The Mikado

On Saturday night we saw the Carl Rosa Company’s production of the Mikado. It was fantastic and we both enjoyed it very much. Everything about the show was impressive. The set design, costumes and singing. I think what added an extra dimension was that it was located at the Gielgud Theatre, London which has a beautifully decorated auditorium. It gave the show a Victorian music hall feeling.

Through listening to CD’s and radio I am very familiar with the majority of the songs but it was good to see them sung in the context of the story. And I was pleased that they put in an updated version of ‘they’d none of them be missed’. I also enjoyed the way that the opening and closing of the Japanese fans was used throughout the show to give dramatic effect. Although I have read in a separate review that this is now old hat to Mikado aficionados.

This version of the opera also included a couple of guest artists namely Alistair McGowan as the Mikado and Nicola McAuliffe as Katisha. Both were excellent particularly McAuliffes singing voice. McGowan did put in a couple of impressions such as Prince Charles which added to the music hall effect.

All in all a great night and now we look forward to seeing Pirates of Penzance in a few weeks time.