Opera's 'Mikado' mines common culture | Review

"If you want to know who we are,

We are gentlemen of Japan.” 

So boasts the male chorus in the opening number of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado.”

But long before the singers’ mouths opened in Kentucky Opera’s new production, the house knew it was in for something different as they sat in their seats for Friday’s performance facing a bare set save for a riser that stretched along the back of the stage and lone piano downstage and just off to the side.

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During the overture, performers came on to the stage wearing apparel of the punk variety — leather jackets, plaid skirts and ripped T-shirts with hair in black and other assorted colors, spiked, bluntly chopped and other times just plain big. Some entered carrying protest signs emblazoned with “Save the Miners” and “Dump Thatcher,” in a nod to 1980s British politics.

Welcome to director Daniel Pelzig’s clever take on this comic opera where he takes out the fetish of the exotic that has tended to undermine this story that really has no basis in Japanese culture. While he plants one foot firmly in 1980s England, he dips another into the 19th century Japan of the original script by having the cast slowly morph into traditional Japanese attire. But never do they change their makeup or hair to reflect Asian faces.

While the script never tells us that these are  ragtag members of a citizens theater company presenting this comic opera, Pelzig’s direction makes it comfortably obvious and lets the cast do its work in taking the audience in for a fun ride.

On that ride, the audience witnesses Nanki-Poo (Daniel Shirley, tenor), the son of the Mikado and disguised as a minstrel, come to the town of Titipu to find his love, Yum-Yum (Jasmine Habersham, soprano). But he first meets Ko-Ko (Curt Olds, baritone), the Lord High Executioner who oddly acquired this job, and Pooh-Bah (Chad Sloan, baritone), the unethical public official who holds all public titles. Through them, he finds that to marry his beloved Yum-Yum, Nanki-Poo he must adhere to preposterous laws that could mean his death. Meanwhile, Ko-Ko loves Yum-Yum as well and conspires how to make her his own.

Olds’ shining performance compels in his comic timing, conveying physical humor (particularly in his opening song where he has to carry a large, heavy ax) and using his vocal chops carrying the tunes and the witty intent of the lyrics. Because he is often a blustery buffoon, unexpectedly his performance became deeply moving when Ko-Ko spied Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum flirting and his heartbroken state was evident as he tried to hide his face. Olds particularly dazzled when he sang "As some day it may happen,” in which he lists all offenders of society who “who never would be missed” if he executed them.

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Here Olds and Pelizg have fun with some adapted lyrics that include names of 1980s celebrities. Yes, Madonna is there as well as a man whose first name is Donald. These brought a lot of laughs from the house. The only oddity is the mentions are American rather than British. What about those people who love to lampoon Duran Duran?

Shirley’s Nanki-Poo was lovable with his Billie Joe Armstrong-hairdo and not too naïve and his tenor voice had a honey-like flow and sweetness.

The singing of the rest of the cast was fairly strong. Hearing not only all of the singing but even all of the spoken dialogue could be difficult. Sometimes songs started out weak before vocals gained power. That was true for several songs sung by Habersham and Sloan. While Habersham has a soft start on "The sun whose rays are all ablaze," her voice climbed to beautiful and controlled heights.

Peter Strummer as The Mikado and Elizabeth Batton as Katisha, the elder woman who lusts after Nanki-Poo, entered the story late in the opera. Still, both actor/singers gave strong performances.

But the strongest mark of this production was how the ensemble collaborated in a myriad of facets — getting the comedy and the timing it entailed just right and more. That included Sloan’s dancing with his interesting hip shaking in time with the orchestra and the quartet of Habersham, Shirley and Connor McDonald as Pish-Tush and Clara Nieman as Pitti-Sing singing “Brightly dawns our wedding day,” which exemplified fine collaborative work in harmony and acting.

That ethos of working together — and across culture — reflects in some ways a marketing image that came out of the 1980s: the Benetton ad. But like motives of good will, Gilbert and Sullivan and this production show that corruption and depravity is also colorblind.

Kentucky Opera’s production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera “The Mikado” directed by Daniel Pelzig continues with a performance at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12, at the Brown Theatre, 315 W. Broadway. More information: 800-775-7777; www.kyopera.org; www.kentuckycenter.org.

Reach reporter Elizabeth Kramer at (502) 582-4682 and ekramer@courier-journal.com. Follow her on Twitter @arts_bureau and on Facebook at Elizabeth Kramer - Arts Writer.