The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. It opened on March 14, 1885, in London, where it ran at the Savoy Theatre for 672 performances, which was unprecedented for musical theatre pieces, and one of the longest runs of any theatre piece up to that time. Before the end of 1885 it was estimated that, in Europe and America, at least 150 companies were producing the opera. The Mikado remains the most frequently performed Savoy Opera, and it is especially popular with amateur and school productions. Indeed, The Mikado is one of the most frequently played musical theatre pieces in history.[3][4] Comic opera is a subcategory of opera, and denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature. ... Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (May 13, 1842 – November 22, 1900) was an English composer best known for his operatic collaborations with librettist W. S. Gilbert. ... A libretto is the complete body of words used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet. ... Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (November 18, 1836 – May 29, 1911) was an English dramatist and librettist best known for his operatic collaborations with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan. ... March 14 is the 73rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (74th in leap years) with 292 days remaining in the year. ... 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... Savoy Theatre London, December 2003 The Savoy Theatre, which opened on 10 October 1881, was built by Richard DOyly Carte (1844 - 1901) on the site of the old Savoy Palace in London as a showcase for the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, which became known as the Savoy Operas... The Savoy Operas are a series of operettas written by Gilbert and Sullivan. ...

Setting the opera in Japan, an exotic locale far away from England, allowed Gilbert to satirize English politics and institutions more freely by disguising them as Japanese. Gilbert used foreign locales in several operas, including The Mikado, The Gondoliers, Utopia Limited, The Grand Duke and Princess Ida, to soften the impact of his pointed satire of British institutions. The Gondoliers, or The King of Barataria, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. ... Utopia, Limited or, The Flowers of Progress, is the second-to-last collaboration between composer Arthur Sullivan and librettist/satirist W.S. Gilbert. ... The Grand Duke, or The Statutory Duel, was the final operetta written by William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Princess Ida Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Princess (Tennyson) Princess Ida, or Castle Adamant, is the eighth operetta written by Gilbert and Sullivan. ...

Lithograph from the Mikado

Image File history File links The_Mikado_Three_Little_Maids. ... Image File history File links The_Mikado_Three_Little_Maids. ...

Origins of the work

Gilbert and Sullivan's previous opera, Princess Ida, ran for only nine months – a short duration by their own standards. As Ida showed signs of flagging, producer Richard D'Oyly Carte realized that, for the first time in the partnership, no new opera would be ready when the old one closed. On March 22, 1884, Richard D'Oyly Carte gave Gilbert and Sullivan contractual notice that a new opera would be required in six months' time. W. S. Gilbert Sir Arthur Sullivan Librettist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) collaborated on a series of fourteen comic operas in Victorian England between 1871 and 1896. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Princess Ida Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Princess (Tennyson) Princess Ida, or Castle Adamant, is the eighth operetta written by Gilbert and Sullivan. ... Richard DOyly Carte (May 3, 1844 – April 3, 1901) was a London theatrical impresario during the latter half of the nineteenth century. ... March 22 is the 81st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (82nd in leap years). ... 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Richard DOyly Carte (May 3, 1844 – April 3, 1901) was a London theatrical impresario during the latter half of the nineteenth century. ...

Gilbert initially proposed a story for a new opera about a magic lozenge that would change the characters, which Sullivan found artificial and lacking in "human interest and probability", as well as being too similar to their previous opera, The Sorcerer. It was not until May 8, 1884 that Gilbert dropped the idea, and agreed to provide a libretto without any supernatural elements. (Gilbert eventually found a place for his "lozenge plot" in The Mountebanks, written with Alfred Cellier in 1892.) It would take another ten months for the opera that was to become The Mikado to reach the stage. A revised version of their 1877 work, The Sorcerer, coupled with their one-act Trial by Jury (1875), played at the Savoy while Carte and their audiences awaited their next work. Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Sorcerer The Sorcerer is the earliest surviving two-act Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. ... May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). ... 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Mountebanks is a comic opera in two acts with music by Alfred Cellier and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. ... Alfred Cellier (1844 – 1891), English musical composer, was born at Hackney on the 1st of December 1844. ... Trial by Jury is a comic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta in one act (the only single-act Savoy Opera). ...

Cellier and Bridgeman (1914) first recorded the familiar story of how Gilbert found his inspiration:

Gilbert, having determined to leave his own country alone for a while, sought elsewhere for a subject suitable to his peculiar humour. A trifling accident inspired him with an idea. One day an old Japanese sword which, for years, had been hanging on the wall of his study, fell from its place. This incident directed his attention to Japan. Just at that time a company of Japanese had arrived in England and set up a little village of their own in Knightsbridge. (Cellier and Bridgeman 1914, p. 186).

The story is an appealing one, but it is entirely fictional. Gilbert was interviewed twice about his inspiration for The Mikado. In both interviews the sword was mentioned, and in one of them he said it was the inspiration for the opera, but Gilbert never said that the sword had fallen. Moreover, Cellier and Bridgeman are incorrect about the Japanese exhibition in Knightsbridge, which did not open until January 10, 1885, almost two months after Gilbert had already completed Act I. (Jones 1985). January 10 is the 10th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

Jones notes that "the further removed in time the writer is from the incident, the more graphically it is recalled." (Jones 1985, p. 25). Leslie Baily, for instance, tells it this way:

A day or so later Gilbert was striding up and down his library in the new house at Harrington Gardens, fuming at the impasse, when a huge Japanese sword decorating the wall fell with a clatter to the floor. Gilbert picked it up. His perambulations stopped. 'It suggested the broad idea,' as he said later. His journalistic mind, always quick to seize on topicalities, turned to a Japanese Exhibition which had recently been opened in the neighborhood. Gilbert had seen the little Japanese men and women from the Exhibition shuffling in their exotic robes through the streets of Knightsbridge. Now he sat at his writing desk and picked up the quill pen. He began making notes in his plot-book. (Baily, pp. 235–236).

