Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-02-12
THE MIKADO HAD
EXCELLENT CAST
New Principals and Good Chorus
Present Gilbert-Sullivan Opera
in Pleasing Manner

In this day of clap-trap melodies,
born to live but brief hour or two.
there is a never-faiiing accord of well
come extended to the tunes of twenty
years ago. The shows that have with
stood the ravages of time; those rot
SNAPPED over the lines of the present
day mould of light opera or of musi-
cal comedy, come as a welcome re-
lief from the stereotyped standard
over which writer's think that they
must produce. Just such a show is
The Mikado," the light opera by Sir
w. s. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan.
Moulded over entirely different lines
than those which govern our light
operas to-day, The Mikado" stands
as type of those shows which
pleased our fathers. Unfortunately,
we have all too few of them produced
to-day. Only on such occasions as
prompted the Harrisburg Operatic
Society to revive the show, or upon
the occasion of an all-star revival as
an ending for the theatrical season,
are they brought into prominence
But every time they are brought back
we are glad of 1t.
About ten years ago, when the
present-day Orpheum was known as
the Lyceum, there was organized the
Harrisburg Operatic Society. Their
first production was the same light
opera which they revived last night
this time for the benefit of war
devastated Belgium. In the cast of
last night there were several of shat
first cast. THE Mikado" in Harris
burg wouldn't be The Mikado" with
out Frank Davies as Ko-Ko, the Lord
High EXecutioner, or without Elmer
Ehler as the Mikado. Ada Heisley as
Yum Yum (and an excellent Yum
yum she was with clear, vibrant
voice and clever acting) and George
K. Hoy as the Royal Umbrella Car
rier, completed the members of the
original cast.
New faces appeared in the cast in
the other parts, notably Henelen Keis-
as Peep-bo, Mrs. Jacob Miller as
Katisha, Jerome Hamilton as Nanlli-
poo, Ruth Hoover as Pitti-Sing, Rus
sell Rupp as Pooh-Bah, and Louis
Munnell as Pish-Tush.
One could not expect to have the
society produce such a work with the
grandeur of an all-star revival. but,
| judging alone from the spontaneity
of the applause, everyone thoroughly
| enjoyed the production and felt amply
repaid for their attendance. Detail
of staging received considerable at
tention as was evidenced in the fetch
ing effect of the second act.
Under Professor e. ]. Decevee, the
orchestra, augmented to meet the de-
mands of the score, lent capable as
sistance to the chorus, which proved
itself to be master of the task before
| it in every manner. The ensembles
were particularly effective, and for
the greater part that stiffness one so
frequently sees in such productions
was happily absent.
The principals would require sepa-
rate reviews if one wished to do them
justice. Suffice to say that they all
proved masters of their respective
roles, as was evidenced by the audi
ence when the applause secured en-
cores to the old melodies such as the
"Madrigal Quartet" Three Little
Maids From School, Here's a Pretty
Howdy- do" "The Flowers That
Bloom in the Spring" Tit Willow"
and "The Moon Song"
In voices, staging, costumes, in fact
everything, there are many exceed
ingly pleasant surprises in store for
this evenings audience of this de-
lightful Gilbert Sullivan opera.
MAX ROBERTSON.