Word: nanki
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...anachronistic air throughout all its aspects, starting with the solemn playing of the British national anthem at the show’s beginning. Getting into this late-19th-century mindset is perhaps advisable if one wants to comfortably enjoy a musical whose Japanese characters have names such as Nanki...
...Once you reach that politically-incorrect mindset, the play is a delight. The story concerns a young man of the Japanese town Titipu, Nanki-Poo (Jonas A. Budris ’06), who tries to woo Yum-Yum (Annie E. Levine ’08) away from her fiancé Ko-Ko (W. Brian C. Polk ’09). Rather inconveniently, Ko-Ko also happens to be both Yum-Yum’s guardian and the Lord High Executioner of Titipu, with a quota to meet...
...plot thickens when... actually, it doesn’t really matter. Yes, things get complicated with the entrances of the Mikado (Jonathan M. Roberts ’09), ruler of Japan, and Nanki-Poo’s previous fiancée Katisha (Francesca S. Serritella ’08). But for the most part, the plot is just an excuse for a series of songs that serve as the show’s real centerpiece. The show devotes more energy to introducing a bevy of singing schoolgirls than in settling the fates of the characters...
With all this socially relevant drama, a little unabridled fun is needed. The gem of the season for this kind of relief is Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado. This beloved and immensely popular comic opera concerns the love-struck Nanki-Poo and his disguise as a trombone player to search for the gorgeous Yum-Yum. As to be expected from Gilbert and Sullivan, ridiculous situations ensue. Plus, with the immensely talented team-up of Naomi Straus ’04 and Abigail Joseph ’04 designing the wacky, colorful costumes, expect The Mikado to rock...
...show's finest performances, though, is arguably not comic at all: Katisha, the ferocious would-be bride of Nanki-Poo, is played with both delicious villainy and a surprisingly subtle range of emotions by Tuesday Rupp. Bloodthirsty and terrified of her own encroaching old age, Katisha first appears in a cloud of smoke and an attitude that brings to mind Cruella de Ville. But, playing Gilbert and Sullivan's somewhat enigmatic character to the hilt, Rupp injects a disturbing and note of tragedy into the entire latter half of the play; in the complex weave of The Mikado, this cast...