We are pleased to announce the auditions for our 20th summer musical, Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado; or , The Town of Titipu. Auditions will be on Monday and Tuesday, May 23rd & 24th at 6:30pm at KMC’s Kilauea Theater. There are parts for all ages and ability. Auditioneers should be prepared to sing a song that best shows their vocal range and dress comfortably to move on the stage. There will be cold readings as well.
Principal male characters are The Mikado, Nanki-Poo- his son, Koko- Lord High Executioner, Pooh-Bah – Lord High Everything Else, and Pish-Tush and Go-To both Noble Lords. Principal female characters are Yum-Yum, Pitti-Sing and Peep-Bo all wards of Koko, and Katisha- an Elderly Lady. There is also a chorus of school girls, noblemen and guards. Familiar tunes include “I’ve Got a Little List”,” Three Little Maids from School”, and “A Wand’ring Minstrel, I”. The show is being directed by Suzi Bond. Walter Greenwood is the music director will conduct the live orchestra.
As with all Gilbert and Sullivan the primary theme is duty and respect. It is about following through with commitments made and being responsible for the consequences. They are just set in different places; A pirate cove, a ship, a castle, Japan. That and taking aim at society and its foibles. Gilbert used foreign or fictional locales in several operas, including The Mikado, Princess Ida, The Gondoliers, Utopia, Limited and The Grand Duke, to soften the impact of his pointed satire of British institutions.
When The Mikado was composed in 1885, Londoners had been enthusiastic about all things Japanese since the opening of Japan to the West in the mid-1850s. It shows the limited knowledge of Japan and all of East Asia as it claims to be set in Japan, but the names of the characters and places are more Chinese-like. It shows how ignorant of other races the English (white people) were and to some aspect still are. The Mikado takes a swipe at 1880s English society and institutions while disguising it as foreign policies.
The performance will be July 22 – August 7th, 2022; Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30, Sundays at 2:30 in KMC’s Kilauea Theater.