John Farrell Correspondent for the Press Telegram
'Bright, beautiful, swinging and "Hot"

Imagine a half-dozen or so gentlemen in the hottest and brightest zoot suits around, all with black-and-white shoes, fedoras on their heads, and carrying fans instead of guns in their pockets.

Imagine an official Japanese Lord High Executioner in a gray double-breasted suit and porkpie hat. Japanese schoolgirls in short and revealing skirts from the 1940s. And a black tap-dancing Emperor of Japan. Add a swinging, rollicking score of tunes by one of musical comedy's great composers, updated to late 20th-century styles, and some of the funniest situations ever created by a librettist, and you have the "Hot Mikado" which opened its Southern California premiere production at the Carpenter Center last weekend.

Produced by Musical Theatre West as part of its 51st season, this "Mikado" based on the Gilbert and Sullivan original from 1885 London, and set in a mythical Japan where everyone has very British ideas, but looks like a hep-cat from the swing era, is as exciting and entertaining a musical romp as you could ask for, full of bright colors, hilarious performances, and swinging and jumping music, and production values.

And, despite its title and history, you don't need to know anything about Gilbert and Sullivan, or Japan, to enjoy this jivin' show. You don't need a history lesson or a book on Gilbert and Sullivan. Just go and enjoy yourself, and if the tunes seem a bit familiar, or the characters' names sound familiar, well, don't sweat it. You'll only miss one joke in a two-hour show filled with great comedy, great songs and enough laughs for three regular comedies.

The history of the show is complex, but, boiled down, it comes from two all-black productions of the original "Mikado" produced on Broadway in 1939. David Bell, who is credited with the music and lyrics of this show, and Rob Bowman, who adapted and arranged the music, wanted to revive those shows in the 1980s, but found they pretty much had to re-create them out of whole cloth, since there were no scripts or recordings. The "Hot Mikado" was the result, and it wowed London's West End and Broadway, after opening at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.

The story is based on the Gilbert and Sullivan original. In a imaginary Japan, the town of Tittipu has tired of the Mikado's law which makes flirting the only crime punishable by death. They appoint a lowly tailor, one Ko-Ko, Lord High Executioner, since he has been condemned for flirting, and won't execute himself or anyone else. Lord High Executioner is the highest public office, and Ko-Ko is about to marry his beautiful 17-year-old ward, Yum-Yum, but she is being pursued by a young man of her own age, Nanki-Poo, who is pretending to be a second-trombone player. He is actually the son and heir-apparent of the Mikado, having fled from his father's court when accused of flirting with the elderly and formidable Katisha, who wants to marry him or have him beheaded.

When it seems the Mikado is visiting the town just to see if an execution has taken place, Ko-Ko agrees to let Nanki-Poo marry Yum-Yum if he will pretend to have been executed. When the Mikado finds his son has been killed, Ko-Ko must get Katisha to marry before Nanki-Poo agrees to return to life. The story is a topsy-turvy one, hilariously funny and filled with Arthur Sullivan's greatest tunes.

The action takes place in an elegant setting: a Japanese garden where one tree is made of paper umbrellas, and another of fans, where neon lights decorate the sets and everyone wears bright colors. Musical Theatre West has brought together a company of energetic and talented performers, and director LaParee W. Young, who doubles as Pooh-Bah, the government official who took all the jobs that opened up when everyone quit at Ko-Ko's accession, keeps things moving with electric energy. Lloyd Cooper, who leads the shows music from the piano, makes everything move at a break-neck pace, and Sean McKnight's choreography, all swing and high-speed jitterbug, is wonderful.

Ko-Ko is the center of the fun in any "Mikado" hot or otherwise, and Jamie Torcellini makes his Ko-Ko a figure of ever-offended dignity, his body like rubber, his flat hat a prop that almost speaks lines. David Burnham is a suitable earnest Nanki-Poo, and Jennifer Shelton a delightful and delicious Yum-Yum. Her sisters are Peep-Bo (Staci M. Wilson), as flirtatious as all get out, and Pitti-Sing (Candice Oden), who proves she can belt a song with the bets of them. Greg Poland is a high-speed, tap-dancing Mikado who dominates the stage, and Young is effectively comic as Pooh-Bah.

One of Gilbert's regular jokes was the inclusion of an elderly lady in love. In "The Mikado" she is Katisha, usually an overdressed Japanese lady of a certain age, played by Carol Dennis, who sings the authority and power of a great gospel singer. This Katisha may be older, but she is determined and not willing to take no for an answer. Yet Dennis shows her emotional side, too, and creates a character of genuine depth from what is often a caricature.

Bell and Bowman have had sense enough not to interfere with Gilbert's original dialogue and jokes, though they have updated some references, many with hilarious point. This Mikado is the J. Edgar Hoover of Japan, though Gilbert, who died in 1910, wouldn't have understood the reference. And Sullivan's music swings easily, though almost every style in this show was invented after his death.

If you do love Gilbert and Sullivan, you'll be amazed how well you can "swing" a madrigal, of jive up the Mikado's entrance song. But you won't need footnotes for this show, which is tuneful, bright, beautiful and swinging.

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