Tabor City tribune. (Tabor City, N.C.) 1946-1991, 1959-04-08

man. Total holiday will reis
throughout the country. and al
who possibly can will converg,
on Tokyo. the capital. that To-
the occasion will have becom,
la focal point for Oriental an,
world attention. For on that da,
the wedding of Prince AkihitC
heir to the throne of Japan. viii
take place. Although his brid,
Is a commoner. which is a de
finite departure from tradition
and although many ceremonial
customs have been discarded
the wedding in kind will parallel
for the Orient that of Princess
Elizabeth of England and Prince
Phillip of Greece. 1t will indeed
be a royal wedding, slightly out
of step with modern day living
perhaps. but an affair in which
Japan will glory.
Gilbert and Sullivan have
woven a rather intricate plot
around such a royal wedding in
1.-THE Mikado." Before the ac-
ton begins, Nanki-Poo in dis
guise has fled from the court of
his father. the Mikado. to escape
marriage with the elderly Katis-
ha. He has fallen in love with
Yum-Yum but cannot marry her
because her guardian Ko-Ko
wishes to marry her himself. Ko-
Ko however has been condemn
ed to death for flirting. and
when Act I opens. Nanki-Poo is
trying to find out whether Yum
Yum Is now free to marry him
He learns that Ko-Ko has in
stead become Lord High Execu-
toner and is going to marry
Yum-Yum that very afternoon.
Suddenly a letter from the
Mikado arrives ordering Ko-Ko
to execute somebody or lose his
position. Nanki-Poo appears, bent
upon suicide because he cannot
marry Yum-Yum. and by con.
ceding to him the right to mar,
ry Yum-Yum for a month. Ko,
Ko persuades Nanki-Poo to be
beheaded publicly. There is gen
cral rejoicing. quickly married
by Katisha in search of Nanki.
Poo. But she is rebuffed.
Act III opens with Yum-Yum
preparing for her marriage to
Nanki-Poo. Ko-Ko comes in with
the news that he has just dis
covered a law stating that when
man is executed his wife is
buried alive. To save Yum-Yum,
Nanki-Poo decides to kill him.
self at once. But this again
throws Ko-Ko into a quandary TO
find someone to execute. Nanki-
Poo magnanimously offers him.
hclf. but Ko-Ko is incapable of
performing the act. Another way
out of the difficulty presents it.
self: Ko-Ko has Pooh-Bah make
false affidavit that Nanki-Poo
has been executed, and bids
Nankn-Pco and Yum-Yum leave
the country.
The Mikado appears. Ko-ko
thinks that the object of his
visit is 20 see whether the exc.
cution has taken place and &c.
cordingly shows him the affi-
davit. But the Mikado has actu'
ally come in search of his son
When the fact transpireS that
the person whom Ko-Ko has
supposedly executed is really
the Mikado's son, Ko-Ko and his
accompliccS are sentenced to
death. The only hope for them
is to admit the falsehood of the
affidavit and produce Nanki-Poo
alive. But as Nanki-Poo has al
ready married Yum-Yum and SO
can IL marry Katisha. Katisha
will surely insist on the execu-
ton of Nanki-Poo and Yum
Yum. Ko-Ko solves the problem
by marrying Katisha. The end of
the operetta comes with Nanki-
Poo's discovering himself as the
son of the Mikado.
Such is the story of royal
wedding devised by Gilbert and
Sullivan. It is this tpyically and
comically complicated plot. lac
cd with merry songs and dances
that the Tabor City Chorus will
present in 1.-THE Mikado' or
April 16 and II. 1t promises to
be a delightful evening for all.