Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado (condensed)
The Mikado is one of the most popular and most often produced opera/plays in the history of theater.
This comic opera, written by Gilbert and Sullivan, first opened in London in 1885. It was so popular, it is estimated that over 150 theatrical companies were putting on performances in both Europe and the U.S. within a year of its London opening.
The story is set in a Japanese village where the main character, a wandering musician (who’s hiding his real identity) is in search of the woman he has fallen in love with, the maiden Yum-Yum.
He is told by the town’s officials that Yum-Yum has been promised to another man - the Emperor’s executioner, who happens to be far behind in his quota of executions. The story continues with a bargain between a suicidal musician who yearns for his Yum-Yum and the executioner who needs to live up to the expectations of and the quota set by the Mikado (the Emperor).
The deal allows the musician to marry his beloved Yum-Yum, but only for a month. Then, he will allow himself to be executed.
Threatened suicide, despair, a sense of lost love combined with a couple twists lead the story to a happy ending.
This production at the Atlas Performing Arts Center is part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. This production is billing itself as The Mikado “in under an hour”. This production has all the big songs and all the dramatic numbers, so you should not feel as if you are being cheated out of the full opera.
In the film Chariots of Fire, about the 1926 British Olympians, a scene from The Mikado is performed. In it, the main character, runner Harold Abrahams, watches the performance of The Mikado and first sees his future wife, while she sings one of the popular songs from the opera.
- On a personal note, I recall The Mikado as being the first play/opera that I was taken to as a child of about seven years old. Even today, when I hear a song from the Mikado that I recall, I am instantly transported back to the small theater where my mother took me and my older sister to see our first play.
The Condensed Mikado
Atlas Performing Arts Center
1333 H Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
Performances - March 28 – April 15, Wednesdays through Sundays at 7:30 p.m. with 2:30 p.m. matinées on Saturdays and Sundays.
Tickets - $20 each and are available online. A $5.00 per ticket discount is given on orders of four or more tickets.
Nearest Metro subway station - Union Station, then a 1.4 mile walk. The Atlas runs a free shuttle to and from Union Station for weekend evening performances
Photo credits: theater photo and Mercado icon courtesy of Atlas Performing Arts Center.
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POSTED IN: Family Fun, Music, Performing Arts – Plays & Dance
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