Hot Mikado

20th - 24th August 2013, Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds

Director: Louise Travis
Musical Director: Richard Healey
Choreographer: Heather Couch

Cast

Nanki Poo - Jonathan Eio
Yum Yum - Rachelle Curtis
Pitti Sing - Kate Steggles
Peep-Bo - Jess Elvin
Ko Ko - Cary Palmer
Katisha - Fiona Barker
Pish - Debbie Croll
Tush - Charlie Brindley
Poo Bah - Freya Matthams
Mikado - Tom Anderson

Mini-Maids: Emma Ward, Emma Rutherford, Claire
Greener, Julia Foulsham, Lizzi Long, Emily Mizen

Man Eaters: Diane Elvin, Alaine Weide, Vanessa
Tatum, Lou Petch

Dancers: Cath Harvey, Viv Morris, Jade Mark, Natasha Sawyer, Amy Blofield, Beth Jennings

Male Ensemble (Mikado Dancers/Slaves/Gentlemen):
Adam Stewart, Colin Musgrove, Jules Mills, Stan Chamberlain
Nick Gane, Huw Jones, Andrew Conlon

Based on one of Gilbert and Sullivan's most popular operas THE MIKADO was given the "hot" treatment by David Bell and Rob Bowman in the 1980s and keeps all the original songs and characters - it is just upbeat with the setting moved from Japan to America. Purists of G&S may not approve but it was all great fun and this production by BSEAODS was excellent.

The Japanese screen set worked well and lighting designers MARC ZABROSKI and LOUISE TRAVIS deserve a curtain call all their own for their outstanding design. The costumes by SHEENA MOORE and her team were interesting and colourful.

The absolutely excellent orchestra under Musical director RICHARD HEALEY, handled the many diﬀerent styles and arrangements well. It was nice to see the musicians on stage all looking very smart set high above the actors. .

The MAIDS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF JAPAN all did a great job. Their energy, enthusiasm and enjoyment in their ensemble numbers was a pleasure to watch. They certainly did full justice to Choreographer HEATHER COUCH’s interesting and varied routines.

We saw some good strong performances from the nine principals. CARY

PALMER as Ko-Ko was highly amusing, TOM ANDERSON made an energetic

Elvis-style Mikado and JONATHAN ELØ an impressive Nanki-Poo. DEBBIE CROSS and CHARLES BRINDLEY shared the role of Pish-Tush which phased me a bit at ﬁrst but ultimately worked well. JESS ELVIN (Peep-Bo) and KATE STEGGLES (Pitti-Sing) both gave good performances in the smaller principal roles, whilst RACHELLE CURTIS made a sweet Yum-Yum succeeding in not being outshone by the men. FIONA BARKER was a most ‘powerful’ Katisha - deﬁnitely not someone to mess with; a ﬁne performance. However, the principal performance which really stood out for me was FREYA MATTHAMS who was excellent as Pooh-Bah Minister of Everything.

It is a bit of a risk for a company in taking on a new slant on such an iconic show but it is always good to try something diﬀerent be it as a performer or a member of the theatre going public. This was a colourful, energetic version of The Mikado and one which the discerning ﬁrst night audience enjoyed immensely. Many congratulations to director Louise Travis and her cast and production team this was, once again, a ﬁrst class BSEAODS production.

Julie Petrucci

Regional Representative NODA East (4S)