PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
It is with great pleasure that we invite you to join us for a few hours in the town of Titipu, and
enjoy some of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most memorable words and melodies. The Mikado was last
presented by the Musical Society in 1987, and is a particular favourite of mine, as I made my
initial entrance into the fascinating world of ‘amateur operatics’ in a production in 1965.
As President for the season, I have an opportunity to share a bit of society history with you. My
late father, Mr Jack Clark, together with Mr. J. Dodds Thompson, who was church organist, were
founder members of the then-called Gosforth Presbyterian Church Musical Society and produced
the first show, H.M.S. Pinafore, in 1929. The society has flourished over the years, and maintains
its friendly atmosphere. New members are always welcome.
We appreciate the loyalty and encouragement given to us by the Vice Presidents and friends,
and we hope we can rely on your continuing attendance at future productions and concerts. With
a change of name, and possibly venue, in the years to come, the musical society value your
support.
Do enjoy your evening and have a safe journey home.
MARY CLARK
MUSICAL DIRECTOR’S NOTES
Several of the comic operas written with Gilbert enjoyed a vogue in various continental countries
during the 1880s and 1890s, but only The Mikado has found a place in the European operetta
repertory. It is pure speculation, but I wonder how many of the G&S operas would have
sustained the unique popularity they enjoy today had it not been for the original D’Oyly Carte
Opera Company? Among the five (or possibly six) of them, The Mikado would certainly still be
around.
Unique examples of Sullivan’s increasing use of instrumental means to point up Gilberts text
abound in the orchestrations. The woodwind chuckles in ‘Three little maids’, the clarinet and
bassoon quotation of Bach’s organ fugue in G minor during the Mikado’s song and the ‘shrieks’
and ‘whistling an air’ in ‘The criminal cried’ are among some of the cleverest in all the operas.
Since the first production of The Mikado, G&S fans have been subjected to Black Mikado’s, Cool
Mikado’s, Swing Mikado’s, a dreadful film version with an American Nanki-poo (Kenny Baker),
and a ballet. For the piece to survive all these permutations and still come shining through in the
21stcentury is evidence of the masterful craftsmanship of the original lyrics and music.
This season Gosforth Musical Society marked the centenary of Sullivan’s death with a concert
under the musical direction of Laurence Scott which included music from all his stage works with
and without Gilbert.
The ‘upper voices’ choir formed last year with colleagues from Tynemouth Gilbert and Sullivan
Society will once again be performing for The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society in May. This
year we have been joined by members of Tynemouth Amatuer Operatic Society and under the
collective name of The Teviotdale Singers I am entering ‘the girls’ in the Tynedale Music Festival
next week.
TONY HURST
HISTORICAL NOTES
The Mikado was an opera that almost never happened. Following the production of their lastest
show, the relatively unsuccessful Princess Ida, relations between Gilbert and Sullivan were at an
extremely low ebb. Tired of feeling his music to be subordinate to Gilbert’s words, and even more
tired of the ‘Magic Lozenge’ plot that he kept getting offered, Sullivan felt than any further
collaboration was impossible. The partnership might have ended there if, according to legend, a
Japanese sword had not fallen from the wall of Gilbert’s study, narrowly missing the librettist and
providing the inspiration for a comic opera based on the current craze for ‘all one sees that’s
Japanese’. The subject was equally inspirational to the composer, and the resulting show went
on to become their greatest success. From its opening night at the Savoy Theatre on 14th March
1885, it ran for a total of 672 performances, only being taken off to make room for their next
production, Ruddigore.
The period of writing of The Mikado was the inspiration for Mike Leigh’s Oscar-winning film
Topsy-Turvy, which came out last year and is now available on video. The movie is highly
recommended to anyone interested in either Gilbert and Sullivan or The Mikado, both for its
performances (notably Jim Broadbent as Gilbert) and the fastidious accuracy of its historical
setting. Another fascinating insight into the show may be afforded by reading The Story of The
Mikado, a delightful re-telling of the tale for children that was the very last published work by
Gilbert.
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
Directing The Mikado is a formidable prospect: what new approach can you bring to the single
most performed piece of theatre in the English language? In 1999 I attended a fascinating talk by
Ralph MacPhail at the Buxton G&S Festival in which he gave an overview of the different
productions of the show: as well as the Hot, Swing and Black Mikado there have been Gangster
Mikados, Kabuki productions - even those in Outer Space! Where to begin?