The story was dramatized in more-or-less this form in the 1999 film, Topsy-Turvy. However, even though exhibition in Knightsbridge had not opened when Gilbert conceived of The Mikado, the English craze for all things Japanese made the time ripe for an opera set in Japan. Gilbert said, "I cannot give you a good reason for our ...piece being laid in Japan. It ...afforded scope for picturesque treatment, scenery and costume, and I think that the idea of a chief magistrate, who is ...judge and actual executioner in one, and yet would not hurt a worm, may perhaps please the public."[5] This is a list of film-related events in 1999. ... Topsy-Turvy is a 1999 film which tells the background story of the creation of The Mikado, a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. ...

Controversy; political correctness

Not actually a Japanese opera

To the extent that the opera is inspired by, and purports to portray, Japanese culture, style, and government, it draws on Victorian notions of the subject, gleaned from the general British fascination with Japanese fashion and art that immediately followed the beginning of trade between the two island empires, and the popular Japanese exhibition in Knightsbridge, London that Gilbert visited during rehearsals for The Mikado. The song "Miya sama", however, is a version of an actual Japanese song (Giacomo Puccini later incorporated the same tune into Madama Butterfly). The characters' names in the play are not real Japanese – but perfectly understandable as English "baby-talk". For instance, the headsman is named Ko-Ko; a pretty young thing is named Pitti-Sing; the beautiful heroine is named Yum-Yum; the pompous officials are Pooh-Bah and Pish-Tush; the hero's name, Nanki-Poo, is baby-talk for "handkerchief"; and the long-nailed woman scorned is Katisha. Queen Victoria (shown here on the morning of her Ascension to the Throne, 20 June 1837) gave her name to the historic era The Victorian Era of Great Britain marked the height of the British industrial revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ... Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (December 22, 1858 – November 29, 1924) was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the history of the genre. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Baby talk, motherese, parentese, or child-directed speech (CDS) is a nonstandard form of speech used by adults, particularly mothers, in talking to children. ... For other meanings of the term, see executioner (disambiguation). ... Raymond W. Kelly is seen here wearing a handkerchief in his left-breast pocket. ...

The Japanese were ambivalent toward The Mikado for many years, not knowing for certain if it was making fun of them (it wasn't) or of the English (it was). Some Japanese saw the depiction of their ruler as offensive, particularly its depiction of the Mikado, which was seen by some as a disrespectful representation of the revered Meiji Emperor. But Gilbert wrote, "The Mikado of the opera was an imaginary monarch of a remote period and cannot by any exercise of ingenuity be taken to be a slap on an existing institution." G.K. Chesterton compared it to Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels: Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745) was an Irish priest, satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, and poet, famous for works like Gullivers Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, The Drapiers Letters, The Battle of the Books, and A Tale of a Tub. ... Gulliver Exhibited to the Brobdingnag Farmer by Richard Redgrave Gullivers Travels (1726, amended 1735) is a novel by Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of the travellers tales literary sub-genre. ...

Gilbert pursued and persecuted the evils of modern England till they had literally not a leg to stand on, exactly as Swift did.... I doubt if there is a single joke in the whole play that fits the Japanese. But all the jokes in the play fit the English.... About England Pooh-bah is something more than a satire; he is the truth.[6]

Japanese Prince Komatsu, who saw an 1886 production in London, took no offense. When Crown Prince Fushimi made a state visit in 1907, the British government banned performances of The Mikado from London for six weeks, fearing that the play might offend him — a manoeuvre that backfired when the prince complained that he had hoped to see The Mikado during his stay. A Japanese journalist covering the prince's stay attended a proscribed performance and confessed himself "deeply and pleasingly disappointed." Expecting "real insults" to his country, he had found only "bright music and much fun."

In recent decades, various Japanese productions of the work have been staged in Japan. In 2001, the town of Chichibu (秩父), Japan, under the name of "Tokyo Theatre Company", has produced an adaptation of The Mikado in Japanese. Locals claim that Chichibu was the town that Gilbert had in mind when he named his setting "Titipu", although there is no hard evidence for this theory. Rokusuke Ei, a Japanese broadcaster, lyricist and essayist, was convinced that a peasant uprising in Chichibu in 1884 inspired Gilbert to set the opera in Japan.^[1] Although the Hepburn system of transliteration (in which the name of the town appears as "Chichibu") is usually found today, it was very common in the 19th century to use the Kunrei system, in which the name appears as "Titibu". Thus it is easy to surmise that "Titibu" found in the London press of 1884 became "Titipu" in the operetta. Other Japanese researchers have concluded that Gilbert may simply have heard of Chichibu silk, an important export in the 19th century. In any case, the town could not resist the temptation to produce its own Japanese-language version of The Mikado, which has been performed several times throughout Japan. In August 2006, the Chichibu Mikado was performed at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in England.^[2] Categories: Cities in Saitama Prefecture | Japan geography stubs ... Rokusuke Ei , born April 10, 1933) is a Japanese lyricist, composer, author, essayist and TV personality. ... Transliteration is the practice of transcribing a word or text written in one writing system into another writing system. ... International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Apparent racism and sexism

In the song "As Someday it May Happen," sung by Ko-Ko in Act I, the character goes through a "little list" of many irritations with his society (hence Gilbert's). One of these is "the nigger serenader and the others of his race." Gilbert's reference was to blackface minstrels who were white entertainers in makeup. Also included in the list were "the lady novelist" (referring to a particular type of novelist earlier lampooned by George Eliot) [7], and "the lady from the provinces who dresses like a guy" (where guy refers to the dummy that is part of Guy Fawkes Night celebrations, hence a tasteless woman who dresses like a scarecrow). Nigger is a term used to refer to dark-skinned peoples, especially Africans or Negroids. ... In music, a Serenade (or sometimes Serenata) is, in its most general sense, a musical composition, and/or performance, in someones honor. ... Detail from cover of The Celebrated Negro Melodies, as Sung by the Virginia Minstrels, 1843. ... George Eliots birthplace at South Farm, Arbury George Eliot is the pen name of Mary Anne Evans[1] (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880), who was an English novelist. ... A Guy Fawkes Night firework display Guy Fawkes Night, sometimes known as Bonfire Night or Fireworks Night, is an annual celebration (but not a public holiday) on the evening of the 5th of November primarily in the United Kingdom, but also in erstwhile British colonies New Zealand, South Africa, the... Scarecrows in a rice paddy in Japan A scarecrow is a device (traditionally a mannequin) that is used to discourage birds like crows from disturbing crops. ...

