The Mikado??

i suppose i had better right this review as, i have promised a number of midnite members that i would.

Last friday i attended the Midnite Youth Theatre's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado". Of all Gilbert and Sullivan opperetta's the Mikado has to be my favourite. I found the Midnite production to be highly entertaining and to be filled with amusement and froth as a production like the Mikado should be.

All leads gave strong performances, but in particular i would like to point out the performances of Mark Desebrock, as a disturbingly kreepy koko, Kurt nourvillas(sorry Kurt if i spelt your last name wrong) as pooh-bar, Jaya Henderson as yum-yum, a rather apt name and claire (arggh, can't remember last name!) as a katicher who definentley got her charachter across well as i could have sworn that i was looking at Margret Thatcher (I think at this point i should point out that i was too cheap to by a program, so if i deeply offend anyone by not spelling names correctly i whole heartedly apologize).

The chorus, lacked the life and vitality of the principals and let the show down. Their projection was poor and alot of words became garbled and unclear leaving the audience to fill in certain gaps of what was happening within the story line.

For the most part the show managed to avoid putting injokes about their school, however it still occoured i think this left a large amount of the audience feeling as though they had been left out in the cold. His Maj is an amazing venue and the set equally reflected this, making good use the oriental fans for changes of scene instead of relying on blackouts or curtains. The humour of the tea set on the actors heads went straight over my head, perhaps they were just a little potty? sorry, i'll avoid from making bad puns like that in future. Nick Pinks' lighting design made a great addition to atmosphere and reflected the vibrant whites and greens and reds we find in japanese art work, it certainly gave the feeling that we were watching a story that had been painted onto a fan and had magically come to life before us.

The show was indeed quite lavish, and probably a tad too extravagant. I seem to remember a golf buggy appearing on stage at one point in the show, which made me scratch my head and think that perhaps the show had more money than it knew what to do with.

oh yes just before i finish, there was one thing that really had me squirming in my seat. This is my first review on theatre Australia and it probably won't be the last so get used to this coming up becuase it happens alot in productions. The makeup on certain principals was appaling. AGE LINES! BIG BROWN DIRTY LINES all over the actors faces, age lines are not necessary, i felt that they really detracted from an otherwise fantastic production, my hope is that some future directors will read this and put an end to those ugly guady age lines being plastered all over the faces of young actors in high schools and youth theatre productions around the country.

All in All however Midnite's Mikado was highly entertaining, funny and beautiful. The Guys and Gals at Midnite should congratulate themselves on yet another success