Well, going back to the libretto, the major plot theme in The Mikado is the numerous ways in
which the characters fulfil the letter but not the spirit of the Law, finding cunning ways of using it
to allow them to pursue their own selfish desires - for example, Ko-Ko’s ‘discovery’ that a
decapitated man’s wife must be buried alive. This way of life is, like everything else in The
Mikado, a comment on the prevailing conditions in Victorian England, conditions that have not
altogether altered since then - witness the success of ‘Yes, Minister’. Pooh Bah as Sir
Humphrey? Now there’s a thought…
As you will see, I have moved the action of the play inside Titipu Town Hall - but don’t worry, it is
still Japan and it is still 1885! The male chorus are now clerks (as Pooh Bah says, all the high
officers of state ‘resigned in a body’) and the female chorus are secretaries, with only the three
little maids as visiting schoolgirls. The individual characterisation of the chorus, I might add, was
inspired by classic situation comedies such as ‘Hi-de-Hi’ and ‘Are You Being Served?’ - see if
you can spot some favourite characters! The costumes, which have been designed and made by
Liz Doyle, reflect the mixture of Japan and Victorian England that Gilbert uses so successfully in
the libretto - it is a Englishman’s idea of Japan, a sort of Oriental veneer over typical British
types. I hope that you will enjoy this fresh angle on a familiar subject.
Incidentally, for those who have always wandered what to the lyrics to ‘Miya Sama’ actually
mean, the chorus will act out an exact translation for you!
FRASER CHARLTON
CAST
THE MIKADO OF JAPAN.................................................................................... BOB BUYERS
NANKI-POO (The Son of the Mikado in disguise) ............................ RICHARD TEMPERLEY
KO-KO (Lord High Executioner) ........................................................... FRASER CHARLTON
POOH-BAH (Lord High Everything Else) ................................................. LAURENCE SCOTT
PISH-TUSH (Chief Clerk) ...................................................................BRUCE CHARLTON
GO-TO (Clerk) ................................................................................................... TIM KENNY
KATISHA (An Elderly Lady) ......................................................................... JUNE POSTINGS
YUM-YUM (Ward of Ko-Ko) ................................................................... BRENDA WALLACE
PITTI-SING (Ward of Ko-Ko) ........................................................................JENNY PARKIN
PEEP-BO (Ward of Ko-Ko) .................................................................. LYNN MADDISON
Chorus of CLERKS, SECRETARIES and OFFICE W ORKERS
HELEN ALEXANDER, ALICE BAKER, ANNIE BAUTZ, CAROLE BUCKLEY,
MARGARET CAIRNS, CATHY COLLING, HOWARD CROZIER, MICHAEL FLETCHER,
MONICA GOLDFINCH, DOUGLAS MCKAY, MARGARET MCKAY, ELAINE MARSHALL,
ROSEMARY MENZIES, PETER ROONEY, GILLIAN RYE, MAURICE SHEPHERD & CLIFFORD
STOREY.
OFFICIALS
DIRECTOR ............................................................................................ FRASER CHARLTON
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR ............................................................................. BRUCE CHARLTON
MUSICAL DIRECTOR ........................................................................................ TONY HURST
ACCOMPANIST ........................................................................................... JULIAN DAWSON
CHAIRMAN ............................................................................................... RAMSAY HORLER
TREASURER .................................................................................................. JULIAN WARD
SECRETARY............................................................................................ CAROLE BUCKLEY
TICKET SECRETARY ................................................................................. DOUGLAS MCKAY
ASSISTANT SECRETARY ......................................................................... MARGARET MCKAY
COMMITTEE MEMBERS .............................. ALICE BAKER, DAVID BELL, MONICA GOLDFINCH,
............................................................................. LYNN MADDISON & ROSEMARY MENZIES
STAGE MANAGER................................................................................... CHARLES FLEMING
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER ................................................................... NIGEL THORBURN
LIGHTING .................................................................................................... JOHN BESFORD
COSTUMES & W ARDROBE ................................................................................... LIZ DOYLE
SCENIC ARTIST ........................................................................................... JOHN NOCKLES
CATERING ..................................................................................................... TERRY PIRNIE
KITCHEN STAFF ............................... LESLIE BROWN, MARGARET FLEMING & DORIS STOBBS
HALL MANAGERS ............................................. DON CARGILL, IAN MORTON & GORDON TYE
POSTER ......................................................................................................... TONY HURST
PROGRAMME ........................................................................................ FRASER CHARLTON
ORDER OF MUSIC
ACT ONE
OVERTURE
1.
CHORUS OF MEN - “If you want to know who we are”
2.
SONG & CHORUS - “A wand’ring minstrel I”.......................................... NANKI-POO
3.
SONG - “Our great Mikado, virtuous man”............................... PISH-TUSH & CHORUS
4.
SONG - “Young man, despair”.................. POOH-BAH with NANKI-POO & PISH-TUSH
4. a. RECIT. - “And I have I journey’d” .......................................NANKI-POO & POOH-BAH
5.