These lines can be taken by modern audiences to have racist/sexist/anti-feminist connotations, although they did not have the same connotations to the original Victorian audiences. To avoid distracting the audience with references that have become offensive over time, the lyrics are almost invariably modified in modern productions – at the very least, by replacing the word "nigger."

Gilbert himself started the tradition of replacing "the lady novelist" in revivals that he supervised, since by the early 1900s women writers were no longer "a singular anomaly." Many substitutions have been used, with no particular one becoming standard. Some productions go farther, replacing other snippets, a verse or the entire song with references to contemporary annoyances, political figures, and current events. As Ko-Ko himself notes at the end of the song, "It really doesn't matter whom you put upon the list, for they'd none of 'em be missed!"

The standard replacement for "nigger serenander" is the only slightly less obvious "banjo serenader." This was suggested by lyricist A. P. Herbert in 1948 at Rupert D'Oyly Carte's instigation, after the original wording elicited protests during one of the Company's American tours. Herbert also suggested what has become the traditional wording in the Mikado's song ("A more humane Mikado") in Act II, with the words "blacked like a nigger" being replaced with "painted with vigour" in most modern productions. Sir Alan Patrick Herbert (September 24, 1890 - November 11, 1971) was a British humorist, Member of Parliament, barrister, and novelist. ...

There are other references in The Mikado that that are sometimes altered simply to make the references more relevant to modern or non-UK audiences. One is Pooh-Bah's list of titles, which must be kept largely the same due to future references, but may be added to with modern positions, such as "Secretary of Homeland Security". Another is the Mikado's list of punishments and crimes in "A more humane Mikado", which might be made to include modern infractions such as not turning one's cell phone off before entering a theater. The United States Secretary of Homeland Security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the body concerned with protecting the American homeland and the safety of American citizens. ...

Roles

• The Mikado of Japan (bass)
• Nanki-Poo, His Son, disguised as a wandering minstrel, and in love with Yum-Yum (tenor)
• Ko-Ko, The Lord High Executioner of Titipu (comic baritone)
• Pooh-Bah, Lord High Everything Else (bass-baritone)
• Pish-Tush, A Noble Lord (baritone or bass-baritone^[3])
• [Go-To] (bass)^[4]
• Yum-Yum (soprano), Pitti-Sing (mezzo-soprano), and Peep-Bo (soprano), Three Sisters, Wards of Ko-Ko
• Katisha, An Elderly lady, in love with Nanki-Poo (contralto)
• Chorus of School-Girls, Nobles, Guards, and Coolies

A bass (or basso in Italian) is a male singer who sings in the lowest vocal range of the human voice. ... In music, a tenor is a male singer with a high vocal range. ... Baritone (French: baryton; German: Bariton; Italian: baritono) is most commonly the type of male voice that lies between bass and tenor. ... A bass-baritone is a singing voice that shares certain qualities of both the baritone and the bass. ... Baritone (French: baryton; German: Bariton; Italian: baritono) is most commonly the type of male voice that lies between bass and tenor. ... A bass-baritone is a singing voice that shares certain qualities of both the baritone and the bass. ... Look up soprano in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A mezzo-soprano (meaning medium soprano in Italian) is a female singer with a range usually extending from the A below middle C to the F an eleventh above middle C. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a darker (or lower) vocal tone than sopranos, and their vocal range is between that... Look up soprano in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In music, an alto is a singer with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a soprano. ... East Indian coolies on a Trinidad Cacao Estate, circa 1903. ...

Synopsis

Act I

• The Courtyard of Ko-Ko's Official Residence.

Leading gentlemen of the Japanese town of Titipu gather for an impending celebration ("If you want to know who we are"). A wandering musician, Nanki-Poo, enters and introduces himself ("A wand'ring minstrel I"). He has come to search for the maiden Yum-Yum, with whom he has fallen in love. Alas, the officious official Pooh-Bah informs him that Yum-Yum is to marry her guardian Ko-Ko, a former tailor but now the Lord High Executioner of Titipu. Yum-Yum appears with two of her friends (sometimes referred to as her "sisters"), Peep-Bo and Pitti-Sing ("Three little maids from school"). Nanki-Poo reveals his secret to Yum-Yum: he's actually the son and heir of the Mikado, ruler of Japan, but has fled the court due to the amorous advances of the Lady Katisha.

Ko-Ko arrives and introduces himself ("I've got a little list") and rejoices in his upcoming marriage. His enthusiasm is cut short by receiving news that the Mikado will soon be arriving for a visit; as Ko-Ko is behind on his quota of executions (never having performed any at all!), this means someone must be executed at once. The others look to Ko-Ko himself as the perfect subject ("I am so proud"). Ko-Ko discovers Nanki-Poo, in despair over losing Yum-Yum, is preparing to commit suicide. After realizing that he cannot change Nanki-Poo's mind, Ko-Ko makes a bargain with him: Nanki-Poo may marry Yum-Yum for one month, if at the end of that time he allows himself to be executed. This happy arrangement is nearly spoiled by Katisha, who arrives and tries to claim Nanki-Poo ("Oh fool"). However, she makes such a bad impression on the people of Titipu that her words are drowned out by the shouting of the crowd ("For he's going to marry Yum-Yum"). But though all seems happily settled, Katisha makes it clear that she intends to return.

Act II

• Act II is set in Ko-Ko's Garden.

