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Gilbert & Sullivan, The Mikado: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Lyric Opera of Chicago, Sir Andrew Davis, (conductor), Civic Opera House, Chicago, 11.12.2010 (JLZ)

 

Set and Costume Designer: Mark Thompson

Lighting Designer: Christine Binder

Stage Director: Gary Griffin

Chorus Master: Donald Nally

Conductor: Sir Andrew Davies

 

Cast:

Nanki-Poo: Toby Spence

Pish-Tush: Philip Kraus

Pooh-Bah: Andrew Shore

Ko-Ko: Neal Davies

Yum-Yum: Andriana Chuchman

Peep-Bo: Emily Fons

Pitti-Sing: Katharine Goeldner

Katisha: Stephanie Blythe

The Mikado: James Morris

 

Stephanie Blythe as Katisha and James Morris as The Mikado
Picture © Dan Rest
 

Lyric Opera of Chicago’s new production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s perennially entertaining The Mikado is a sophisticated staging, supported by fine musical and dramatic direction. This production updates the work to the early 1920s, reminiscent of Eric Idle’s memorable one from the 1980s. (A version of Idle’s production is known through its release on DVD.) The costuming of the men of Titipu in black suits with bowler hats calls to mind images from Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures. Further reinforcing the idea of The Mikado as a satire on English customs, the women of Titipu were outfitted in tasteful dresses with Japanese touches.

The musical strengths stemmed from fine leadership of Sir Andrew Davis and the excellent cast. Davis opted to present the full score, with a few minor dialogue changes—most notably in the enumeration of possible victims in the “little list” that is part of Ko-Ko’s entrance aria “I am the Lord High Executioner.” In this case Lyric has chosen to play on the names of various composers, and used the surtitles to call attention to recent or upcoming productions of the 2010-2011 season—very clever. The production also makes use of the entire spoken text, sometimes truncated. While this involves some topical references, the completeness gives the audience a better context for the musical numbers. (Unlike the music, the dialogue was amplified, with some understandable echo, and while the diction was generally sound, it was useful to have the surtitles.)

Musically, Davis paced the numbers well, so that the sung text could be heard clearly. Yet in some pieces, like the patter song-trio between Ko-Ko, Pish-Tush, and Poo-Bah (“To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock”), an over-ambitious tempo obscured the words, which recurred even more quickly during a spontaneous reprise. In other places, the coordination was sometimes uneven, as in the aria “A more humane Mikado,” where James Morris delivered the lines elegantly, but the melodic line and accompaniment were sometimes out of synch. This may have been the result of the accents on the text, for which Morris used American pronunciations of English words, instead of British ones, and in some cases this affected the rhythm. (British pronunciation here, refers to the short or long vowels, or stress on syllable, rather than effecting a British accent.) Occasionally the orchestra was aggressive in its sound, and while the singers often accommodated, it was sometimes difficult to hear the text of the trio “The criminal cried,” in which Ko-Ko talks of using his snickersnee to behead the victim.

Of the principals, Stephanie Blythe was a persuasive, three-dimensional Katisha, with effortless command of her inflections, vocal coloring, and deadpan humor—all completely appropriate, helped by spot-on facial expressions and physical gestures. The duet with Neal Davies (as Ko-Ko), “There is beauty in the bellow of the blast,” was stunning. Blythe made the most of “Alive and yet alone,” with the affected passion and dark colors just right for the situation; throughout the show she used such coloring to help emphasize the text. One item that merits attention: when Blythe removed Davies’ wig. If this was part of the production, it seemed improvisatory, and if it was indeed an accident, her reactions and those of Davies were completely in character. Likewise, Neal Davies depicted Ko-Ko with musical sense and comic charm.

As Nanki-Poo, Toby Spence was solid throughout, with a clear, ringing sound clearly projecting his well-enunciated text. His attention to dynamic levels added a level of meaning to the sometimes broad strokes of Sullivan’s score, and added nuance to the strophic songs. Spence has been expert in works by Handel, Mozart, and other composers, and it is good to see him lend his talent to Gilbert & Sullivan. He also worked beautifully with Andriana Chuchman, the first-year member of Lyric’s Ryan Opera Center, who played Yum-Yum. Here Chuchman was vocally appealing, with sweet tone very appropriate for the character. Yet in her major aria, “The sun and I,” Chuchman was somewhat lacking in expression. Perhaps in future performances, she will allow the phrases to bend a little, to give the number its appropriate shape.

The other principals were uniformly commendable, and while fault couldn’t be found in their fine execution of the often declamatory score, the melismatic passages fell short in clarity. A case in point was “I am so proud,” Pooh-Bah’s number near the end of the first act, which was otherwise nicely executed. Other aspects highlighted details that are sometimes missing, such as Katharine Goeldner, as Pitti-Sing, whose strong and sinuous voice added to the satirical humor. During the bridal chorus at the opening of the first act (“Braid the raven hair”), her flapper sensibilities included eating the olive in her martini—a freshly staged take on this scene supported by the women of Lyric’s fine chorus. In addition, Emily Fons as Peep-Bo, was a solid addition, as was Philip Kraus as Pish-Tush.

Taken as a whole, this was a fine effort with an international cast that vividly brought this Victorian operetta to life. With its strong musical core, the humor enhanced the overall effect, satirizing not only affected Victorian culture, but operatic conventions as well. Those who have not seen The Mikado recently may want to be reminded of its pleasures.

 

James L. Zychowicz
 

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