner with their own decree that he can't execute anyone until he's executed himself. Enter the son of the Mikado, disguised as Nanki-Poo, on the lam from his father's court and an unwanted marriage. He falls in love with Yum-Yum who is engaged to Ko-Ko, and it goes on from there to the happy ending.
The deft musical transformations are even more successful, thanks to CCM's awesomely talented cast. The Gentlemen of Japan's opening chorus is breathtaking display of footwork and smooth vocalese, led by Sinclair Mitchell. The hapless Ko-Ko is an endearingly goofy Adam Williams, who looks like a cross of Woody Allen and Jerry Lewis, neither of whom have his voice or his elastic grace. His rendition of "Tit Willow" is exactly as I always imagined it: a salacious come-on.
Todd Richardson is a most grand Pooh-Bah, jumping from Churchill to Boyer to Bismarck as the Lord's High Everything Else. The Mikado looks more like The King, as Justin Patterson struts across the stage in a white suit and pompadour. Adam Monley's Nanki-Poo is straight out of a 1920s romantic comedy, and Leslie Kritzer is a saucy Yum-Yum with more than a passing resemblance to Judy Garland.
Two ladies are stand-outs: Shoshana Bean, whose searing vocals recall the Gospel scene in The Blues Brothers, and Kristy Cates, a sultry Katisha with the lowdown Blues. But it's always a genuine ensemble performance -- no one is less than exceptional.
Backing up these terrific performers is a great onstage big band, the Titipu All Stars. They all get into the act, especially pianist Chris Fenwick. Diane Lala's stylish choreography is performed with precision and unbridled enthusiasm on Paul Shortt's ingenious set, combining Japanese screens with the nighttime urban skyline of Titipu. Director Aubrey Berg never lets the pace sag, interspersing old vaudeville bits with more contemporary business.
CCM's production is the regional premiere of Bell and Bowman's adaptation. Of the many guises in which The Mikado has assumed, Hot Mikado ranks as one of the best. Gilbert and Sullivan were all the rage back in 1885 when The Mikado premiered in London, and Hot Mikado shows they've got what it takes to stay hot.
THE HOT MIKADO continues at the College-Conservatory of Music's Patricia Corbett Theatre at the University of Cincinnati through Sunday.