"His teeth, I've enacted,
Shall all be extracted
By terrified amateurs."
(Cartoon by Gilbert)

Yum-Yum is being prepared by her friends for her wedding ("Braid the raven hair"), after which she is left to muse on her own beauty ("The sun whose rays"). Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum share an affectionate scene, interrupted when Ko-Ko and Pooh-Bah enter, and warn them of a twist in the law that requires the wife of an executed man to be buried alive ("Here's a how-de-do"). Nanki-Poo, threatened with the loss of his beloved, proposes to die on the spot, but when push comes to shove, Ko-Ko is a soft-hearted man who cannot harm even an insect. Ko-Ko instead sends him and Yum-Yum away, promising to send the Mikado news of a fictitious execution. cartoon illustration by Bab (WS Gilbert) for the Mikado, scanned from a US printing c. ...

The Mikado and Katisha arrive for the promised visit ("A more humane Mikado"). Ko-Ko, aided by Pitti-Sing and Pooh-Bah, gives a graphic description of the supposed execution ("The criminal cried"), only to be stunned by the news that Nanki-Poo was in fact the Mikado's son! Facing a death sentence himself for executing the Heir Apparent, Ko-Ko pleads with Nanki-Poo to return. Nanki-Poo agrees – on the condition that Katisha is safely married off first... to Ko-Ko, of course.

Ko-Ko therefore discovers Katisha mourning her loss ("Alone, and yet alive"), and throws himself on her mercy. He begs her hand in marriage ("Tit-willow"). She agrees,("There is beauty in the bellow of the blast") and begs mercy for him and his "accomplices" from the Mikado. Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum re-appear, to Katisha's impotent fury, and the inhabitants all celebrate the substitution of marriages for executions ("For he's gone and married Yum-Yum").

There are two ways of interpreting the ending for this story. Either Ko-Ko is assumed to receive the short end of the stick by having married the terrible Katisha, or else Katisha is not as bad as she seems and she and Ko-Ko are truly made for each other. Directors have interpreted this ending both ways with equal success.

Musical numbers

• Overture (Includes "Mi-ya Sa-ma", "The Sun Whose Rays Are All Ablaze", "There is Beauty in the Bellow of the Blast", "Braid the Raven Hair" and "With Aspect Stern and Gloomy Stride")

Act I

• 1. "If you want to know who we are" (Nanki-Poo and Men)
• 2. "A Wand'ring Minstrel I" (Nanki-Poo and Men)
• 3. "Our Great Mikado, virtuous man" (Pish-Tush and Men)
• 4. "Young man, despair" (Pooh-Bah, Nanki-Poo and Pish-Tush)
• 5. "Behold the Lord High Executioner" (Ko-Ko and Men)
• 5a. "As some day it may happen" (Ko-Ko and Men)
• 6. "Comes a train of little ladies" (Girls)
• 7. "Three little maids from school are we" (Yum-Yum, Peep-Bo, Pitti-Sing, and Girls)
• 8. "So please you, Sir, we much regret" (Yum-Yum, Peep-Bo, Pitti-Sing, Pooh-Bah, and Girls)^[5]
• 9. "Were you not to Ko-Ko plighted" (Yum-Yum and Nanki-Poo)
• 10. "I am so proud" (Pooh-Bah, Ko-Ko and Pish-Tush)
• 11. Finale Act I (Ensemble)
  • "With aspect stern and gloomy stride"
  • "The threatened cloud has passed away"
  • "Your revels cease!" ... "Oh fool, that fleest my hallowed joys!"
  • "For he's going to marry Yum-Yum"
  • "The hour of gladness" ... "O ni! bikkuri shakkuri to!"
  • "Ye torrents roar!"

Act II

• 12. "Braid the raven hair" (Pitti-Sing and Girls)
• 13. "The sun whose rays are all ablaze" (Yum-Yum)
• 14. "Brightly dawns our wedding day" (Yum-Yum, Pitti-Sing, Nanki-Poo and Pish-Tush)
• 15. "Here's a how-de-do" (Yum-Yum, Nanki-Poo and Ko-Ko)
• 16. "Mi-ya Sa-ma" ... "From every kind of man obedience I expect" (Mikado, Katisha, Girls and Men)
• 17. "A more humane Mikado" (Mikado, Girls and Men) (This song was nearly cut, but was restored shortly before the first night.)
• 18. "The criminal cried as he dropped him down" (Ko-ko, Pitti-Sing, Pooh-Bah, Girls and Men)
• 19. "See how the Fates their gifts allot" (Mikado, Pitti-Sing, Pooh-Bah, Ko-Ko and Katisha)
• 20. "The flowers that bloom in the spring" (Nanki-Poo, Ko-Ko, Yum-Yum, Pitti-Sing, and Pooh-Bah)
• 21. "Alone, and yet alive" (Katisha)
• 22. "Willow, tit-willow" ("On a tree by a river") (Ko-Ko)
• 23. "There is beauty in the bellow of the blast" (Katisha and Ko-Ko)
• 24. "For he's gone and married Yum-Yum" ... "The threatened cloud has passed away" (Ensemble)

Productions

The Mikado had the longest original run of the Savoy Operas. It also had the quickest revival: after Gilbert and Sullivan's next work, Ruddigore, closed unexpectedly quickly, three operas were revived to fill the interregnum until The Yeomen of the Guard was ready, with The Mikado being revived just seventeen months after the first run closed. Ruddigore, or The Witchs Curse, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. ... The Yeomen of the Guard, or The Merryman and his Maid, is the eleventh of Gilbert and Sullivans operettas. ...

It was revived again while The Grand Duke was in preparation. When it became clear that that opera was not a success, The Mikado was given at matinees, and the revival continued when The Grand Duke closed after just three months. In 1906–07, Helen D'Oyly Carte mounted a repertory season at the Savoy, but The Mikado was not performed, as it was thought that visiting Japanese royalty might be offended by it. However, it was included in Mrs. Carte's second repertory season, in 1908–09. The Grand Duke, or The Statutory Duel, was the final operetta written by William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. ... Helen DOyly Carte Helen DOyly Carte or Helen Lenoir (May 12, 1852 – May 5, 1913) was the second wife of impresario and hotelier Richard DOyly Carte. ...

