The Swing Mikado

Last updated
The Swing Mikado
Swing-Mikado-Poster-Chicago.jpg
Poster for the opening of The Swing Mikado on September 25, 1938
Music Gentry Warden
Arthur Sullivan
Lyrics W. S. Gilbert
Basis The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan
Productions1938 Chicago, Broadway

The Swing Mikado is a musical theatre adaptation, in two acts, of Gilbert and Sullivan's 1885 comic opera, The Mikado , with music arranged by Gentry Warden. It featured a setting transposed from Japan to a tropical island. The show was first staged by an all-black company in Chicago, Illinois, in 1938. Later that year, it transferred to Broadway. Other changes from the original work included the re-scoring of five of the musical numbers in "swing" style, the insertion of popular dance sequences including The Truck and the Cakewalk, and the rewriting of some of the dialogue in an attempt at black dialect. Other than that, the original dialogue and score of 1885 were used. [1]

Contents

Background and productions

Frankye Brown (Yum-Yum) and Maurice Cooper (Nanki-Poo), Chicago (1938) The-Swing-Mikado-Chicago-1938.jpg
Frankye Brown (Yum-Yum) and Maurice Cooper (Nanki-Poo), Chicago (1938)

The Swing Mikado was a production of the Chicago division of the WPA's Federal Theatre Project. The production was conceived, staged, and directed by Harry Minturn, with swing re-orchestrations of Arthur Sullivan's music by Warden. The starring roles were performed by Maurice Cooper (Nanki-Poo), Frankye Brown (Yum-Yum) and William Franklin (Pooh-Bah). [2]

After a five-month run in Chicago, the production moved to Broadway where it had a run of 86 performances. Its success inspired producer Mike Todd to mount a similar adaptation, The Hot Mikado (1939). There is disagreement over whether or not the production reinforced negative racial stereotypes. [1] [3] [4]

The opening night in New York was attended by Eleanor Roosevelt, Harry Hopkins and Mayor LaGuardia. The New York Times reviewer, Brooks Atkinson, gave it a good, if patronizing, review, praising Cooper as "a Nanki-Poo of superior voice and articulate acting capability" but complaining that the large company of "sepia show-folk" [sic] included "some that only fumble the music." Atkinson wrote that "after a slow start the show goes on a bender, the performers grin and strut and begin stamping out the hot rhythms with an animal frenzy. 'Za-zu-za-zu,' the three little maids from school say huskily, breaking down into a smoking caper. All this is something to see and hear ... the chorus includes some dusky wenches who can dance for the Savoyard jitterbugs with gleaming frenzy, tossing their heads in wild delight ... when [the company] gives The Mikado a Cotton Club finish, they raise the body temperature considerably." [5]

The show was also presented at the 1939 San Francisco World's Fair.

Musical numbers

Cast of the original Chicago production (1938) The-Swing-Mikado-Cast-Chicago-1938.jpg
Cast of the original Chicago production (1938)

Act 1

Act 2

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Mikado</i> 1885 comic opera by Gilbert & Sullivan

The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, where it ran at the Savoy Theatre for 672 performances, the second-longest run for any work of musical theatre and one of the longest runs of any theatre piece up to that time. By the end of 1885, it was estimated that, in Europe and America, at least 150 companies were producing the opera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Baker (baritone)</span> English singer (1885–1976)

George Baker was an English singer. He is remembered for singing on thousands of gramophone records in a career that spanned 53 years, beginning in 1909. He is especially associated with the comic baritone roles in recordings of the Gilbert & Sullivan operas.

<i>Topsy-Turvy</i> 1999 British film by Mike Leigh

Topsy-Turvy is a 1999 British musical period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh, starring Jim Broadbent as W. S. Gilbert and Allan Corduner as Sir Arthur Sullivan, along with Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville and Ron Cook. The story concerns the 15-month period in 1884 and 1885 leading up to the premiere of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. The film focuses on the creative conflict between playwright and composer, and their decision to continue their partnership, which led to their creation of several more Savoy operas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martyn Green</span> English singer and actor

William Martin Green, known by his stage name, Martyn Green, was an English actor and singer. He is remembered for his performances and recordings as principal comedian of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, in the leading patter roles of the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas in the 1930s and 1940s, and for his career in America from the 1950s to the 1970s.

<i>The Hot Mikado</i> (1939 production)

The Hot Mikado was a musical theatre adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan's 1885 comic opera The Mikado with an African-American cast. It was first produced by Mike Todd on Broadway in 1939. It starred Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in the title role, with musical arrangements by Charles L. Cooke and direction by Hassard Short.

<i>Hot Mikado</i> Musical comedy

Hot Mikado is a musical comedy, based on Gilbert and Sullivan's 1885 comic opera The Mikado, adapted by David H. Bell and Rob Bowman. After researching the 1939 Broadway musical, The Hot Mikado, and being disappointed at the amount of surviving material that they could find, Bell and Bowman created a new adaptation, Hot Mikado. "Not much remains, however, of the 1939 show’s African-American emphasis, save the cool hipster style which even then was beginning to be eagerly pre-empted by Americans of every ethnicity."

