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Eric Marchese Special to the Orange County
Register
'Hot Mikado' puts jive in Japan
"Hot Mikado" is not only hot - it's cool. Way cool. And it's so old - the original was devised in 1939 - that it's new again.
The idea of restaging THE MIKADO using the swingin' sounds of Harlem circa the Big Band era may seem incongruous - and, to Gilbert and Sullivan purists, outright blasphemy. But just let the show's unlikely history and wildly innovative approach take hold, and you're likely to have a blast.
The
show's Southern California premiere, Musical Theatre West's Carpenter Center
staging, showcases everything that makes David H. Bell and Rob Bowman's
1986 retooling of two late '30s MIKADO variations - THE SWING
MIKADO and THE HOT MIKADO - so wacky, joyous, off-the-wall and
just plain enjoyable. Let's face it: The acerbic W.S. Gilbert had a whimsical
sensibility that his fantastic plots and characters reflected - the better
to contrast Sir Arthur Sullivan's soaring musical scores. So turning the
denizens of the town of Titipu, Japan, into Zoot-suited Harlem hepcats,
and letting them swing to more loose-rhythmed but still completely recognizable
versions of the show's songs, isn't so far-fetched. It just takes a little
getting used to.
If you're like most, it shouldn't take long for this staging to work its magic upon you - roughly 10 minutes. It's about at that point that the work of director LaParee W. Young, musical director Lloyd Cooper and choreographer Sean McKnight begins to enchant. You purists may be shaking your heads in doubt, but your correspondent did the same. This staging will tickle your funny bone and get your foot tapping, and it's doubtful you'll view even a traditional version of THE MIKADO quite the same way again.
The story line remains unchanged: Nanki-Poo (David Burnham) arrives in Titipu seeking his long-lost love, Yum-Yum (Jennifer Shelton), who has been betrothed to Ko-Ko (Jamie Torcellini), her guardian. Not only is Ko-Ko to be spared from being executed (for flirting), he's been appointed Lord High Executioner himself, and intends to see his wedding to Yum-Yum pushed through immediately. Things get sticky when Ko-Ko receives orders from the Mikado, Emperor of Japan (Greg Poland), to execute someone in town. Nanki-Poo volunteers, under the condition that he be spared for a month and allowed to wed Yum-Yum in the meantime. After Ko-Ko reports to the Mikado that Nanki-Poo has been executed, Nanki-Poo's true identity is revealed: He's the son of the Mikado and heir to the throne, leaving a lot of explaining to do.
While much of the libretto is taken verbatim from Gilbert, HOT MIKADO is peppered with colloquialisms - "Hi-de-ho!" "Say, what?" "Go ahead, turkey!" and the even more modern "Yo, chill out!" or "BUH-bye!" - all delivered with tongue in cheek. Bell has taken more liberties with the lyrics, some of which are done as scat singing, and he and Bowman have transformed Sullivan's score into everything from slow swing, be-bop and boogie-woogie to gospel singing, sad spirituals, torch songs and even one number ("Braid the Raven Hair") done in a semi-Calypso style. Given harmonies from those styles, the familiar songs gain a new twist.
The cast invests this silly story with as much conviction as you could expect. As the young would-be couple, Burnham and Shelton are as sassy as they are sweet. An able physical comic, Torcellini injects his Groucho-like persona into his singing style. With a sunshiny grin, the bald-pated Poland is a dazzling, tap-dancing Mikado, tossing off references to Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (star of THE HOT MIKADOof 1939) and asides like "Gilbert and Sullivan, you should see me now!" Though a serious Harlem-style "Big Mama," Carol Dennis' Katisha is a less threatening, more pleasant heavy than you'd expect. Young himself shows a flair for comedy as corrupt town official Pooh-Bah, with Reggie Burrell suave as his aide, Pish-Tush. Candice Oden and Staci Wilson give Shelton good support - notably in an Andrews Sisters parody - as Yum-Yum's maidenly sisters, Pitti-Sing and Peep-Bo.
The
nine-person chorus doesn't disappoint, proving more than capable as vocalists
and dancers. Conducting from the pit, Cooper gives the cast exactly what
it needs. Todd K. Proto's costumes are attractive and stylish. The set,
rented from Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., cleanly meshes the expected
Japanese elements - screens, parasols, vertical bamboo walls, a pagoda and
a bridge - with art deco chrome and neon trim, a nice visual metaphor for
the marriage of two disparate concepts.
2/27/04
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