The first provincial production of The Mikado opened on July 27, 1885 in Brighton, with several members of that company leaving in August to present the first authorized American production in New York. From then on, The Mikado was a constant presence on tour. From 1885 until the Company's closure in 1982, there was no year in which a D'Oyly Carte company (or several of them) was not presenting it. July 27 is the 208th day (209th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 157 days remaining. ... 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Statistics Population: 155,919[1] Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TQ315065 Administration District: Brighton & Hove Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: East Sussex Historic county: Sussex Services Police force: Sussex Police Ambulance service: South East Coast Post office and telephone Post town...

In America, as had happened with H.M.S. Pinafore, the first American productions were piracies, but once the authorised production opened in August 1885, it was a success, and Carte had several companies touring the show in North America. A production in Vienna, Der Mikado (Ein Tag in Titipu) opened in September 1886. Authorized productions were seen in France, Holland, Australia, Hungary, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Scandinavia, Russia and elsewhere. H.M.S. Pinafore, or The Lass that Loved a Sailor, is a comic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta in two acts, with music by composer Arthur S. Sullivan and libretto by William S. Gilbert. ...

After the Gilbert copyrights expired in 1962, the Sadler's Wells Opera mounted the first non-D'Oyly Carte professional production in England, with Clive Revill as Ko-Ko. Among the many professional revivals since then was an English National Opera production in 1986, with Eric Idle as Ko-Ko and Lesley Garrett as Yum-Yum, directed by Jonathan Miller. Sadlers Wells theatre, 2005 Sadlers Wells Theatre is located on Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell, London. ... Clive Selsby Revill (born April 18, 1930 in Wellington, New Zealand) is an experienced character actor who has made more than 50 films and TV movies and whose work has ranged from theatrical blockbusters to stage classics. ... The London Coliseum, home of the English National Opera English National Opera (ENO), located at the Coliseum Theatre on St. ... Eric Idle (born March 29, 1943) is an English comedian, actor, author and writer of comedic songs. ... Lesley Garrett, CBE (April 10, 1955 in Doncaster, South Yorkshire) is an internationally renowned English soprano singer. ... Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller, CBE (born July 21, 1934) is a British physician, theatre and opera director and television presenter. ...

The following table shows the history of the D'Oyly Carte productions in Gilbert's lifetime:

March 14 is the 73rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (74th in leap years) with 292 days remaining in the year. ... 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... January 19 is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... April 17 is the 107th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (108th in leap years). ... 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... November 20 is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ... 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... September 29 is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... November 6 is the 310th day of the year (311th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 55 days remaining. ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... March 4 is the 63rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (64th in leap years). ... 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... May 27 is the 147th day (148th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 218 days remaining. ... 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... For the United States holiday, the Fourth of July, see Independence Day (United States). ... 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Grand Duke, or The Statutory Duel, was the final operetta written by William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. ... July 11 is the 192nd day (193rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 173 days remaining. ... 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1897 (MDCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The Grand Duke, or The Statutory Duel, was the final operetta written by William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. ... April 28 is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 247 days remaining. ... 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... March 27 is the 86th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (87th in leap years). ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Historical casting

The following tables show the casts of the principal original productions and D'Oyly Carte Opera Company touring repertory at various times through to the company's 1982 closure:

¹Role of Go-To added from April 1885 Richard Temple was an English opera singer, actor and stage director, best known for his work in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas. ... Richard Temple was an English opera singer, actor and stage director, best known for his work in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas. ... Sir Henry Lytton (born London, 3 January 1865, died London 15 August 1936) was the leading exponent of the patter roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas in the early part of the twentieth century. ... Durward Lely (September 2, 1852 – February 29, 1944) was a Scottish opera singer primarily known as the creator of tenor roles in Gilbert & Sullivans comic operas, including Nanki-Poo in The Mikado. ... Courtice Pounds, (May 30, 1862 – December 21, 1927) was an English singer and actor, known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company and his later roles in Shakespeare plays and musical comedies. ... George Grossmith, as illustrated in The Idler magazine, 1897 George Grossmith (December 9, 1847 - March 1, 1912) was an English actor and comic writer, best remembered for his work with Gilbert & Sullivan. ... George Thorne, (January 6, 1856 – July 24, 1922) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the comic baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... George Grossmith, as illustrated in The Idler magazine, 1897 George Grossmith (December 9, 1847 - March 1, 1912) was an English actor and comic writer, best remembered for his work with Gilbert & Sullivan. ... Walter Passmore (May 10, 1867 – August 29, 1946) was a singer and actor best known as a successor to George Grossmith in the comic baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Charles H. Workman (May 5, 1873 – May 1, 1923) was a singer and actor best known as a successor to George Grossmith in the comic baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas. ... Rutland Barrington (January 15, 1853 - May 31, 1922) was an English actor, comedian, and musical comedy star, best remembered for his work with Gilbert & Sullivan. ... Fred Billington, (July 1, 1854 – November 2, 1917) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Rutland Barrington (January 15, 1853 - May 31, 1922) was an English actor, comedian, and musical comedy star, best remembered for his work with Gilbert & Sullivan. ... Rutland Barrington (January 15, 1853 - May 31, 1922) was an English actor, comedian, and musical comedy star, best remembered for his work with Gilbert & Sullivan. ... Rutland Barrington (January 15, 1853 - May 31, 1922) was an English actor, comedian, and musical comedy star, best remembered for his work with Gilbert & Sullivan. ... Leonora Braham Leonora Braham (February 3, 1853 – November 23, 1931) was an English opera singer and actress primarily known as the creator of principal soprano roles in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas. ... Geraldine Ulmar, (June 23, 1862 – August 13, 1932) was an American singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Geraldine Ulmar, (June 23, 1862 – August 13, 1932) was an American singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Jessie Bond (January 10, 1853–June 17, 1942) was an English singer and actress best known for creating most of the mezzo-soprano soubrette roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas. ... Jessie Bond (January 10, 1853–June 17, 1942) was an English singer and actress best known for creating most of the mezzo-soprano soubrette roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas. ... Jessie Bond (January 10, 1853–June 17, 1942) was an English singer and actress best known for creating most of the mezzo-soprano soubrette roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas. ... Rosina Brandram (July 2, 1846 – February 28, 1907) was an English opera singer and actress primarily known for her work in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Rosina Brandram (July 2, 1846 – February 28, 1907) was an English opera singer and actress primarily known for her work in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Rosina Brandram (July 2, 1846 – February 28, 1907) was an English opera singer and actress primarily known for her work in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ...