CHORUS WITH SOLO - “Behold the Lord High Executioner” ..... KO-KO & CHORUS
5. a. SONG - “As some day it may happen”* ....................................... KO-KO & CHORUS
6.
CHORUS - “Comes a train of little ladies”
7.
TRIO - “Three little maids from school are we” ..... YUM-YUM, PEEP-BO & PITTI-SING
8.
QUINTET - “So please you, sir, we much regret” ..............., PEEP-BO & PITTI-SING,
................................................................................................. POOH-BAH & PISH-TUSH
9.
10.
13.
DUET - “Were you not to Ko-Ko plighted” ........................... YUM-YUM & NANKI-POO
TRIO - “I am so proud” .............................................. POOH-BAH, KO-KO & PISH-TUSH
FINALE - “With aspect stern and gloomy stride”
*New lyrics by Fraser Charlton
ACT TWO
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
CHORUS AND SOLO - “Braid the silken hair” ....................... PITTI-SING & CHORUS
SONG - “The sun, whose rays are all ablaze” ......................................... YUM-YUM
MADRIGAL - “Brightly dawns our wedding day” .....................................................
...............................................................................................PITTI-SING & GO-TO
TRIO - “Here’s a how-de-do!” ................................. YUM-YUM, NANKI-POO & KO-KO
ENTRANCE OF MIKADO & KATISHA - “Mi-ya-sa-ma”
SONG - “A more humane Mikado”............................................. MIKADO & CHORUS
TRIO - “The criminal cried” ...................... KO-KO, PITTI-SING, POOH-BAH & CHORUS
GLEE - “See how the fates their gifts allot” .................. MIKADO, KATISHA, PITTI-SING,
.............................................................................................. POOH-BAH & KO-KO
DUET - “The flowers that bloom in the spring” .........................NANKI-POO & KO-KO
................................................................. with YUM-YUM, PITTI-SING & POOH-BAH
RECIT. & SONG - “Alone, and yet alive” ................................................... KATISHA
SONG - “On a tree by a river” ....................................................................... KO-KO
DUET - “There is beauty in the bellow of the blast” ..................... KATISHA & KO-KO
FINALE - “For he’s gone and married Yum-Yum”
ACT ONE - The Lord High Executioner’s Office, Titipu Town Hall
- 15 minute interval ACT TWO - The Banqueting Hall, Titipu Town Hall
SYNOPSIS
ACT ONE
One year ago, Nanki-Poo, the son of the Mikado, fled his father’s court to escape
Katisha, an elderly lady who had claimed him in marriage. Disguised as a wandering
minstrel, he met and fell in love with Yum-Yum, the ward of Ko-Ko, a cheap tailor.
Unfortunately, she was engaged to be married to her guardian, do Nanki-Poo left in
despair. However, he has just heard that Ko-Ko has been condemned to death for flirting
(a new Mikado law) and has returned to claim Yum-Yum’s hand. Pish-Tush reveals that,
to prevent any further beheadings in the town, Ko-Ko has been promoted to the rank of
Lord High Executioner, for ‘he cannot cut off another’s head until he’s cut his own off’. As
a result of this, Ko-Ko is to marry Yum-Yum that very day!
Before the wedding can commence, a letter arrives from the Mikado which decrees that
unless someone is executed within a month, Ko-Ko’s post shall be abolished and the city
reduced to the rank of a village. As he is already under sentence of death, everything
seems to point to Ko-Ko as the unwilling victim. That is, until he comes across an
anguished Nanki-Poo who is intent on committing suicide. Ko-Ko manages to persuade
Nanki-Poo to be executed in his place, reluctantly agreeing to the price of marriage to
Yum-Yum for one month, after which, Ko-Ko can marry the newly-widowed girl. Even the
dramatic appearance of Katisha, seeking Nanki-Poo, cannot prevent general rejoicings.
ACT TWO
The preparations for the wedding of Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum are proceeding when
Ko-Ko appears with some terrible news - when a man is decapitated, his wife must
be buried alive! Yum-Yum is hardly thrilled by the prospect, leaving Nanki-Poo once
again suicidal. Unexpectedly, the Mikado is seen approaching the city. Ko-Ko
assumes that he is coming to ensure that an execution has taken place. Although
Nanki-Poo offers to be executed at once, Ko-Ko is too squeamish to perform the
task. Instead, he decides to forger an affidavit saying that the execution has taken
place, and parcels off the two young lovers to be married.
The Mikado arrives with Katisha and is told by Ko-Ko, Pitti-Sing and Pooh-Bah, with
highly imaginative detail, all about the beheading of Nanki-Poo. Unfortunately, they
now find out that Nanki-Poo is the heir to the throne of Japan, and are sentenced to
death. To escape their hideous fate, they must persuade Nanki-Poo to ‘come to life’
again - but, as he has just married Yum-Yum, this would mean that Katisha would
insist on his execution.
