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Al "Ramblin'
Randall's" Review
No,
not in the grave - - Gilbert and Sullivan are turning in their groove.
It seems easy - arrangements syncopated, period updated. We have the same melodies, adapted and arranged by Rob Bowman, and lyrics adapted by David H. Bell. The adaptation is 1940s swing and zing, jazz and p'zazz, with gospel added. All the components are HOT in the Mikado, from tour jetŽs to truckin', to high lifts to gymnastic leaps and flips, to a thousand taps. The singing dancers are dancing singers, not just the ladies and gentlemen of Japan - all the principal players are also triple-threat: singers -Êdancers -Êcomedians. With a diverse cast -Êfrom a polished black brunette to a burnished golden blond - they often have to remind themselves, and us, that they are all Japanese.
The presentational style encourages direct contact with the audience, and rightly so! Many moments from solos to combos achieve that vaudeville connection; Director, LaParee W. Young, knows his show biz.
Arriving
in the small town of Titipu, searching for his beloved, Nanki Poo (Daniel
Burnham) learns his YumYum (Jennifer Shelton) is going to marry KoKo (Jamie
Torcellini), the Lord High Executioner. "That's a hoody-doo! That's a pretty
fix!" KoKo is arranging everything with his cohort, Pooh-Ba (LaParee W.
Young) who is Lord High Everything Else. All it takes is bribery.
Nanki Poo is dodging Katisha (Carol Dennis), a deco-diva. She's persuaded a very important man that his son, Nanki Poo, is her special destiny. This very prominent person (ready?) is the Mikado (Greg Poland).
Who will marry YumYum? Sadly - he will be executed. The Mikado has ordered sluggish law enforcement to rev-up with an execution. Will it be KoKo or Nanki Poo?
Nanki Poo must be beheaded thirty days after their wedding; KoKo must be immediately after their wedding. Of course, YumYum looks forward to thirty days of wedded bliss with Nanki Poo - until she learns that the bride of a husband without a head is immediately buried, standing up, to complete the ceremony. To make things worse, Katisha arrives. There's only one escape - each must sing and dance and connive to Gilbert and Sullivan's songs in pop style. It's a "how they do". And WOW, they do!
David Burnham and Jennifer Shelton, in superb voice, romance each other - all over the place, and all over each face. KoKo and Pooh-Ba, and Pish-Tush (Reggie Burrell) maneuver hilariously - at a pace. Carol Dennis divas magnificently in voice and manner - in time and space. YumYum and her sisters Pitti-Sing (Candace Oden) and Peep-Bo (Staci M. Wilson) "du-wah" vigorously - threatening every vase. Mikado achieves his "object all sublime, to make the punishment fit the crime" and sings and tap dances so forcefully and extravagantly - he carries his Titipuns along to win the race.
This
HOT MIKADO has so much Tang and Tangle, and Zing and Zangle, from
every angle; we relish the Swing and Spangle. You'll be glad! Keep an eye
out for Candace Oden, Broadway ready - more than a tad. Performances continue
at Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts, thru March 7, 2004.
2/21/04
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