²For 1896–97 revival, Richard Temple returned to play The Mikado during January–February 1896, and again from November 1896–February 1897.

Darrell Fancourt (March 8, 1886 – August 29, 1953) was an English bass-baritone, known for his performances of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Darrell Fancourt (March 8, 1886 – August 29, 1953) was an English bass-baritone, known for his performances of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Darrell Fancourt (March 8, 1886 – August 29, 1953) was an English bass-baritone, known for his performances of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Darrell Fancourt (March 8, 1886 – August 29, 1953) was an English bass-baritone, known for his performances of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... John Dean (September 2, 1897 – March 20, 1990) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Sir Henry Lytton (born London, 3 January 1865, died London 15 August 1936) was the leading exponent of the patter roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas in the early part of the twentieth century. ... Sir Henry Lytton (born London, 3 January 1865, died London 15 August 1936) was the leading exponent of the patter roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas in the early part of the twentieth century. ... Martyn Green (1899 - 1975) was an actor primarily known for his work in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. ... Grahame Clifford (December 25, 1909? - 19??), was an English opera singer and actor primarily known for his work in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Martyn Green (1899 - 1975) was an actor primarily known for his work in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. ... Fred Billington, (July 1, 1854 – November 2, 1917) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Leo Sheffield, (November 15, 1873 – September 3, 1951) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Sydney Granville, (1880 – December 27, 1959) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Richard Walker, (November 18, 1897 – August 26, 1989) was an English opera singer and actor, best known for his performances in the baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Richard Walker, (November 18, 1897 – August 26, 1989) was an English opera singer and actor, best known for his performances in the baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Alan Styler (1925 – September 1, 1970) was an English opera singer, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... L. Radley Rad Flynn (June 14, 1902 – March 9, 1978) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in bass roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... L. Radley Rad Flynn (June 14, 1902 – March 9, 1978) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in bass roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Helen P. Roberts (born November 12, 1975) is a Canadian greek mythology expert. ... Nellie Briercliffe (1889 – December 12, 1966) was an English singer and actress, best known for her performances in the mezzo-soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Marjorie Eyre (1897 – December 3, 1987) was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in the soprano and mezzo-soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Marjorie Eyre (1897 – December 3, 1987) was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in the soprano and mezzo-soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Joyce Wright (born June 23, 1922) is an English singer and actress, best known for her performances in the mezzo-soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Bertha Lewis (May 22, 1887 – May 8, 1931) was an English opera singer and actress primarily known for her work as principal contralto in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Bertha Lewis (May 22, 1887 – May 8, 1931) was an English opera singer and actress primarily known for her work as principal contralto in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Ella Halman, (July 18, 1906 – March 20, 1995) was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in the contralto roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Ella Halman, (July 18, 1906 – March 20, 1995) was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in the contralto roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Donald Adams (December 20, 1928 – April 8, 1996) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in bass-baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Donald Adams (December 20, 1928 – April 8, 1996) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in bass-baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... John Ayldon (born December 11, 1943) is an English opera singer, best known for his performances in bass-baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... John Ayldon (born December 11, 1943) is an English opera singer, best known for his performances in bass-baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Philip Potter (born February 6, 1936) is an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Peter Pratt (March 21, 1923 – January 11, 1995) was a British actor and bass singer who started his career in the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas but later moved to radio and television work. ... John Reed is an English baritone singer and actor, known for his performances in the comic leads of the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. ... John Reed is an English baritone singer and actor, known for his performances in the comic leads of the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. ... Kenneth Sandford, (June 28, 1924 – September 19, 2004) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Kenneth Sandford, (June 28, 1924 – September 19, 2004) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Kenneth Sandford, (June 28, 1924 – September 19, 2004) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... George Cook, (28 May 1925 – April 1995) was an English opera singer, best known for his performances in bass-baritone and baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Valerie Masterson (soprano) was born in Birkenhead and after studying at the Matthay School of Music in Liverpool and the Royal College of Music, she made her debut as Frasquita in Carmen in Salzburg in 1963. ... Joyce Wright (born June 23, 1922) is an English singer and actress, best known for her performances in the mezzo-soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Patricia Leonard, (born c. ... Ann Drummond-Grant (1905 – September 11, 1959) was an English singer and actress, best known for her performances in contralto roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Patricia Leonard, (born c. ...

Film versions

In 1926, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company made a brief promotional film of The Mikado.[8] Some of the most famous Savoyards are seen in this film, including Darrell Fancourt as The Mikado, Henry Lytton as Ko-Ko, Leo Sheffield as Pooh-Bah, Elsie Griffin as Yum-Yum, and Bertha Lewis as Katisha. Darrell Fancourt (March 8, 1886 – August 29, 1953) was an English bass-baritone, known for his performances of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Sir Henry Lytton (born London, 3 January 1865, died London 15 August 1936) was the leading exponent of the patter roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas in the early part of the twentieth century. ... Leo Sheffield, (November 15, 1873 – September 3, 1951) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Elsie Griffin (December 6, 1895 – December 21, 1989) was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in the soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Bertha Lewis (May 22, 1887 – May 8, 1931) was an English opera singer and actress primarily known for her work as principal contralto in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ...

