Customer Reviews

The Mikado (Dover Thrift Editions)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

While some Gilbert & Sullivan devotees may quibble with this Canadian version of their masterpiece, THE MIKADO, there's no denying this version's infectious energy and fun. This production by the Stratford Festival is awash with high-jinks antics, solid acting and a boldness rarely seen since the Kevin Kline/Linda Ronstadt version of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE. Director Brian Macdonald directs this production with a sure hand and a fine sense of humor. Eric Donkin makes for a solid and delightfully uptight Ko-Ko, while the tall and very lanky Richard McMillan steals the show as the self important Pooh-Bah. Marie Baron's Yum-Yum is a pure delight, and Karen Wood is a delightful Pitti-Sing. Gidon Saks makes for a rather hammy, but delightfully fierce, Mikado. Henry Ingram seems a little old for the youthful Nanki-Poo, but he definitely gets into the spirit of this wonderfully broad production. Some fans may not appreciate the "modern" Canadian references nor the very slight liberties in the score, but this is probably the one production that doesn't treat the immortal work like a museum piece. This is definitely the best version on DVD to date and one that I would definitely recommend.

This is the version done at the Stratford Festival in the late 80s with Eric Donkin and Marie Baron. The staging is very sparse, but quite well done. This new version is not as high quality as the earlier (more expensive) version, but well worth the $17. Purists beware -- some of the songs have been gutted and the lyrics have been changed!

My wife and I really enjoy G&S - not aficionados, just fans. The Stratford Festival's version of "The Mikado" was wonderful. While we are relatively new to the works of G&S, this production was by far the best we've seen. The Canadian "flare" in "They'll None of 'Em Be Missed" brought back many, many fond memories of the times we've spent in Canada and of our first exposure to "The Mikado" in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Stratford's cast will live forever in their lively and thoroughly entertaining "Mikado." We look forward to many more enjoyable evenings listening to and watching the banter between Ko-Ko and Pooh-Bah. Thanks to Stratford (and AMAZON.COM) we're anxiously awaiting delivery of "The Pirates of Penzance" and "Iolanthe." G&S lives! Tom & Carol Weber Chesterfield, MO, USA

This was a wonderful production from the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada.

The cast is very strong, and benefits from being actors, as opposed to singers. The weakest link in the cast (and I think any one will agree with me) is Henry Ingram as Nanki-Poo, who is not an actor, just a singer. He's not the young, handsome type that one would like to see in the role, nor is he even all that funny. Marie Baron as Yum-Yum is high spirited, bubbly, and funny. Also exceedinly comical is Richard McMillan's Pooh-Bah, who steals the show. Eric Donkin is a perfect Ko-Ko, of the D'Oyly Care breed. Pish-Tush (Allen Stewart-Coates) is generally a non-descript, but is of strong voice and personality here, and is left to be fairly memorable. Karen Wood is PERFECT for the adorable Pitti-Sing, and is cute and charming to boot! My least favorite presence in the cast, though, is Gidon Saks as The Mikado of Japan himself. Now, I love over the top performances, as you can tell from my praise of McMillan, but this one crosses the lines of what's bearable. I feel that a strong Mikado, next to being highly comical, should at least be somewhat intimidating. Saks just plays the Mikado as a big goofy man, that strikes fear into no one (except for the cast, for some strange reason).

The production was brilliantly and swiftly staged by Brian MacDonald, who keeps everything comical and at a swift pace.

(Incedentally, I did THE MIKADO myself this summer with the local G&S Society, a first-rate Summer Stock company. A Canadian tenor played Nanki-Poo, and he told me HORROR STORIES of what it was like for friends of his who have worked with Mr. MacDonald.)

This is the best out of the Stratford G&S series, since it's the beginning, and it was before MacDonald and musical director Carriere got too self-indulgent in what they thought they could do to Gilbert & Sullivan's work.

The two CBC documentaries included on the DVD are very informative. And I seriously doubt that it was really filmed live. The laughter and applause sounds canned, and you never ONCE see the audience. And from the way the camera moves, I think it was filmed in an empty theatre with the audience added later.

But this is still a first-rate production. Mnimalist and fast-paced, it is theatrically refershing, and a great introduction to G&S for any one!

The video/DVD is of a staged Canadian production, filmed from the proscenium-audience point of view with some close-ups, in full costume and makeup appropriate to the G&S script and score. The score is very well sung although the songs are dubbed, you have to pay special attention to notice this. The lip-sync is very, very good and since they don't have to worry about singing perfectly "live" with the camera, they can do more acting while mouthing their parts, and it all works very well. Some wonderfully stylized performances make it fun, expecially from Pooh Bah who is the tallest actor I've ever seen in a G&S opera! Folks who are addicted to perfect-score singing will notice some deviations (not bad ones, just different) but overall its well-done and includes encores that are usually performed of the most popular numbers at high speed for an appreciative audience. I recommend this version to Mikado-lovers.

This is a wonderful Mikado from all counts. This production was a great success and it's easy to see why.The only drawback is the "Little List" Canadian update but this is minor. Everyone shines, especially Katisha and Pooh-Bah. What a wonderful way to kill two hours amd what a happy feeling when it is finished.

This "Mikado" is a delight. I have seen several DVD versions of this show. This production from the Stratford Festival is by far the best. The costumes are colorful, the makeup is beautifully done, and the choreography is as precise as it is fascinating. The stage that has been designed for this show, which is a marvel to behold, is most appropriate for this Gilbert and Sullivan production. Every performance is a strong one. The beauty of this DVD is in the clearness of sound and picture.

Get this one! I'm currently involved in a Mikado production and bought it to get some idea of what it was all about. As there aren't many choices out there, I settled for this one.What a scream! Pooh-Bah, Ko-Ko and the Mikado were wonderful (with Pooh-Bah definitely a scene stealer). The ladies were terrific as well (though Pitti-Sing looks much like Betty Boop..) I'd seen Eric Tonkin (Nanki-Poo) in a video of The Magic Flute years ago, and hated him, but he's great here. The partial dubbing was a bit distracting. And, in contrary to a earlier ... reviewer, the list song IS here, though updated for the 90's with a Canadian twist. My daughters (American and 13 & 15) got all the jokes, even the separatist...

Thank God somebody has finally taken some liberties with G&S. The works of these progressive men seem increasingly to be repeated in the same forms over and over again. The odd sets in this production enhance it somehow. The singing and acting are lively. The costumes are rather minimal (probably the worst flaw in the thing). The only downside is the ridiculous Poo-Bah (overdone) and Mikado (also overdone). Otherwise, everything is great: Yum-Yum is shy and beautiful, Ko-Ko is an interesting victim of fate, Nanki-Poo is a fine young hero, Katisha is U-G-L-Y. Highly recommended

If you're hooked on G&S and the Mikado, you don't have much of a choice: it's either this or a 1938 production. That one is lush but has poor sound and is missing a key song, "As someday it may happen, ... I've got a little list". This one is cute, but the simple background (what background?) takes away tremendously from the overall performance which is pretty good. Poo-Bah is hilarious but miscast, as is Nanki-Poo. And it seems so early 80's, it's hard to forget it, expecially, when the list song mentions the Rubik'c Cube and geriatric statesman Ronnie. Not bad, just not that great. The sound is acceptable, but not great.