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Stage

Gilbert & Sullivan are everywhere

Pop culture teems with references to The Mikado, one of the musical collaborators' most popular works.

By ZACHARY LEWIS, Special to the Times
Published November 23, 2006

Whether or not you've actually seen The Mikado, you've almost certainly been exposed to it.

Ever use or hear the term "pooh-bah" to describe a grand, self-important person? Ever tell someone you've got a "little list" or ask to "let the punishment fit the crime"? Or maybe you saw the 2004 episode of CSI in which the star solves the mystery by recalling the song Three Little Maids.

All of these are references to The Mikado, and they're just a few of the many examples proving how profoundly the musical theater of Gilbert & Sullivan permeates contemporary life.

"People quote it without even realizing they're doing it," says Albert Bergeret, founder and artistic director of the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players, who are presenting The Mikado this weekend at Mahaffey Theater. "Popular culture is steeped in it that deeply."

But the surest sign of The Mikado's durability is that 120 years after its debut in London, it continues to be performed all over the world.

Troupes of all types create elaborate sets mimicking old Japan and don colorful costumes and makeup to play the wandering minstrel Nanki-Poo, his fair maiden Yum-Yum, her guardian Ko-Ko, and, of course, the Mikado, whose policy on capital punishment sets the plot in motion.

Bergeret has been performing The Mikado for 33 seasons straight. The show never goes out of rotation, he says, neither on tour nor at the company's home at New York's City Center.

"It touches on a real nerve," Bergeret says. "It's about death, but it's also a comedy, and it's funny. And it's got these familiar human characters everybody can relate to. (Sir William Schwenck) Gilbert was simply holding up a mirror to the excesses of the people around him. That kind of satire is timeless.

"And it's not only the words. The music is very satisfying. There are parts that are funny, dramatic and breathtaking. There's something inherently clever about it all. It's perpetually interesting."

Among the throngs who regularly perform Gilbert & Sullivan, he and the NYGASP represent the experts, along with England's D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. They're devoted to the repertoire, and their core ranks consist of conservatory-trained singers and musicians with experience in opera, theater and comedy.

They're large enough, with a budget of $1.5-million, to cover all roles appropriately. "We don't have to miscast," Bergeret says proudly. "Our shows have legs. We're constantly going over the repertoire, and that brings a whole different feel to our productions. Our people love the material, and a sense of camaraderie comes across in everything we do."

They're also serious about updating, and that may be the final key to the endurance of Gilbert & Sullivan. The shows never need feel dated because they're always open for minor revisions, for allusions to local landmarks and current events.

Bergeret predicts his company will take full advantage of those opportunities this weekend.

"We don't jazz them up or make them hokey. We just have fun localizing them. For Mikado, we'll probably find someplace in the St. Pete area that sounds funny and make that Nanki-Poo's address."

Preview

If you go

The New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players perform The Mikado, 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Mahaffey Theater, 400 First St. S, St. Petersburg. $25-$55. Call (727) 898-2100 or go to www.mahaffeytheater.com.

[Last modified November 22, 2006, 11:13:21]