In 1939, Universal Pictures released a full-length technicolor film of The Mikado.[9] The film stars Martyn Green as Ko-Ko and Sydney Granville as Pooh-Bah. The music was conducted by Geoffrey Toye, a former D'Oyly Carte music director, who was also credited with the adaptation, which involved a number of cuts, additions, and re-ordered scenes. Victor Schertzinger directed, and William V. Skall received an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography. Martyn Green (1899 - 1975) was an actor primarily known for his work in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. ... Sydney Granville, (1880 – December 27, 1959) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the DOyly Carte Opera Company. ... Victor L. Schertzinger (April 8, 1890 - October 26, 1941) was an American composer, film director, film producer and screenwriter. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ...

In 1966, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company appeared in a film version of The Mikado, which closely reflected their traditional staging at the time, although there are some minor cuts.

Adaptations

• The Swing Mikado was an adaptation of The Mikado with an all-black cast, using swing music, that premiered in Chicago in 1938.
• The Hot Mikado (1939) was a Broadway adaptation of The Mikado with an all-black cast, using jazz and swing music.
• The Cool Mikado is a 1962 British musical film directed by Michael Winner that adapts The Mikado in 1960s pop music style and reset as a comic Japanese gangster story.
• Hot Mikado (1986) is a jazz and swing style adaptation that premiered in Washington, D.C. and has been played frequently since then.
• The Jazz Mikado
• The Black Mikado
• Bell Television Hour version featuring Groucho Marx as Ko-Ko, Stanley Holloway and Helen Traubel, directed by Martyn Green (1950s)

To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Hot Mikado was a 1939 adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivans The Mikado. ... The Cool Mikado is a British musical film made in 1962, directed by Michael Winner, and produced by Harold Baim, with music arranged by Martin Slavin and John Barry. ... Michael Winner (born 30 October 1935 in London, England) is a British film director and producer, active in both Europe and the United States. ... Hot Mikado can refer to two different but related productions based on Gilbert and Sullivans The Mikado. The first was the 1939 production created by Mike Todd which played at the 1939 New York Worlds Fair using the sets from his earlier touring production of The Mikado. Fifty... Julius Henry Marx, known as Groucho Marx (October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977), was an American comedian, working both with his siblings, the Marx Brothers, and on his own. ... Stanley Augustus Holloway (October 1, 1890 - January 30, 1982) was a British actor and entertainer famous for his comic and character roles on stage and screen. ... Helen Traubel (June 16, 1899-July 28, 1972), was an American operatic soprano, best known for her Wagnerian roles, especially that of Brünnhilde. ... Martyn Green (1899 - 1975) was an actor primarily known for his work in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. ...

References in popular culture

• Many well-known actors have at some time in their careers played the role of Ko-Ko. Groucho Marx, a life-long fan of Gilbert and Sullivan, starred in a made-for-TV production of The Mikado in 1960. Other well-known actors who have played the role of Ko-Ko are Eric Idle and Bill Oddie, with both appearing in the same English National Opera production of "The Mikado" (Bill Oddie took over the role of Ko-Ko after Eric Idle left the production). Dudley Moore played the role when the production toured the United States.

Julius Henry Marx, known as Groucho Marx (October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977), was an American comedian, working both with his siblings, the Marx Brothers, and on his own. ... Eric Idle (born March 29, 1943) is an English comedian, actor, author and writer of comedic songs. ... Bill Oddie William Edgar (Bill) Oddie, OBE, BA, MA (Cantab. ... The London Coliseum, home of the English National Opera English National Opera (ENO), located at the Coliseum Theatre on St. ... Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE (19 April 1935 – 27 March 2002), was a British musician, actor and comedian who was enormously popular in his home country for many years but relatively unknown in the United States until he made the film 10 with Bo Derek. ...

References to The Mikado and its characters

• The phrase "A short, sharp shock", heard in the Act 1 song "I am so proud" has entered the language, appearing in titles of books and songs (most notably in samples of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon"), as well as political manifestoes. Likewise "Let the punishment fit the crime" is an often-used phrase and is particularly mentioned in the course of British political debates.

• The name Pooh-Bah has come to stand for anyone with no real authority but who acts otherwise, as in the expression The Grand Pooh-Bah, first introduced in episodes of The Flintstones.

• The Zodiac Killer murdered at least seven people in the San Francisco Bay area between 1966 and 1970. His letters to police and the media often quoted The Mikado. A second-season episode of the TV show Millennium titled "The Mikado" is based on the Zodiac case.

• The climax of the 1978 film Foul Play takes place during a performance of The Mikado. In this film, Dudley Moore appears as the orchestra conductor of the opera.

• In the mystery series of novels, Cat Who, two of the three main characters are cats. One, the male, is nicknamed Koko for everyday purposes (his real name being Kao K'o Kung). The other, the female, came in during the second book and is named "Yum Yum" after a "Psycatatrist's" comment about this opera: "Why, it's just like Gilbert and Sullivan! [...] For he is going to marry Yum-Yum, te dum"

The phrase Short, sharp shock is taken from Gilbert and Sullivans operetta The Mikado, where it appears in the Act 1 song, I am so proud, if I allowed. In this song, Pooh-Bah, Ko-Ko and Pish-Tush are contemplating the sensation of a cheap and chippy chopper... Pink Floyd are an English rock band noted for philosophical lyrics, classical rock compositions, sonic experimentation, innovative cover art, and elaborate live shows. ... This article is about the Pink Floyd album. ... The Flintstones, an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, is one of the most successful animated television series of all time. ... The cross-like symbol used by the Zodiac Killer. ... Millennium is a grim, suspenseful television series, produced by the creator of The X-Files and set during the run-up to the new millennium. ... // Events February 1 - Bob Dylans film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the Rolling Thunder Revue tour premieres in Los Angeles, California March 1 - Charlie Chaplins coffin is stolen from a Swiss cemetery 3 months after burial March - Leigh Brackett completes the first draft for Star Wars Episode... Foul Play is a 1978 comedy/thriller film starring Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase. ... Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE (19 April 1935 – 27 March 2002), was a British musician, actor and comedian who was enormously popular in his home country for many years but relatively unknown in the United States until he made the film 10 with Bo Derek. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative in prose. ... There are over two dozen books in the series. ...

