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The Mikado on a Skewer
| Article
# : |
10951 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
Date : |
6 / 1986 |
632 Words |
| Author
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Jeff Church
Jeff Church is a playwright-in-residence at The John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Programs for Children
and Youth. |
In Washington at Ford's Theater, a production team under the artistic direction of David H. Bell has taken up residency with highly commercial results. The philosophy of Bella and company is to preserve the American musical theater, and they aim to do this by mounting at least two musicals per season--these musicals being produced "in house." Yes, to round out the season, other touring shows must be booked in, but Bells' dream has had relatively acclaimed commercial success, specifically with Godspell and the long forgotten Little Me (an old Sid Caesar vehicle). Now with larger aspirations (of New York?) fixed in their minds, they have mounted Hot Mikado, the inspiration of which was a rival set of production in the thirties with all-black casts: The Swing Mikado and The Hot Mikado, harkening back to the heyday of the Federal Theater Project.
Ford's Hot Mikado is admirable, often commendable. It is dangerous business when Gilbert and Sullivan's script, melodies, and lyrics must be largely thrown aside and used merely as a skeletal framework to accommodate the nostalgia presented. The centerpiece becomes a neon pagoda--a "Club Titipu," if you will--and this musical transubstantiation is very desirable in many instances. It also can be very strange. With no boundaries set on how to make the script transform itself to a new idiom, the audience should expect the idiotic incongruities of characters mentioning Japan and Cleveland in the same scene. Transitions between songs become lugubriously painful. Beware if you respect The Mikado text; your favorite lines likely will have vanished. (There was no hope of hearing, "I dance at cheap suburban parties for a small fee.")
Fantastic elements within the production find ways of rising above
... (1998 of 3904 Characters)
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