The Mikado

The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu, is a comic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta in two acts. The music is by Sir Arthur S. Sullivan and the libretto by William S. Gilbert. It was first produced in March 1885, in London, where it ran at the Savoy Theatre for 672 performances. It remains the most performed Savoy Opera, especially popular with amateur school productions.

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It should be noted that the versions of the culture and government of Japan in this work are based on the notions of Victorian era England on the subject, and are further altered by the satirical tone of the work. Indeed, Victorian England is the target of Gilbert's satire, thinly disguised as a strange and distant land. (The song "Mi-ya Sa-ma", however, is an actual Japanese song which Sullivan appropriated for the operetta. The same melody was also adapted by Giacomo Puccini for his opera Madama Butterfly.)

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It is also worth noting that many of the names in the play are unpronounceable in standard Japanese – but perfectly understandable as English "baby-talk". The headsman is named Ko-Ko; one pretty young thing is named Pitti-Sing; and the heroine is named Yum-Yum. The pompous officials are Pooh-Bah and Pish-Tush; and our hero, Nanki-Poo (which might be baby-talk for "handkerchief") is fleeing from the awful Katisha.

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Gilbert and Sullivan were considered to be in a slump by the time they wrote The Mikado. In search of new ideas, Gilbert is said to have visited an exhibition of Japanese culture that was visiting Knightsbridge at the time. Supposedly, he bought a Japanese sword, which he then mounted over a doorway. Later, while he was working, the sword's mount broke, and the sword fell to the ground. Gilbert claimed that the falling sword inspired him to write The Mikado, a comedy about a Japanese executioner. The creation of The Mikado is dramatized in the 1999 film Topsy-Turvy.

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The Japanese themselves were ambivalent toward this operetta for years, not knowing for certain if it was making fun of them (it wasn't) or of the English (it was). In recent years, however, some have apparently come to terms with The Mikado, and have been able to discern quite a bit of satire that unintentionally struck close to home. As a matter of fact, the town of Chichibu, Japan, regularly performs it, having decided that "Titipu" was Gilbert's code name for "Chichibu". This was further cemented by the fact that a 1936 film from Pinewood Studios added a scene showing a nighttime event, surprisingly similar to the annual Night Festival of Chichibu.

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Gilbert and Sullivan: Playwright/lyricist William S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and composer Arthur S. Sullivan (1842-1900) defined operetta or comic operas in Victorian England with a series of their internationally successful and timeless works known as the Savoy Operas....

Operetta: Operetta (literally, "little opera") is a performance art-form similar to opera, though it generally deals with less serious topics. Often some of the libretto is spoken rather than sung (but this is true of some operas as well). Instead of moving from one musical number (literally so indicated in...

Arthur S. Sullivan: REDIRECT Arthur_Sullivan...

The Mikado related Images and Photos (experimental)

The Mikado 1967

The Japanese Parliament is Opened by the Mikado at Tokyo