Victorian Anime

Well if this wasn't the most curious production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado or The Town of Titipu I've ever seen!  The Madison Savoyards gave the classic operetta an Anime-style spin, complete with colorful and spiky hair and schoolgirls who look like they stepped out of Sailor Moon. 

I cannot give a detailed synopsis given the farcical plot-line, but I can do this:  Nanki-Poo, the disguised son of the Mikado of Japan, is in love with the schoolgirl Yum-Yum.  She however, is engaged to her guardian Ko-Ko, a tailor and ex-convict who is now Lord High Executioner of the city of Titipu.  And Nanki-Poo is pursued by the much older woman Katisha, who mistook his politeness for affection.  On top of that, Ko-Ko is in a fix because he can't execute anyone until he's cut off his own head.  And to make matters worse, the Mikado himeself is coming and, since no executions have taken place in Titipu for a year, will demote Titipu to the status of a village if a beheading does not take place within a month (your head may now explode).  Suffice it to say hilarity ensues, loves wins out in the end, and Ko-Ko gets stuck with a cougar.  

I can go on about all the singers in all the various roles, but I think no one stood out more than Ko-Ko.  The baritone who portrayed him (who also did Major General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance three years ago), made him look so much younger than usual.  Ko-Ko was originally conceived as a middle-aged fellow who wants to marry a young wife.  Here, he's a highly attractive twenty-something jock-type, complete with an outfit reminiscent of Goku in Dragon Ball Z, and an almost constant pout on his face.  This made his wooing of the elderly Katisha in Act 2 all the more hilarious.  
        Heck, I can't even talk about the characters; the costumes totally stole the show for me.  The women's chorus with colorful hair and miniskirts, the Mikado wearing a robe and headdress modeled off of a squid, Pooh-Bah's ridiculously long epaulettes that the schoolgirls play limbo under, and Yum-Yum and Nanki-Poo carrying backpacks with Anime logos on them as they leave for their honeymoon.  Oh, and I can't forget Katisha's kimono that was a patched-together concoction of ridiculousness.  Oh boy, I could go on forever about it.  

The singing was great, but once again there was serious shortage of men of the chorus.  What's up with that?  The Mikado is such a well-known opera; why only a sextet of men?  That's three years in a row this has happened!  

This opera is a must-see.