The Swing Mikado
Encyclopedia
The Swing Mikado is an operetta
in two acts with music arranged by Gentry Warden, based on Gilbert and Sullivan
's comic opera, The Mikado
. It was first staged by an all-black company in Chicago
in 1938, transferring to Broadway
, and featured a setting transposed from Japan to a tropical island. Other changes from the original work included the re-scoring of five of the musical numbers in "swing" style, the insertion of popular dance sequences including "The Truck" and "The Cakewalk," and the rewriting of some of the dialogue in an attempt at "black dialect". Other than that, the original dialogue and score of 1885 were used.http://ase.tufts.edu/gsc/GSS/presentations2002.html The show was also presented at the 1939 San Francisco World's Fair
.http://www.umich.edu/~afroammu/standifer/hairston.html
's Federal Theatre Project
. The production was conceived, staged, and directed by Harry Minturn, with swing re-orchestrations of Arthur Sullivan's music by Warden, and starring Maurice Cooper as Nanki-Poo. After a five-month run in Chicago, the production moved to Broadway where it had a run of 86 performances. Its success inspired producer Mike Todd
to mount a similar production, The Hot Mikado
(1939). There is disagreement over whether or not the production reinforced negative racial stereotypes.
The opening night in New York was attended by Eleanor Roosevelt
, Harry Hopkins
and Mayor LaGuardia. The New York Times
reviewer, Brooks Atkinson
, gave it a good, if patronizing, review, praising Maurice Cooper as "a Nanki-Poo of superior voice and articulate acting capability" but complaining that the large company of "sepia show-folk" [sic] included "some that only fumble the music." Atkinson indicated that "after a slow start the show goes on a bender, the performers grin and strut and begin stamping out the hot rhythms with an animal frenzy. 'Za-zu-za-zu,' the three little maids from school say huskily, breaking down into a smoking caper. All this is something to see and hear ... the chorus includes some dusky wenches who can dance for the Savoyard jitterbugs with gleaming frenzy, tossing their heads in wild delight ... when [the company] gives The Mikado a Cotton Club
finish, they raise the body temperature considerably."
Act 2
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
in two acts with music arranged by Gentry Warden, based on Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
's comic opera, The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
. It was first staged by an all-black company in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1938, transferring to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, and featured a setting transposed from Japan to a tropical island. Other changes from the original work included the re-scoring of five of the musical numbers in "swing" style, the insertion of popular dance sequences including "The Truck" and "The Cakewalk," and the rewriting of some of the dialogue in an attempt at "black dialect". Other than that, the original dialogue and score of 1885 were used.http://ase.tufts.edu/gsc/GSS/presentations2002.html The show was also presented at the 1939 San Francisco World's Fair
Golden Gate International Exposition
The Golden Gate International Exposition , held at San Francisco, California's Treasure Island, was a World's Fair that celebrated, among other things, the city's two newly-built bridges. The San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge was dedicated in 1936 and the Golden Gate Bridge was dedicated in 1937...
.http://www.umich.edu/~afroammu/standifer/hairston.html
Background and productions
The Swing Mikado was a production of the WPAWorks Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
's Federal Theatre Project
Federal Theatre Project
The Federal Theatre Project was a New Deal project to fund theatre and other live artistic performances in the United States during the Great Depression. It was one of five Federal One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administration...
. The production was conceived, staged, and directed by Harry Minturn, with swing re-orchestrations of Arthur Sullivan's music by Warden, and starring Maurice Cooper as Nanki-Poo. After a five-month run in Chicago, the production moved to Broadway where it had a run of 86 performances. Its success inspired producer Mike Todd
Mike Todd
Michael Todd was an American theatre and film producer, best known for his 1956 production of Around the World in Eighty Days, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture...
to mount a similar production, The Hot Mikado
The Hot Mikado (1939 production)
The Hot Mikado was a 1939 musical theatre adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado with an African-American cast. Mike Todd originally produced it after the Federal Theatre Project turned down his offer to manage the WPA production of The Swing Mikado .The Hot Mikado was jazzier than The...
(1939). There is disagreement over whether or not the production reinforced negative racial stereotypes.
The opening night in New York was attended by Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
, Harry Hopkins
Harry Hopkins
Harry Lloyd Hopkins was one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's closest advisers. He was one of the architects of the New Deal, especially the relief programs of the Works Progress Administration , which he directed and built into the largest employer in the country...
and Mayor LaGuardia. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reviewer, Brooks Atkinson
Brooks Atkinson
Justin Brooks Atkinson was an American theatre critic. He worked for The New York Times from 1925 to 1960...
, gave it a good, if patronizing, review, praising Maurice Cooper as "a Nanki-Poo of superior voice and articulate acting capability" but complaining that the large company of "sepia show-folk" [sic] included "some that only fumble the music." Atkinson indicated that "after a slow start the show goes on a bender, the performers grin and strut and begin stamping out the hot rhythms with an animal frenzy. 'Za-zu-za-zu,' the three little maids from school say huskily, breaking down into a smoking caper. All this is something to see and hear ... the chorus includes some dusky wenches who can dance for the Savoyard jitterbugs with gleaming frenzy, tossing their heads in wild delight ... when [the company] gives The Mikado a Cotton Club
Cotton Club
The Cotton Club was a famous night club in Harlem, New York City that operated during Prohibition that included jazz music. While the club featured many of the greatest African American entertainers of the era, such as Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Adelaide Hall, Count Basie, Bessie Smith,...
finish, they raise the body temperature considerably."
Musical numbers
Act 1- A Wandering Minstrel - Nanki-Poo and Male Chorus
- Our Great Mikado - Pish-Tush and Male Chorus
- Young Man Despair - Pooh-Bah, Pish-Tush and Nanki-Poo
- Behold the Lord High Executioner - Ko-Ko and Male Chorus
- I've Got a Little List - Ko-Ko and Male Chorus
- Three Little Maids from School - Yum-Yum, Pitti-Sing, Peep-Bo and Girls Chorus
- So Pardon Us - Yum-Yum, Pitti-Sing, Peep-Bo, Pooh-Bah, Pish-Tush and Girls Chorus
- Were You Not to Ko-Ko Plighted - Yum-Yum and Nanki-Poo
- I Am So Proud - Ko-Ko, Pooh-Bah and Pish-Tush
Act 2
- Braid the Raven Hair - Pitti-Sing and Girls Chorus
- Moon Song (The Moon and I) - Yum-Yum and Quintet
- Madrigal - Yum-Yum, Pitti-Sing, Nanki-Poo and Pish-Tush
- Here's a How-de-do - Yum-Yum, Nanki-Poo and Ko-Ko
- The Mikado - Katisha and The Mikado
- I'm the Emperor of Japan - The Mikado and Chorus
- The Criminal Cried - Ko-Ko, Pitti-Sing and Pooh-Bah
- A Is Happy - The Mikado, Pooh-Bah, Pitti-Sing, Ko-Ko and Katisha
- Flowers That Bloom in the Spring - Pitti-Sing, Ko-Ko, Katisha, Pooh-Bah, Nanki-Poo, Dancers and Quintet
- Titwillow - Ko-Ko
- There Is Beauty in the Bellows of the Blast - Katisha and Ko-Ko