The Renaissance Youth Opera Theatre is preparing to transport audience members to a faraway land this weekend with the presentation of “The Mikado,” a comedic operetta set in Japan.
Director Lori Turner said while operettas sometimes have a reputation for being serious or intellectual, this production is exactly the opposite.
“Monty Python meets Warner Bros. Cartoons is really what this is,” said Turner. “The plotlines can seem extremely convoluted and difficult but in actuality it’s all just a bunch of silliness, designed to set up sight gags or certain kind of puns. I mean our Mikado comes out in a blow-up sumo suit.”
The story of “The Mikado” takes place in a fictitious village in Japan that hasn’t had enough executions, so the Mikado has come into town to check on his citizens.
“They decide they need to get rid of somebody, and they choose a wandering minstrel as a good candidate to be executed,” Turner explained. “Well, he turns out to be the Mikado’s son in disguise. So that of course leads to a lot of mistaken identities and people running around trying to convince other people to substitute themselves for the executed person, and eventually everybody has a happy ending and nobody gets executed.”
Turner said the operetta style means though there is some dialogue, most of the storyline is driven through the music. She noted the music, which will be played by a single piano during the production, is lighter and more similar in style to musical theatre as opposed to a grand opera, although an operetta is definitely more difficult than musical theatre. Arther Sullivan and W. S. Gilbert wrote the music for “The Mikado,” their ninth operatic collaboration that originally opened in March of 1885.
“I’m really thrilled to be able to introduce this repertoire to young people,” said Turner. “Gilbert and Sullivan is a wonderful introduction to light classical music, and it’s something young people in our society just are not seeing or hearing. So to show them how fun it can be to do classical music is really a delight for me.”
Renee Cheng, a 17-year-old senior from Ontario High School, said she thought the music was very hard but also very cool.
“I remember I was listening to it in the car, that’s actually how I learned a lot of my solos, and I was like this is some cool music we have to sing,” she said.
Cheng plays Katisha, a middle-aged woman who is the lead villainess of the production and in love with the show’s 19-year-old protagonist, Nanki-Poo, played by Tucker Boggs from Clear Fork High School.
“(Nanki-Poo) is stuck in a position where he has to marry Katisha by law, because she tricked him previously into flirting with her, and their law is if you flirt with somebody you have to marry them,” Cheng explained. “Now she’s after him; he’s hiding somewhere and she’s trying to find him and make him marry her when he’s really in love with Yum-Yum, who is the lead female character.”
Cheng said while she has been in almost every production in Renaissance Youth Opera Theatre through her high school career, this has been her biggest role.
“It’s been kind of a challenge for me, I’m not used to having this big of a role so being in character all the time, sometimes that’s a little bit challenging,” she said. “But she’s a really fun character to play; I get to do a couple really neat songs.”
Turner said 55 students ranging from second grade through twelfth grade are participating in “The Mikado,” with a 20-minute pre-show taking place before “The Mikado” designed to highlight the younger actors.
“With such a large cast, the older kids are always going to get the lead roles,” said Turner. “So this is something I arrange for the younger kids so they get experience playing leads, learning lines, having solos, and having something that highlights them as a performer.”
The pre-show for “The Mikado” is a fairytale called “The Emperor’s Nightingale,” a story about a Chinese emperor in ancient China who discovers the most treasured thing in his kingdom is the song of a nightingale.
“Someone gives (the emperor) a mechanical nightingale, and because it’s gold and shiny and covered in jewels it becomes the favorite thing until it breaks down,” explained Turner. “Then he discovers the real nightingale is the true treasure.”
The pre-show transitions directly into the start of “The Mikado.” Turner said the students have been eager to see the set develop over the weeks, as well as starting rehearsals in costume. She noted the large venue of The Renaissance Theatre has added to the excitement.
“I think people should come see this because for one, it’s a delightful work,” said Turner. “And also I think these kids really deserve a good audience because it is a pleasure to hear young voices singing this repertoire.”
“The Mikado” will be on stage for two showings this weekend, opening on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. and closing on Sunday, Jan. 26 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15 for general admission, and doors to the theatre open one hour early.
