The Barometer Online

Issue date: 8/13/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Curtis Barnard Jeffery Larkin (center) as Nanki-Poo rehearses Tuesday night for the upcoming opera "The Mikado."

Oregon State University will be adding to a 90-year history this weekend with the performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic production "The Mikado."

"The Mikado" opens Thursday, August 14, at 7:30 p.m. and will run through Saturday, Aug. 16, with a matinée showing on Sunday Aug. 17 at 2:30 p.m. The play will be held on the Oregon State campus at Withycombe Hall.

A comic opera created by Arthur Sullivan and W.S. Gilbert, "The Mikado" originally opened in London in March of 1885. It ran there for over 670 performances, the second longest run for any musical theater production at that time.

"The Mikado" was first performed at Oregon State in 1909, and the production toured to logging camps around the area. It was last shown at Withycombe Hall in 1997.

The play is set in Japan, which allowed for satire about politics and the government to be disguised and used more freely by Gilbert and Sullivan.

Like most romantic comedies, there is a love triangle involved. Yum-Yum, played in this productoin by Abbe Groh, is in love with Nanki-Poo, played by Jeff Larkin. However, Yum-Yum is pledged to marry Ko-Ko, played by Scott Ingham. The final twist is that Katisha, played by Emily Thielen, has decided that she should marry Nanki-Poo. You'll have to see the play to find out who ends up with who.

A full choir will be helping the characters with the songs through the play.

"Opening night should be great," said Alison Duever, a junior at Oregon State. "We are right on schedule and are expecting quite a crowd.

The actors have been rehearsing since the end of June and are all having fun.

"If you can't have fun doing Gilbert and Sullivan, you can't have fun doing any play," said director Charlotte Headrick. "Once you come to the play, you will recognize many of the songs."

Tunes from the play are still used in commercials and even in movies, such as Chariots of Fire.

"It's all around you and you may not even realize it," said Headrick.

Tickets for the production can be purchased online at http://oregonstate.edu/dept/theatre/ or at the University Theater box office in Withycombe Hall. Tickets are $14 for adults, $10 for seniors and $7 for students. For more information, call 541-737-2784.

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