The phrase "short, sharp shock" describes a punishment that is severe but which only lasts for a short time. It is an example of alliteration. Although the phrase originated earlier, it was popularised in Gilbert and Sullivan's 1885 comic opera The Mikado, where it appears in the song near the end of Act I, "I Am So Proud". It has since been used in popular songs, song titles, and literature, as well as in general speech.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Potter</span> English singer and actor (1936–2016)

Philip White Potter was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the principal tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1961 to 1971. Potter recorded several of his roles with D'Oyly Carte, and his performance as Nanki-Poo is preserved in the company's 1966 film of The Mikado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Granville</span> British singer and actor

Sydney Granville was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geraldine Ulmar</span> American opera singer and actress (1862–1932)

Geraldine Ulmar was an American singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Walker (baritone)</span> English singer and actor (1897–1989)

Richard Walker, was an English opera singer and actor, best known for his performances in the baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Between 1932 and 1939 Walker was married to D'Oyly Carte chorister Ena Martin. He married the company's principal soprano Helen Roberts in 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Thorne (actor)</span>

George Tyrell Thorne was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the comic baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, especially on tour and in the original New York City productions. He married D'Oyly Carte chorister Geraldine Thompson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Billington</span> English operatic singer and actor

Fred Billington was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. His career with the company began in 1879 and continued with brief interruptions until his death in 1917.

<i>The Cool Mikado</i> 1963 British film by Michael Winner

The Cool Mikado is a British musical film released in 1963, directed by Michael Winner starring Frankie Howerd, Lionel Blair and Stubby Kaye. It was produced by Harold Baim, with music arranged by Martin Slavin and John Barry. The script was written by Michael Winner from an adaptation by Maurice Browning.

<i>The Girl Said No</i> (1937 film) 1937 film by Andrew L. Stone

The Girl Said No is a 1937 American musical comedy film produced by Andrew L. Stone and Edward L. Alperson for Grand National Pictures and directed by Andrew L. Stone. The screenplay was written by Betty Laidlaw, Robert Lively and Andrew L. Stone. The film stars Robert Armstrong, Irene Hervey and Paula Stone. It uses musical numbers from Gilbert and Sullivan operas, and the story is about a shady bookie who is in love with a greedy dance hall girl and schemes to get her back after she rejects him. Along the way, he revives a failing Gilbert and Sullivan troupe.

<i>The Black Mikado</i> 1975 musical comedy based on The Mikado

The Black Mikado is a musical comedy, based on Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado, adapted by Janos Bajtala, George Larnyoh and Eddie Quansah from W. S. Gilbert's original 1885 libretto and Arthur Sullivan's score. The show premiered on 24 April 1975 at the Cambridge Theatre in London, where it ran for 472 performances before going on a national tour. A 1976 production was mounted in Soweto, South Africa, where it played at the Diepkloof Hall. After this, the musical was not revived.

Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done is a 1975 British animated musical comedy film directed by Bill Melendez and designed by Ronald Searle, based on the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.

<i>The Mikado</i> (1939 film) 1939 film by Victor Schertzinger

The Mikado is a 1939 British musical comedy film based on Gilbert and Sullivan's 1885 comic opera The Mikado. Shot in Technicolor, the film stars Martyn Green as Ko-Ko, Sydney Granville as Pooh-Bah, the American singer Kenny Baker as Nanki-Poo and Jean Colin as Yum-Yum. Many of the other leads and choristers were or had been members of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.

<i>The Mikado</i> (1967 film) 1967 British film

The Mikado is a 1967 British musical film adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan's 1885 comic opera of the same name. The film was directed by Stuart Burge and was a slightly edited adaptation of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company's production of The Mikado and used all D'Oyly Carte singers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Little Maids from School Are We</span> Song from Gilbert and Sillivans The Mikado

"Three Little Maids from School Are We", sometimes listed as "Three Little Maids", is a song from Act I of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera The Mikado.

References

  1. 1 2 Dennis, Lucas. "Reinforcing or Debunking Racial Stereotypes? A Tale of Two Mikados", Graduate Student Symposium, Tufts University, April 5, 2003
  2. "Du Sable Grads Find Jobs and Fame in Music". Chicago Tribune . May 11, 1941. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
  3. Vallillo, Stephen M. "The Battle of the Black Mikados". Black American Literature Forum, vol. 16, no. 4, Winter 1982, pp. 153–57, St. Louis University, accessed August 31, 2010 (log in required)
  4. Lee, Josephine D. (2010). The Japan of Pure Invention: Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN   978-1-4529-1526-5.
  5. Atkinson, Brooks. "Chicago Unit of the Federal Theatre Comes In Swinging the Gilbert and Sullivan Mikado", The New York Times, March 2, 1939, p. 18