Gilbert and Sullivan

[rabidsamfan]

I have a really neat production of "The Mikado" on DVD, from the CBC -- done in Stratford a few years ago. Amazing costumes and set design and of course the music. I watched with my sister when she was here and have been singing the songs ever since, so I stuck it in as background tonight.

But I keep getting distracted and listening. It's such blatant silliness. And the jokes are so much fun! I can't help but think that the patter comedian at the Savoy must have read the script and cheered, seeing how much fun he was going to have.

Comments

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

Oh, I just love the Mikado! I still have some of the songs memorized! The humor is SO silly, but I love it! I laughed my way silly through it when I saw it for the first time in hgih school. We were lucky because we were blessed with a director in the university town that I lived in who was from Japan and was really into Kabuki-style directing, and so the costumes and make-up and set-design were just spectacular -- and they had everything very Kabuki, down to the way the actors' every move.

On a side note, the same director also did a wonderful production of Kabuki Faust, which was just breathtaking!

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

Er...my previous post seemed to imply that the production was at our high school, which it was not. It was at the university, which had a center of performing arts that was truly marvelous!

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

*grin*

It's okay, that's merely a corroborative detail..

It's sucha a silly play. We're up to "The Flowers That Bloom in the Spring."

Seriously, if you like costume/makeup/set design, you should hunt out this DVD. I bought it in a set with Iolanthe and Pirates of Penzance, but you may be able to find it solo. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, with Eric Donkin as Koko and Gidon Saks as the Mikado. It was filmed in Stratford Ontario, it looks like 1983, or 1993. *darts off to Amazon*

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1569383464/qid=1140746260/sr=8-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-3130178-5620867?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=130

That's the one.

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :-D

The flowers that bloom in the spring -- tra la! ;-D

[kelllie.livejournal.com]

Three little maids who, all unwary, come from a ladies' seminary, freed from its genius tutelary... Three little maids from school, three little MAAAIIIIIIDS from school...

I love G & S. H.M.S. Pinafore, is probably my all time favorite followed closely by The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Oooooo... patter songs!!! Such fun.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

It's a fun production. I had the good fortune to see G&S done at my college, with the fellow who had been the patter comedian at the Savoy coming to reprise a lot of the roles he'd done in London. I just looked it up on Amazon (the links in another comment) and I'm amazed at the complaints of "hamminess" and "changing the words to add current references"... Er... That's what the Savoyards did, judging from the productions I saw back in college! It's part of the joy of G&S!