The Mikado

Last night I had the dubious priviledge of attending the WA Opera's performance of "The Mikado" for the City of Perth's Opera in the Park. If this hadn't been a free concert I would probably have been seeking a refund as for a semi professional outfit the performance was poor to say the least. I had the feeling that the so called opera singers felt that lowly G&S was beneath them and there was a sense of disinterest that permeated the pereformance. I had the great pleasure of seeing the Aus Opera perform the same piece in Sydney last September and it was one of the best nights I have ever spent in the theatre, this was true professionalism that the WA group should see and aspire to! Whilst the WASO was in fine form I felt that the pace set by the conductor was too varied, generally on the slow side at times bordering in being "dirgy" The provision of sub titles on the big screens can be useful for those not familiar with the story it is also fraught with danger should the singers sing the wrong words as was all too frequently the case last night. Roberto Abate as Nanki-Poo may be a promising talent but he has a lot to learn about stage presence. Comic Opera is not High Opera and as a result the portrayal should be aimed at the genre and not turned into an attempt at Italianate style as tended to be the case. Andrew Foote as Pish-Tush was in fine form and showed his grasp of G&S no doubt the result of his many performances in his formative years as a singer spent with the local G&S Society. Jennifer Barrington as Yum-Yum sang sweetly enough but again lacked a believable stage characterisation. Robert Hofmann as Ko-Ko did not possess the quality of diction in either song or spoken word to make the most of one of the best comic roles in G&S. Sarah Dougiamas was acceptable vocally but whoever told her that a "mad" hairdo was enough to establish the character of Katisha was sadly amiss. The charactisationand some of the choreography was more suited to "Mad Margaret" from Ruddigore! Finally surely the City of Perth could have arranged for the ridiculous ferris wheel to have dimmed its lights for a couple of hours rather than have it distracting the eye from the stage! It was a beautiful Perth Autumn night and the venue is excellent. Many family groups enjoyed a pleasant picnic, it was a pity the performance was not of the same standard as the venue, weather and sense of community that was on display.

Yes, I have heard similar descriptions from friends over the last few years concerning this free annual concert. It's sad to think that our premier musical theatre company cannot seem to pull together a production worthy of the name once a year... and given that this is probably their best opportunity of the year to entice new subscribers and really showcase their skills, if they had any sense, they would attempt to make THIS production their best one of the year. Anyway, having not seen it, I shall comment no further. Jason

I have just read Maljos comments. I only agree with the fact that the venue was great, as was the night and weather. Of the production, I thought it was great. The Mikado was "localised" with referenced to various persons for the "list" etc. I thought the cast presented the production very well and I and my family thoroughly enjoyed the evening. It may not have been the perfect reproduction of G&S, but it was damn fine all the same and instead of shooting the people down,try to encourage instead. I have seen many of these singers in other productions and they are VERY good, still with things to learn but even they will acknowledge that. Maybe you should try to enjoy yourself...life is too short to be sour at less than perfection....I doubt that the great Pavarotti would be able to please you.

I too have heard many of the performers in other productions and they were on the whole considerably better than they displayed on Saturday evening. It is knowing what they are capable of that compounded my disappointment. I doubt if there has been a production of The Mikado in the last 50 years that hasn't localised the words to 'As some day it may happen". I agree the words were clever, it was their delivery that I criticised. I have been told that even some of the cast felt they were substantially under rehearsed and this in my opinion was sadly all too evident. It is almost impossible to see a production of "the Mikado" and not enjoy it, the music and humour has well and truly withstood the test of time, however if a performance is below the standard one should expect from a professional company one in a review would be less than honest if those shortcomings were not mentioned. You are correct, the great Pavarotti would not be able to please me, he died some time ago!!

To address a point raised by Kevin "It may not have been the perfect reproduction of G&S, but it was damn fine all the same and instead of shooting the people down,try to encourage instead." I guess the disappointment felt by Maljos in his/her original review stems from the unfortunate fact that one comes to a production by WA Opera with certain expectations, being as they are the premier operatic company in WA. Therefore the bar of audience expectation is raised a smidge higher than if it had been a school production. Before you deride this comment, I should point out that I played Ko-ko in the Perth Modern School production in 1989 alongside Emma Matthews (nee Lysons) as Yum-Yum. As befits this country's pre-eminent young soprano, I've never heard the role of Yum-Yum sung better; live or recorded. And this was a "school production." Should it be the case that maljos felt a little let down, why can't they say so? In a similar vein I would ask that Kevin not be so quick off the mark to "shoot people down", when the critique offered is balanced, well considered and devoid of malice. If it was a total hatchet job, you'd have a very good point. Eliot McCann

