Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado / Eric Idle, Lesley Garrett, Richard Van Allan, Felicity Palmer, Richard Angas, Bonaventura Bottone, Susan Bullock, English National Opera
starring: Eric Idle, Lesley Garrett, Bonaventura Bottone, Richard Van Allan, Felicity Palmer
directed by: John Michael Phillips
directed by: John Michael Phillips
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Product Description:
This rollicking version of gilbert & sullivans most popular tale relocates the action from ancient japan to a 1920s english seaside resort - where the rule of the mikado is absolute & often prone to whimsy.Studio: A&e Home VideoRelease Date: 12/26/2005Starring: Eric IdleRun time: 130 minutes
Amazon.com:
Jonathan Miller set his well-known production of The Mikado,staged for the English NationalOpera, in a British seaside resort of the 1920s. The result, complete with achorus of gentlemen of Japan as cartoon-like British peers, emphaticallyunderscores the Englishness of the satire. The occasional non sequiturs, like abunch of gentry dressed for Ascot and singing in Japanese, are loonily fun, andno more absurd than the fantasyland Japan that Gilbert and Sullivan invented.The time frame, though, seems little more than an excuse for a smartblack-and-white production design.
The show's main calling card is Eric Idle as Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner. Unfortunately,his star turn of a performance, like the production as a whole, is not as funnyas it should be. There are loads of comic ideas, some of them effective(bellboys parading through the hotel lobby with "No flirting" signs), somedubious (Ko-Ko delivering a 1980s-updated "little list" song at a pressconference), some worked beyond their shelf life (insanely posh accents). Thisvideo recording of a 1987 performance could have been better made; the chorus,badly miked, sounds as if it is far off-stage. The actors' heavy makeup andheavy mugging are reminders that the production wasn't originally created forthe camera. Such staginess may take some getting used to, but it fits in nicelywith the aggressive fakery characteristic of G&S. This revisionist Mikadois probably best after you've experienced more straightforward approaches.--David Olivenbaum
This rollicking version of gilbert & sullivans most popular tale relocates the action from ancient japan to a 1920s english seaside resort - where the rule of the mikado is absolute & often prone to whimsy.Studio: A&e Home VideoRelease Date: 12/26/2005Starring: Eric IdleRun time: 130 minutes
Amazon.com:
Jonathan Miller set his well-known production of The Mikado,staged for the English NationalOpera, in a British seaside resort of the 1920s. The result, complete with achorus of gentlemen of Japan as cartoon-like British peers, emphaticallyunderscores the Englishness of the satire. The occasional non sequiturs, like abunch of gentry dressed for Ascot and singing in Japanese, are loonily fun, andno more absurd than the fantasyland Japan that Gilbert and Sullivan invented.The time frame, though, seems little more than an excuse for a smartblack-and-white production design.
The show's main calling card is Eric Idle as Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner. Unfortunately,his star turn of a performance, like the production as a whole, is not as funnyas it should be. There are loads of comic ideas, some of them effective(bellboys parading through the hotel lobby with "No flirting" signs), somedubious (Ko-Ko delivering a 1980s-updated "little list" song at a pressconference), some worked beyond their shelf life (insanely posh accents). Thisvideo recording of a 1987 performance could have been better made; the chorus,badly miked, sounds as if it is far off-stage. The actors' heavy makeup andheavy mugging are reminders that the production wasn't originally created forthe camera. Such staginess may take some getting used to, but it fits in nicelywith the aggressive fakery characteristic of G&S. This revisionist Mikadois probably best after you've experienced more straightforward approaches.--David Olivenbaum
Related Items:
- Gilbert & Sullivan - The Pirates of Penzance / Kline, Ronstadt, Smith, Routledge, Delacorte Theater (Broadway Theatre Archive)
- Gilbert & Sullivan - H.M.S. Pinafore / Trial By Jury - David Hobson, Anthony Warlow, Colette Mann, Tiffany Speight, John Bolton Wood, Richard Alexander, Opera Australia, State Theatre, The Arts Centre Melbourne
- Topsy-Turvy
- Gilbert & Sullivan - H.M.S. Pinafore / Marshall, Howerd, Jones, Opera World
- Gilbert & Sullivan - Pirates of Penzance / Anthony Warlow, David Hobson, Australian Opera
- see more
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Delightful!