References to songs in The Mikado

• Rian Johnson's 2005 film Brick features a scene where Laura (Nora Zehetner), the femme fatale, performs a section from "The Sun Whose Rays" while playing the piano at a party. Originally, she performed the entire piece, but the second half was edited for time. The entire performance is contained on track 3 of the soundtrack.

• In The Producers, a terrible auditioner for the musical Springtime for Hitler begins his audition with Nanki-Poo's song, "A Wand'ring Minstrel I". He gets only four syllables into the song, when the casting director cuts him off abruptly with "THANK YOU!"

References to "Three Little Maids": Rian Johnson is an American writer/director, who won the Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, with his debut feature, Brick. ... An old brick wall in English bond laid with alternating courses of headers and Brick is an artificial stone made by forming clay into rectangular blocks which are hardened, either by burning in a kiln or sometimes, in warm and sunny countries, by sun-drying. ... Nora Angela Zehetner was born February 5, 1981 and grew up in El Paso, Texas. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... Brick: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 2006 film Brick. ...

• In the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, Harold Abrahams first sees his future wife as one of the "Three Little Maids from School".

• In the CSI episode "Suckers", a case is solved thanks to Grissom's remembering the song "Three little maids from school are we", and there are many references to The Mikado.^{[citation needed]}

• There are amateur performances of "Three Little Maids from School" in British comedy television series such as Keep it in the Family and Fresh Fields.

• In Frasier episode "Leapin' Lizards", workplace prankster Bulldog impersonates the voice of an esteemed friend of Niles Crane in a phone call to Frasier. After Frasier boasts that many have asked to see his "Yum-Yum", he is coaxed into going into his best falsetto voice to perform "Three Little Maids" live over the air.

• In the Angel episode "Hole in the World", Charles Gunn sings "Three Little Maids from School are We," and when he is caught by Wesley, tries to cover by rapping, badly.

• The Chipmunks perform "Three Little Maids" in the episode "Maids in Japan" on Alvin and the Chipmunks. Alvin signs up himself and his brothers in a kabuki theater to gain publicity in Japan, but it goes terribly awry after they are to perform female roles (onnagata). After the show, Dave sees them in full costume and make-up and thinks they are some local girls.

References to "Tit-Willow": // Events January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleaguered concurrent United Artists. ... Chariots of Fire is a British film released in 1981. ... CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is a popular Alliance Atlantis/CBS police procedural television series, running since October 2000, about a team of forensic scientists. ... Keep it in the Family is a British comedy television series. ... For the American national grocery store chain owned by Whole Foods, see Whole Foods Market. ... A highly successful spin-off of the the television show Cheers, Frasier is a situation comedy that aired on NBC for eleven seasons from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. ... Angel is a spin-off from the American television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. ... The Chipmunks are a fictional musical group, created by Ross Bagdasarian in 1958. ... Alvin and the Chipmunks was the second American animated television series to feature the singing characters The Chipmunks, produced by Bagdasarian Productions, Ruby-Spears Productions, and Lorimar-Telepictures. ... The Kabukiza in Ginza is one of Tokyos leading kabuki theaters. ...

• A Muppet Show episode featured Sam the Eagle singing "Willow, Tit-Willow". ^{[citation needed]}

• Allan Sherman did a parody of the "Tit-willow" song ("On a tree by a river"), in which the bird in question talks and sings with a stereotypical Jewish accent. Sherman is so impressed by the bird's singing that he takes him down from his branch, and home "to mein split-level ranch". His wife misinterprets the gift and fricassees the bird, whose last words are, "Oy! Willow! Tit-willow! Willow!"

References to the "Little List" song The Muppet Show is a television program featuring a cast of Muppets (diverse hand operated puppets, typically with huge eyes and large moving mouths) produced by Jim Henson and his team from 1976 to 1981. ... Sam the Eagle Sam the Eagle is a character from the syndicated television show The Muppet Show, performed by Frank Oz. ... Allan Sherman (sometimes incorrectly Alan and Allen), November 30, 1924 – November 20, 1973, was an American musician, parodist, satirist, and television producer. ...

• Sherman also did a variant on "I've Got a Little List", presenting reasons why one might want to seek psychiatric help, and titled "You Need an Analyst".[10]

• Eureeka's Castle, a children's television show, did a parody of "I've Got a Little List" in a Christmas special, called "Just Put it on the List," wherein the twins, Bogg and Quagmire, describe what they'd like for Christmas.

Eureekas Castle was an American childrens television series following the adventures of Eureeka, a sorceress in training, who lived in a giants castle music box with her friends. ...

Notes

The DOyly Carte Opera Company staged performances of Gilbert and Sullivans Savoy operas in the UK, Europe, America, South Africa and elsewhere from the nineteenth century to the twenty first. ...

References

• Baily, Leslie (1952). The Gilbert & Sullivan Book. London: Cassell & Company Ltd.
• Cellier, François, Cunningham Bridgeman (1914). Gilbert, Sullivan, and D'Oyly Carte. London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons.
• Jones, Brian (Spring 1985). "The sword that never fell". W. S. Gilbert Society Journal 1 (1): 22–25.

See also

• Topsy-Turvy
• Snickersnee

Topsy-Turvy is a 1999 film which tells the background story of the creation of The Mikado, a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. ... Snickersnee is a unique artifact katana in the game NetHack. ...

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The Mikado

• The Mikado at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive
• The Mikado at The Gilbert & Sullivan Discography
• Article by H. L. Mencken on the impact of The Mikado (from 1910)
• Koko's Korner: A website dedicated almost entirely to the character of Ko-Ko in The Mikado
• 1885 review of The Mikado in "The Entr'acte".
• Site containing biographies of the people listed in the historical casting chart
• Discussion of The Mikado from the musicals101 site
• Description of preparations for The Mikado
• Description of production history and modern Australian productions
• Article on the genesis of The Mikado
• Page linking to Mikado song parodies
• List of longest running plays in London and New York
• "Something Vital Breaks..." A spoof on "As Someday It May Happen"