The Mikado
or The Town of Titipu
The Mikado premiered at the Savoy Theatre on March 14, 1885, and ran until January 19, 1887, for a total of 672 performances. It was Gilbert and Sullivan's most successful light opera, and it has been presented by amateur and professional companies over and over again, possibly more often than any other opera.
Ostensibly set in Japan, the plot engages universal human foibles that can be found in any time and place. Gilbert manages to poke fun at royalty, politicians, pompous bureaucrats, capital punishment, the legal system, arranged marriages, competing beaux, middle-aged spinsters, marriageable young women, and various other subjects. For those unfamiliar with the plot, Nanki-Poo, son of the Mikado of Japan, has run away from home disguised as a second trombone player to woo the ward of the current executioner of the town of Titipu, one Ko-Ko. He is followed by his ferocious promised bride to be, Katisha. The Mikado is filled with petty politicians hell-bent on solving all the problems presented by the unfolding plot. Sullivan weaves all of this into some of his most enjoyable and memorable music.
