THE MIKADO - NOMINATED FOR BEST PRODUCTION

Tue 7 to Sat 11 March 2006
Kingsley College Theatre, Redditch

Producer - Joy Vater
Musical Director - Norma Kift
Stage Manager - Ian Dixon
Rehearsal Pianist - Carol Griffiths

The Cast

Reviews

"Ian Walton is a Ko-Ko who literally throws himself into his part to take all the honours for the very physical comedy that is a feature of Joy Vater's pleasing production. Other laughs arrive by way of familiar lines and routines, but here is a flourish of fun that finds him throwing himself about the stage. For good measure, he also has an original Little List.

Janna Mutton (Yum-Yum), Tony Jay (Pooh-Bah), Robert Bromley (The Mikado), David Steele (Nanki-Poo) and Barbara Hopton-Wilkes (Katisha) reveal pleasing voices in a show in which the music is given its head to fine effect - the I Am So Proud trio being an excellent example.

Moreover, this is a Katisha who sings that infamous 'daughter-in-law-elect' line without a blemish, backed by an otherwise pleasing chorus who insist on inserting a second R before the final word.

The production, which runs until Saturday, keeps the audience on its toes by having the chorus make intermittent entrances through the auditorium. Musical direction is by Norma Kift."

John Slim, Birmingham Post and Mail

"There's no doubt the Palace Theatre is the best place to stage Gilbert & Sullivan - the period design and decor add an indefinable quality to works written at the time - but Astwood Bank Operatic Society took the opportunities offered at The Kingsley to get up close and personal with the audience to great effect.

The Mikado was everything the audience expects from the accomplished society; and atmospheric set, eye-catching costumes, great contemporary humour, enthusiastic orchestra and vibrant singing, from producer Joy Vater.

As with every production of this great classic Ko-Ko (Ian Walton) carries the performance. Ian not only has a great voice but is also an accomplished actor and held everything together at pace.

Nanki-Poo (David Steele) - another great voice - also turned in a great performance as did The Mikado himself (Robert Bromley), Pooh-Bah (deliciously conceited Tony Jay), Yum-Yum (Janna Mutton), Katisha (fiance from hell with a heavenly voice Barbara Hopton-Wilkes) and the competent chorus.

Suzy Hill, who played Pitti-Sing, was surprisingly strong in both acting and musical terms for her tender age and it was good to see the society is attracting young talent to join the old faithfuls."

AP, for the Redditch Standard

"At 5.00pm on the Friday evening I saw this show, Mike Faulkner agreed to play Nanki-Poo as David Steele, who was playing the role, had taken ill. Mike last played the part in 1997 but bravely stepped in and was note perfect in this superb production.

Playing opposite attractive Janna Mutton, and excellent Yum-Yum, and Ian Walton, an ebullient and brilliant Ko-Ko, no doubt was his reward but the tremendous ovation he received showed Mike how much the audience appreciated his talent and professionalism.

All the other principals, chorus, costumes and orchestra were excellent in this memorable performance."

Trevor Guest, NODA West Midlands Area

Nomination for Best Production - The Mikado

We are delighted to announce that our 2006 production of The Mikado was nominated for Best Production in the West Midlands area.

We were narrowly pipped by the eventual winner, but nevertheless, we would like to thank our producer Joy Vater and musical director Norma Kift for helping create such a wonderful, memorable production.

The Japanese Operetta!

Anyone of you who has had an association with Astwood Bank Operatic Society over the years will know that at the AGM, an award is made to the member who has shown dedication to the Society in any way over the previous year. This is called the Nanki-Poo award and comes in the shape of a rather dubious looking piece of chinaware - the accolade is what is coveted, not the actual 'trophy'.

After this year's catalogue of misfortunes it may well be more apt to award it to the person who carries on in the face of adversity, as ABOS had to do this year during the week of their annual production.

It all started at the technical rehearsal when Suzy Hill, playing Pitti-Sing started with a sore throat and very little voice (we put it down to the rock singing she had been doing the night before at her Dad's 50th birthday party but it turned out to be more than that). By dosing herself up and conserving her voice as much as possible she managed the week, recovering well by Friday and Saturday. Not so lucky Tony Jay, playing Pooh-Bah. Despite suffering from the same symptoms he valiantly carried on throughout the week, overcoming a very tricky solo in the finale of Act 1.

Thursday night saw one of our orchestra players succumb to the 'flu but luckily a replacement was found for two nights, but then disaster struck!

David Steele, playing Nanki-Poo, woke up Friday morning absolutely floored by the flu bug, hardly able to stand let alone do a performance. Frantic phone calls between producer, MD and our Ko-Ko, Ian Walton, ensured that the 'show could go on' and Mike Faulkner, no stranger to our Society, valiantly stepped in and saved the day. If we hadn't told the audience I'm sure no-one would have known he was a replacement, he carried it off so fantastically well. However he was already feeling the effects of the 'flu bug that night and had to be dosed up before performing (anyway, that was what I told the Education officer during our inspection when a glass of 'medicine' was being carried to him).

It was anticipated that after 24 hours, David would make a sufficient recovery to be able to perform the last night, but a phone call on Saturday morning soon demonstrated that it would not be possible so once again we called upon Mike. However he was now suffering the full effects of the flu and so too was unable to perform! Ian once again came to the rescue with another recommendation and Tim was dragged out of Crufts to enable our last night to go ahead. Once again a fantastic performance despite not having performed it for a few years.

We really must congratulate our stand–in Nanki-Poos but also everyone in the company who carried on as though nothing was out of the ordinary, particularly our soloists who accommodated the changes effortlessly. It must be quite disconcerting to rehearse for almost 6 months for it to be quite different during the actual show week. Not one night did we have a full chorus also due to illness and personal issues and again we adapted to 'fill the gaps'.

Perhaps in the future 'The Mikado' will have to be called 'The Japanese operetta' by ABOS, in the style of 'The Scottish Play' as actors prefer to call Macbeth. It certainly seemed jinxed to us but as always, Astwood Bank Operatic Society demonstrated their fortitude and staged an excellent performance despite the difficulties.

Melanie Hart, Hon Sec.

Photographs

Click each thumbnail for the bigger picture.

Dress Rehearsal Photographs by David Hart