Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado / Conrad, Stewart, Revill, Opera World
An uneasy cross between a movie and a theater production, this version of Gilbert and Sullivan's masterpieceThe Mikadois on the clumsy side. Obviously taped on a stage (there are just two settings, a town square and a landscape) but without an audience, it lacks the spark of live performance and the versatility of film. The action is weighed down by jejune attempts at comedy. When Nanki-Poo (disguised as a musician) receives the devastating news that the woman he loves is promised to another man, he doesn't react at all, but instead plays trombone accompaniment. And after he describes his catalog of musical offerings, the court gentlemen--for no reason except that the song's final word is "lullaby"--drop to the ground and fall asleep. Besides not being funny, these gags are unconnected to anything in the story.A couple of performances partly redeem things. Kate Flowers sings very well and, even better, actually creates a character. Her Yum-Yum is mischievous, blunt, sarcastic--just the kind of person who would compare herself to the sun and the moon. And as Ko-Ko, Clive Revill is a terrific combination of wily and sympathetic. Slightly hunched and wearing a jester's costume, Revill is a nervous little schemer who's vividly believable. William Conrad's bland Mikado doesn't have much impact. This is one of the less distinguished entries in the Opera World series of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.--David Olivenbaum