THE MIKADO
Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic farcical operetta (presented in a large tent down by the river as part of Calgary Opera’s In the Village series) may be billed as “accessible for all audiences,” but that doesn’t mean you can’t be a bigger Nanki- Poo know- it- all than the 10- year- old sitting beside you.
Village Genius Opera en plein air has long been performed in spectacular fashion in Verona, Italy ( in a 2,000- year- old Roman amphitheatre); Vorarlberg, Austria ( on a stage floating in Lake Constance); and, for the third year, under a party tent in Calgary’s East Village. A successful poseur will pack a cardigan, ride a bike to the event and arrange to meet a Village Blonde at intermission.
Take a Pill The Mikado is one of the most frequently produced pieces of musical theatre, but it nearly didn’t see the light of day. Gilbert had started work on a libretto about people who fall in love after taking a magic lozenge. Sullivan thought the scenario was silly. Gilbert tossed out the idea and came up with The Mikado, set in Imperial Japan and blessed with an intricate plot stuffed with secret assignations and disguises. Presumably, Sullivan found all this to be silly in a good way.
No Yum- Yum Dum- Dum As long as you can keep all the Yum- Yums, Ko- Kos and Poo- Poos straight, the storyline is fairly simple ( for opera, at least). After running away from home to avoid an arranged marriage, the emperor’s son Nanki- Poo falls in love with Yum- Yum who is betrothed to Ko- Ko, a tailor/ executioner whom she doesn’t love. Illegal flirtations, mistaken identity and death threats ensue. If you get lost, just nod knowingly at the stage and repeatedly exclaim, sugoi! (“wow” in Japanese). Google the plot when you get home.
To Wit In The Mikado, the librettist W. S. Gilbert used the far- from- home setting of Japan in order to veil his criticisms of British politics with impunity. Prove your awareness of the operetta as a complex satire of late- Victorian society by cackling loudly while Yum- Yum performs her famously vain and snobbish aria, “The Sun Whose Rays.” — Jacquie Moore The Mikado runs Thursday, Aug. 13 to Saturday, Aug. 22 in the East Village. $ 35 - $ 75. calgaryopera.com.