A gorgeous and funny production. Eric Idle as The Lord High Executioner and Richard Angas as The Mikado are both utterly preposterous. Never mind the three little maids from school!Never mind the impossible setting of an upper-crust, English tennis club.Scandalously delightful and superbly performed.
The audio quality could be better.But this is a once in a lifetime performance.Well worth collecting.
Rating: - GREAT PRODUCTION
As an avid G&S fan for the past 16 years, I can say I loved this production.I did not like the mis-en-scene, but the orchestra, enunciation, and acting where WONDERFUL.Highly recommended for G&S fans!!
Rating: 
- Poor Gilbert :-(
Poor Gilbert! He must have turned over in his grave every day since this monstrosity was created.
Removing the opera from Japan and dressing the characters in British 1920s formal attire takes Mikado out of context, and renders it humorless and senseless.
Gilbert was a genius. The creator of this perversion is not!
Rating: - Give it a watch...........
I'm always leery of "new and improved" productions of the works of Gilbert & Sullivan.The originals are hard to beat.To my amazement, this version of The Mikado is actually very watchable and enjoyable!The producers stayed true, for the most part, to both the original story line and libretti (other than the fact they "moved" the story from Japan to England, and made a few very minor changes to the dialog).The performance of the musical score is outstanding - Sullivan would be proud.
Rating: - Virtue is Triumphant Only In...Theatrical Performances!
"The Mikado" is arguably the most-performed of all the G&S operas. The current stage director of the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Austin and renowned G&S scholar Ralph MacPhail said that not a day goes without the Mikado being performed somewhere in the world. I don't know if that's true, but "Mikado" is without question a very popular and frequently-performed comic opera. In addition, there are many different takes on it. There's Red Mikado, Hot Mikado, Swing Mikado, and recently the Mikado Project. ... Read More
- Delightful!A gorgeous and funny production. Eric Idle as The Lord High Executioner and Richard Angas as The Mikado are both utterly preposterous. Never mind the three little maids from school!Never mind the impossible setting of an upper-crust, English tennis club.Scandalously delightful and superbly performed.
The audio quality could be better.But this is a once in a lifetime performance.Well worth collecting.
- GREAT PRODUCTIONAs an avid G&S fan for the past 16 years, I can say I loved this production.I did not like the mis-en-scene, but the orchestra, enunciation, and acting where WONDERFUL.Highly recommended for G&S fans!!
- Poor Gilbert :-(Poor Gilbert! He must have turned over in his grave every day since this monstrosity was created.
Removing the opera from Japan and dressing the characters in British 1920s formal attire takes Mikado out of context, and renders it humorless and senseless.
Gilbert was a genius. The creator of this perversion is not!
- Give it a watch...........I'm always leery of "new and improved" productions of the works of Gilbert & Sullivan.The originals are hard to beat.To my amazement, this version of The Mikado is actually very watchable and enjoyable!The producers stayed true, for the most part, to both the original story line and libretti (other than the fact they "moved" the story from Japan to England, and made a few very minor changes to the dialog).The performance of the musical score is outstanding - Sullivan would be proud.
- Virtue is Triumphant Only In...Theatrical Performances!"The Mikado" is arguably the most-performed of all the G&S operas. The current stage director of the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Austin and renowned G&S scholar Ralph MacPhail said that not a day goes without the Mikado being performed somewhere in the world. I don't know if that's true, but "Mikado" is without question a very popular and frequently-performed comic opera. In addition, there are many different takes on it. There's Red Mikado, Hot Mikado, Swing Mikado, and recently the Mikado Project. ... Read More
