Once You Go Black

Think back 134 years and ask yourself what major piece of musical theatre had its world premiere that year. The answer would be Gilbert & Sullivan’s beloved operetta, The Mikado, which opened on March 14, 1885 at the Savoy Theatre in London and ran for 672 performances. According to Wikipedia, by the end of that year it was estimated that "in Europe and America, at least 150 companies were producing the opera.” To date, it is the most frequently performed of their operettas.

Like many of Gilbert & Sullivan’s comic operas, The Mikado was a satire of Victorian society. Their work undoubtedly inspired some of America’s greatest songwriters. Irving Berlin wrote his first hit song (“Alexander’s Ragtime Band”) in 1911. George Gershwin was only 17 years old when he wrote "When You Want 'Em, You Can't Get 'Em, When You've Got 'Em, You Don't Want 'Em" in 1916.

I was fortunate enough to see the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company perform during several of their North American tours. With repeat viewings of some favorite operettas (“Trial By Jury,” “The Pirates of Penzance,” “Iolanthe,” and “H.M.S. Pinafore”), I marveled at the company’s incredible diction and ability to keep the material fresh. What I did not learn until much later in life was that The Mikado had been adapted not once, but twice for an African-American cast of performers. Nor did I know anything about the industry intrigue between the two productions (see “The Battle of the Black Mikados” by Stephen M. Vallillo, published in 1982 by the African American Review at St. Louis University).

Poster art for Mike Todd's 1939 production of The Hot Mikado

First produced by Mike Todd in 1939, The Hot Mikado ran for 85 performances at the Broadhurst Theatre with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson starring in the title role. According to Wikipedia:

“Mike Todd produced The Hot Mikado after the Federal Theatre Project turned down his offer to manage the WPA production of The Swing Mikado (another all-black adaptation of The Mikado) Todd's adaptation was jazzier than The Swing Mikado and had a 'full-voiced, star-studded cast to back up its sass.' It follows both the story line of The Mikado and the spectacle of the original, and was noted for its wild costuming (Rosa Brown's outfit, a winged dress with train and a gigantic hat, weighed 35 pounds).”

Costumes from Mike Todd's 1939 production of The Hot Mikado

“Thirteen days after The Hot Mikado opened at the Broadhurst, The Swing Mikado -- which had been running in New York since March 1, 1939 at the New Yorker Theatre on West 54th Street (the current site of Studio 54) – moved right across the street to the 44th Street Theatre (formerly the Weber & Fields' Music Hall). According to The New York Times, ‘Todd fought back by hanging a show banner from the side of the Sardi Building – obliterating his rival's marquee from the view of anyone walking east on the block – and then, after the 85th performance, pulled an ace from his sleeve. He sold the show to the World's Fair, where it played through the summer -- four times a day, seven days a week --at a price scale (40¢ to 90¢) with which The Swing Mikado could not compete.’”

Unfortunately, most of the script and arrangements from the 1939 production had disappeared by the 1980s, when writer David H. Bell and musician Rob Bowman embarked on crafting a jazzy new adaptation of the beloved Gilbert & Sullivan operetta. The result was Hot Mikado, which premiered in March of 1986 at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. and has since been produced on a fairly regular basis. Their new adaptation scores strongly with even the tiniest changes, such as altering a lyric from "Sing A Merry Madrigal" to "Swing A Merry Madrigal." and changing Nank-Poo's "Wandering Minstrel" disguise from a "second trombone" to a "second trumpet."

Jean-Paul Jones as Nanki-Poo in a scene from Hot Mikado
(Photo by: Ben Krantz Studio)

In its new incarnation, costumes include a zoot suit, wedgies, and a padded costume that make Katisha look like a haughty black church lady. There's lots of tap dancing, along with some jitterbugging, Lindy Hopping, and other dances reminiscent of the 1940s.

Lucca Troutman (Yum-Yum) and Jean-Paul Jones (Nanki-Poo)
in a scene from Hot Mikado (Photo by: Ben Krantz Studio)

San Francisco's 42nd Street Moon is currently presenting this delightfully jazzed-up Bell & Bowman version in a production that has been directed and choreographed by Jeffrey Polk on a unit set designed by Mark Mendelson, with costumes by Marisely O. Cortés Fonseca, lighting by Michael Palumbo and co-music directors Dave Dobrusky and Jon Gallo responsible for getting the cast up to speed.

Jon-David Randle (Pish-Tush), Jean-Paul Jones (Nanki-Poo),
Lucca Troutman (Yum-Yum), and Amie Shapiro (Pitti-Sing)
in a scene from Hot Mikado (Photo by: Ben Krantz Studio)

As someone who grew up listening to the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company's recording of The Mikado, I was fascinated to see how the adapters had toyed with the script and made strategic cuts in the score (such as eliminating Act I's "Our Great Mikado, Virtuous Man," "So Please You, Sir, We Much Regret," and Act II's "Mi-ya Sa-ma," "The Criminal Cried As He Dropped Him Down," and "See How The Fates Their Gifts Allot").

Vinh Nguyen, Jon-David Randle, Jaron Vesely, Nick Rodriguez
(Ensemble), and Michael Motroni (Ensemble) in a scene
from Hot Mikado (Photo by: Ben Krantz Studio)

The Mikado's three little maids were transformed into an Andrews Sisters-style girl group with Christine Capsuto-Shulman as Peep-Bo, Amie Shapiro as Pitti-Sing, and Lucca Troutman as Yum-Yum. Kelly Houston's Poo-Bah, Jaron Vesely's Ko-Ko, and Jon-David Randle's Pish-Tush did an excellent job with the "I Am So Proud" trio. In Act II, Vesely's Ko-Ko and Michelle Ianiro's bloodthirsty Katisha had a lot of fun with "On A Tree By A River" and "There Is Beauty in the Bellow of the Blast."

Jaron Vesely (Ko-Ko) and Michelle Ianiro (Katisha) in a
scene from Hot Mikado (Photo by: Ben Krantz Studio)

Jean-Paul Jones proved to be a tap-dancing delight as Nanki-Poo, whose feeble attempts at playing a trumpet were razzed by Yum-Yum's tart observation "I knew you were no musician the moment I heard you play." A performer who has been making his oversized presence grandly felt on Bay area stages, Branden Noel Thomas gave the Mikado's entrance a crackling electricity that would have made RuPaul proud and perhaps even a bit jealous.

Branden Noel Thomas made a formidable entrance in the
title role of Hot Mikado (Photo by: Ben Krantz Studio)

I had a blast watching Hot Mikado and noticed that (unlike several recent productions of Gilbert & Sullivan's operetta in cities across the United States) there were no cries of "cultural appropriation" or demands that people stop performing in yellowface -- factors which made the wit, music, and jazz arrangements of this 1986 adaptation even more delightful.

Michelle Ianiro as the lovesick Katisha in Hot Mikado
(Photo by: Ben Krantz Studio)

Performances of Hot Mikado continue at the Gateway Theatre through October 13 (click here for tickets).