Theatre UCF performs ‘Hot Mikado’

Things are heating up — in the best of ways — at Theatre UCF.

Inspired by a 1939 revamp of Gilbert and Sullivan’s original 1885 “The Mikado,” David H. Bell and Rob Bowman created “Hot Mikado,” their own version of the operetta, in the 1980s. That version, onstage at Theatre UCF, adds a 1940s swing club to the satirical Japanese setting. At the University of Central Florida, director Earl Weaver goes one step further and gives the club an anime theme.

Mixing so many concepts could have made UCF’s “Hot Mikado” a hot mess. But it turns out to be a scorcher of a production. It’s wonderfully cast with strong singers. The band, directed by Jason Bailey, is right on the money. Weaver’s choreography hits the sweet spot between traditional music theater and the hot steps of the ’40s.

The plot: The emperor’s son Nanki-Poo wants to marry Yum-Yum. But ugly Katisha from the royal court believes he is promised to her, and Yum-Yum is to marry the emperor’s executioner. He’s a squeamish man under pressure to execute someone — anyone — as soon as possible.

Alaric Frinzi shines as Ko-Ko, the would-be executioner. He’s comically fey, self-important and bewildered, and his use of vocal tricks for humorous effect is equaled only by Kerry Alce, as Pooh-Bah, a quick-thinking bureaucrat with an impish stage presence and a beautiful singing voice.

In inspired gender-bending casting, Jamonté D. Bruten is the “ugly” woman — and brings fierce comic timing and a gospel belt.

Huaixiang Tan’s anime costumes are whimsical without distracting from the action. “Hello Kitty” plays a big part in Marian Jones’ cartoony scenic design. The anime concept creates a fantasy world that helps eliminate any perceived insensitivity toward Japanese culture. Gilbert and Sullivan never intended their show to really be about Japan; that’s why character names are so ridiculous. They were satirizing British prudishness and government inefficiency. In an age of censorship, they got away with more by setting their story in a country far away from the British Isles.

Weaver doesn’t handle the payoff for Ko-Ko’s funny desire to soliloquize effectively enough, and the ending doesn’t quite live up to all the fun that has come before. But this “Hot Mikado” is the coolest production in town.