There is only one solution: Ko-Ko must persuade the appalling Katisha to marry him
instead…
ORCHESTRA
LEADER
VIOLIN
VIOLA
'CELLO
DOUBLE BASS
FLUTE/PICCOLO
OBOE
CLARINET
BASSOON
HORN
TRUMPET
TROMBONE
PERCUSSION
Mike Smith
Dennis Grieve, Mark Rodgers, Barry Walker
Simon Collier, Jonathon Folb
Philip Adamson/Paul Hutchinson
Douglas Milburn
Hazel Nelson
Kirsty Pearson/Emma Peacock
Jan Stronach, Dorothy Milburn
Phil Robertson
Dave Milner
Michael Fowlds
John Flood
Andrew Robbins
PREVIOUS PRODUCTIONS
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
HMS Pinafore
The Mikado
The Yeomen of the Guard
The Gondoliers
Iolanthe
Patience
Ruddigore
Princess Ida
Trial by Jury & HMS Pinafore
Pirates of Penzance
Utopia Limited
The Yeomen of the Guard
The Gondoliers
The Sorcerer
Ruddigore
The Grand Duke
The Mikado
The Rose of Persia
Utopia Limited
Trial by Jury & HMS Pinafore
Merrie England
Princess Ida
The Yeomen of the Guard
The Sorcerer
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
Trial by Jury &
Pirates of Penzance
The Nautch Girl
Iolanthe
The Gondoliers
The Mikado
Ruddigore
Patience
Trial by Jury & HMS Pinafore
The Mikado
Iolanthe
The Yeomen of the Guard
Trial by Jury &
Pirates of Penzance
The Gondoliers
Patience
Ruddigore
Trial by Jury & HMS Pinafore
Princess Ida
The Yeomen of the Guard
The Mikado
Iolanthe
Patience
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Trial by Jury &
Pirates of Penzance
HMS Pinafore
Ruddigore
The Gondoliers
The Yeomen of the Guard
Utopia Limited
Iolanthe
The Sorcerer
The Mikado
Patience
Pirates of Penzance
Ruddigore
The Yeomen of the Guard
The Gondoliers
Princess Ida
Trial by Jury &
HMS Pinafore
The Sorcerer
Iolanthe
Patience
The Arcadians
The Pirates of Penzance
The Geisha
Visit our Web Page at
www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/fraser.charlton/gosforth.html
Vice Presidents
Mrs A M Baker
Mr D Bell
Mrs M M Black
Mrs L J Brown
Mr J D Cargill
Mrs H Cargill
Mr H F Dodds
Mr K W Doncaster
Miss J Faulkner
Mr C Fleming
Mr J Fleming
Dr M J P Fleming
Mr G Gilbert
Mrs P Gilbert
Dr A Graham
Mr A Grummett
Mrs E Grummett
Miss N Gulliver
Dr J R Horler
Dr W F M Hudson
Mr & Mrs N R Hulland
Mr A C McGregor
Mrs D McGregor
Dr F R G Mellor
Mrs J M Menzies
Dr R J Menzies
Miss S More
Mr I Morton
Mrs A Morton
Mr J T M Newbiggin
Dr & Mrs K Pirnie
Mr E R W Shield
Dr M R Smith
Mrs E L Smith
Mr & Mrs T Taylor
Mr & Mrs G W Taylor
Mr G A Tye
Mr & Mrs J D Waldron
Mr G Wallace
Mrs A Whiteoak
HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS
Mrs M Clark, Dr M Fleming, Mr G Hall , Mr A C McGregor,
Mr D McKay, Mrs M Place, Miss D Stobbs, Miss B Wilson
We are always happy to welcome new Vice Presidents. The duties are not onerous:
in exchange for a subscription of £12.00 per annum, Vice Presidents get news of all
Society activities and two free tickets for the annual production, booked before the
tickets go on general sale.
If you would like to become a Vice President, please send a cheque, payable to
‘Gosforth United Reformed Church Musical Society’, together with your name,
address and telephone number to: Carole Buckley, 25 Cloverfield Avenue, Newcastle
upon Tyne, NE3 3NJ.
THE SOCIETY WISHES TO THANK...
The Vice Presidents for their continued support…
Our audiences for their patronage…
All who have helped and worked for the Society
throughout the season and during show week…
If you have enjoyed this evening's production and would like to join the
society, please contact the secretary, Carole Buckley (Tel. 0191 284 3011).
The society welcomes acting members, associate members and Vice
Presidents.