The Mikado

I wandered into a theater sometime in the late '60s and watched The Mikado because I didn't have anything else to do that afternoon. I can't be sure that it was this production; it seems to me that it was performed by the D'Oyly Carte company, which I recall because it is such an unlikely -- therefore unforgettable -- name.

Anyway, it was almost a magical experience. I was for a couple of hours transported into an imaginary world which I had not known existed. The music was pretty, if not particularly memorable (one doesn't walk down the street whistling tunes from the Mikado). The dialog was OK, but the lyrics were hilarious. I have rented and borrowed various productions of The Mikado in an effort to find the one I saw forty years ago, but most are not entertaining; the lyrics are either inaudible or garbled beyond comprehension, etc. The one I saw was very well done and enchanting.

I have since seen the VHS version of Wilford Leach's production of Pirates of Penzance, with Kevin Kline, Angela Lansbury, etc., and am even more a G&S fan. It, too, has great lyrics and music, though you don't see people whistling its tunes either.