Gilbert & Sullivan's
The Mikado
or, The Town of Titipu

April 6, 7, 13 & 14, 1984

Directed by Jon Riley
Music Directed by Micaele Sparacino

Cast

Nanki-Poo - David A. Jackson
Ko-Ko - Brian Vance
Pooh-Bah - Fred Houghteling
Pish-Tush - Ken Krantz
The Mikado - Michael Consoli
Yum-Yum - Kathy Kessler Price
Pitti-Sing - Linda Drew Kirk
Peep-Bo - Shirley Santilhano
Katisha - Rosalie Santilhano (4/6, 4/7)
               Jaclde Doenges (4/13. 4/14)

Chorus of Ladies - Laura Cline, Carolyn Dodge, Fran Fleming,
              Leslie W. Gasner, Therese LaGoe, Edith Livingstone,                           Penny Luborsky, Mary Sue Merritt, Elin Schilling, Alison Verdi

Gentlemen of Japan - Thomas Fuchs, Stuart L. Gasner, Lyle Jaffe,
                        Gregory Jones, R. Chapman Keyes, Andy Sheets,      
                        Stephen D. Welsh, James-Mark Williams

... with Carolyn B. Kilbourne as the servant.

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Orchestra

Micaele Sparacino, Conductor
Arthur Wolter, Jr. , Concert Master

Becky Altschuler, Robert Bussy, Tom Christy, Frank Eliot, Sol Feldman, Allan Ferguson, Sylvia Gayer, Mary Grey, Paul Henze, Louise Hill, Carolyn Larson, Alice LaRusso, Dan LaRusso, Larry Levine, Kate Marcus, Toni Marshall, Robert Martin, Sue Nichols, Gene Stoker, Pauline Sumners, Larry Wolter

Production Staff

Producer - Stephen D. Welsh
Assistant Director & Choreographer - Joi Wepman
Assistant Conductor/Chorus Master - Nick Armstrong
Stage Manager - Gil Thompson
Assistant Stage Manager - Tony Campanella
Lighting Design - Marsha Boerke
Set Design - Jeff Sugarman
Costumes - Mary Sue Merritt
Make-Up - Judy Burke
Hair & Wig - Pamela Grady, Stephen D. Welsh
House Manager - Dan Sipe
Tickets - Jim and Caroline Hummel
Concession - Vera Bailey, BJ Thompson
Publicity - Bonnie Girard, Marion Scodari
Program - Carolyn B. Kilbourne, Jon Riley, Stephen Welsh
Rehearsal Pianists - Beth King, AI Neuman, Melanie Smith,
                                Mary Ann Christian
Set Construction - Tim Riley
Set Construction Crew - Tim Riley, Stephen Welsh, Marsha Boerke,
                   Jon Riley, Joi Wepman, Carolyn Kilbourne, David Jackson,                    Lyle Jaffe, Alison Verdi, Tom Fuchs, Andy Sheets,
                   Jennifer Riley, Bill Dinsmore, Kathe Welsh,
                   Warren Houghteling
Costume Construction Crew - Mary Sue Merritt, Carolyn Dodge,        
                                Marion Scodari, Laura Cline, Penny Luborsky,    
                                Judy Wilson, Carolyn Kilbourne

Acknowledgements - Norbeck Hair Studio - Cut-A-Thon
                                Alexandria Press - Fliers, program
                                Susan Dodge - Authentic Japanese wedding robe
                                Green Acres School - Japanese fans

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Synopsis

In Front of Ko-Ko's House

Nanki-Poo, son of the Mikado of Japan, enters Titipu disguised as a tattered musician. Seeking his beloved Yum-Yum, he is dismayed to find her on the verge of an arranged marriage to Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner and ex-cheap tailor. Ko-Ko had been condemned to death for flirting, but was reprieved on condition that he not execute anyone else until he cut his own head off.

Ko-Ko seeks advice from Pooh-Bah, a ponderous aggregation of conflicts of interest, on the problem of how to satisfy the Mikado's demand for an execution. Subsequently, Ko-Ko and Nanki-Poo cut a deal allowing Nanki to marry Yum-Yum for 30 days, after which Ko-Ko will decapitate the unfortunate minstrel and wed his widow. The general rejoicing at that compromise- which, after all, assures the rest of the townspeople that they will not be selected for decapitation- is interrupted. Katisha, the distasteful cause of Nanki's hasty flight from the Imperial Court, arrives to claim Nanki for herself.

Through the timely intervention of the chorus, the young lovers escape Katisha, only to fall victim to a legal technicality. Under the Mikado's law, when a man is beheaded, his wife is buried alive. Yum-Yum's ardor for wedded bliss cools rapidly. Ko-Ko and Pooh-Bah wriggle out of the difficulty by faking a death certificate for Nanki, who marries Yum-Yum and prepares to leave town.

The Mikado arrives with Katisha in tow. After explaining his theory of justice and hearing a highly creative description of Nanki 's "execution" from Pooh-Bah, Ko-Ko and Pitti-Sing, the Mikado discovers that the allegedly slain minstrel was his son. The Mikado promptly condemns Ko-Ko and his cohorts to an amusing death. To save his skin, Ko-Ko gingerly persuades Katisha to marry him. Relieved of the threat of Katisha, Nanki-Poo reappears and Ko-Ko 's sentence of death is commuted to life with Katisha. For everyone else, the opera ends joyously.