As a member of the co. I should point out that we are neither a semi-professional company, nor a musical theatre co. We a fully-professional paid opera company. Everyone on the stage at the show was paid a full- MEAA certified agreement performance rate or better. (Chorus are casual though, with many holding entirely unrelated day jobs as there is not enough work to go full time in Perth) I will also point out that I was neither in this production, nor saw any of it at any point. The following is my own 'general' opinion, and I don't in any way speak for the company. Your review is a little worrying for myself, and I hope the company as a whole. I would recommend that anyone who saw Mikado and was dissatisfied should definitely make your thoughts known to WAO, as that feedback is necessary to improve (and believe it or not, they are unlikely to be scanning the Theatre Australia website for a review!). As correctly stated above, this is the big showcase of the company and should attract new subscribers rather than repel them! The lack of feedback will leave everyone thinking that it was 'OK' or possibly even great, which is not what I have heard from any of my friends or family who were there. I have always felt since before my time in chorus, and now as a member of the company that at times we are unable (due to the incredible cost of truly professional opera) to prepare productions to a pro level required for the opera in the park. They are regularly under-rehearsed and not nearly the same money is spent here as is on any staged production. It can't be. Opera is stupidly expensive to do well. (I'm thinking of the incredible amount of money spent on the Aida a couple of years back with Graeme Murphy- stunning in both look and cost!) There simply isn't enough money in it to justify the expense. We are also guilty of choosing often inappropriate repertoire. I thought Mikado was an obvious option for the co. to connect with the general public. However, if the production was indeed under rehearsed, miscast or otherwise messed up I am deeply upset at the wasted opportunity. (It does unfortunately tie into the feedback I have heard from many friends and colleagues, both within the show and without) What is most upsetting however is that less than a month ago, this very same company put on an incredibly successful and powerful staged production of one of the 20th century's greatest operas, Peter Grimes. Many of the voices mentioned above were thrillingly good in this production, and demonstrated their abilities to a greater degree. (Perhaps indeed there was an issue with some I suspect of G&S being 'below' them though.) Unfortunately I didn't see a review of this incredible event on this site, with probably the best orchestral sound I have ever heard coming from the pit with the Australian Youth Orchestra. This is one of the trickiest works in the repertoire and your company did it very well indeed. Unfortunately too few people got to see it with only 3 shows, and the likelihood we couldn't have sold many more in dear old Perth. (all 3 did sell out though) I'd also point out that the casual chorus and many of the leads in this show have just done Grimes, and are learning/rehearsing both Mikado and Carmen at the moment, and it is unfortunately inevitable with a company that isn't full time that this level of workload (learning 3 shows/roles simultaneously) may cause some work to suffer, especially for the younger singers. The reality is that O in the P is the least important of these 3 productions for most involved. However, none of the above really forgives the O in the P production being less than brilliant, as that is what everyone on the stage is being paid for, from the lowliest chorus member through to the conductor and director. I hope you do send feedback to the company as this will be the only way we can improve. I am still uncertain as to whether or not WA should revive its G&S Society with some cash, and leave comic-opera to a company and people who love it, and leave WAO to doing high-opera well- which it both loves and indeed does well. I am a great believer in people and organisations only doing things they love. and yes Eliot, I watched that PMS Mikado production as a spotty 12 year old, just after finding out I'd won a scholarship to go to Mod, and I remember almost wetting myself in excitement at knowing I was going to a school with that high a quality of student. It remains the best Mikado I have seen or been involved with, including the John English/Simon gallagher Production back in the 90's. This show went a long way to developing the continued admiration and respect I have had for many of the cast of that show for the ensuing decades since... :-) Anyway- 1. give your feedback to the only people who can act on it- the company. 2. Get to the staged productions and revel in the incredible talent (esp the younger guys) of the WAO. 3. tell the Festival of Perth and WAO what you want to see at these events- demand it. Or you will keep getting what they think you 'should' see, whether you like it or not. 4. As much as a nice picnic on a nice night is... 'nice', the money spent on this production by the groups involved (all tax payer subsidised) means that the show should be better. I know that everyone involved would have wanted to have done their best effort possible. Hoping I won't get in too much trouble! Neville It's the simple things stupid...