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The Mikado (by Gilbert & Sullivan)

24th Street Theatre at Sierra 2
Sacramento, CA

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The Mikado (by Gilbert & Sullivan)

Light Opera Theatre of Sacramento (LOTS) is proud to present Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Mikado," or "The Town of Tipitu."

This comedic (and highly satirical) story takes place in Japan, where the fate and rank of the town of Tipitu rests in the hands of the emperor (The Mikado), who has declared that flirting is a crime and that if an execution isn't carried out within a month, the town will be downgraded to a "village."

If the townspeople could agree on who to execute everything would be alright. But, of course, this proves quite difficult. Why? The obvious choice is the locally-condemned town prisoner (Ko-Ko), except he is actually the local executioner. And, since an executioner can't execute himself, Ko-Ko makes a deal with a wandering musician (Nanki-Poo) to allow him to marry the maiden of his dreams (Yum-Yum) if only he'll agree to be executed after one month instead of committing suicide, because Yum-Yum was already scheduled to marry Ko-Ko. But then an elderly woman (Katisha) arrives on the scene to marry Nanki-Poo (who runs off with Yum-Yum). Fake death certificates are created ahead of a visit to the town by the Mikado himself, who is actually just looking for his lost son (also Nanki-Poo). The massive conundrum, as with all Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, is resolved on a technicality. We're confident you won't be able to keep that all straight, unless you go see the show in person.

"The Mikado" is perhaps the the most often performed Gilbert & Sullivan work and was last presented by LOTS in 2004.

We're proud to present this with a full and live orchestra, conducted by David Mschler, who recently conducted the company's performance of "Trial by Jury" and was seen conducting UC Davis's "Oklahoma!" in 2009 and is currently conducting The Shotgun Players production of "The Threepenny Opera." Debbie Baad is stage director.