Mikado clip 1 - I've got a little list

[jmacleve]

Love the reference to EuroDisney "Voici Mickey Mouse!" LOL!

[46619TAB]

I have a list. It's a VERY LONG list and among others, includes MOST U.S. politicians.

[SatanisaBeaverShark]

We did this in my community theater. Seeing as I live in Illinois, we put Rod Blagojevich and the Chicago Cubs on the list.

[nudeone34]

ah, the List...put Keith Olbermann on it.

[intercomsec]

There was a time when the D'oyly Carte got very up themselves back in the 60s & 70s, but its good to hear them following in the best tradition of G&S. This production was brilliant!

[flashfire505]

I'm 14 years old. I listen to Dubstep and play COD. I EFFING LOVE GILBERT AND SULLIVAN!

[swrdgrl]

American productions tend to stage G&S traditionally because it's usually fresh to the audience.

[afrohally]

Who was the Welsh MP?

[his3spf]

@afrohally Kinnock

[mridley6]

whats with the bleating?

[firestartertwistedfi]

Jonathan Miller it ain't

[choirfreak26]

Lyric Opera of Chicago just ran this show and they added a whole extra verse that included the names of all the composers of the upcoming operas in this season. On the supertitles screen they put the name of the opera associated with the composer being mentioned and something clever like "great seats still available!" I thought that was very cute!

[sederylo]

@choirfreak26 That was hilarious!

[JoshFzr]

Is this Fenton Gray?

[millerandhammonds]

@JoshFzr

yes it is!

[RennanizedRen]

@blcdfblcdf Thumbs-up XD I actually have Stewie's version in my mp3 player!

[Hikikomori013]

Following the BR bit with "The Extra Lyricist" was brilliantly wicked.

[Elanchana]

"And the people who admit they like the Eurovision song" Which one?? XD

[phemyda94]

my favorite version of this song, both in writing and performance

[anglocowboy]

Why did they make him look like Woody Allen? He was evil enough already.

[charkee1]

Wow what a perfect description of the royal family.

[SHADOWFREAK55]

LOL wtf is with his kimono?

[YukinaYoukai]

kimono to simple for high born lady's

[mikerubb]

Hmmm How I miss John Reed, Donald Adams, Kenneth Sandford..

[yumyummoany]

Fab list!

[Chayastri]

Is this available on DVD? If not, will someone based in the UK nag BBC2 for it?

[chrishanson70]

This is my favorite song purely because of it's rewritable ability... it's like a little joke between the audience and you, something that can be modernized for the humor of being modernized.

[blcdfblcdf]

Thumbs up if family guy brought you here

^_^

[chrishanson70]

@blcdfblcdf Did they do a version of this on that show?

[Lissbirds]

When I saw this locally years ago they made a reference to Amtrak instead. I love how this song is rewritten for its venue. :)

[nuppanan]

Kudos on the vid upload. I think the rail joke is spot on, the limp handshake crack can only be understood by real men so I suppose it's a minority joke..

[hippopotamo]

by far the best G&S production I've ever seen- but I should expect no less from D'oyly Carte.

[Applejack70]

This is a most excellent production together with some very competent and professional performers.

[dhastie3000]

its soo good looking for the origins of family guy songs, especially when they are just as good :-D

[chrismerk99]

this is one of the best G&S ever

[barmanjoe]

I just love how suddenly he just opens his enormous costume like a door and walks out of it to reveal his tiny self, it's just the funniest and cleverest portrayal of the lord high executioner!!!

[blahdiblah2010]

@barmanjoe he's unbelievable!!! he was in the production i saw 4 years ago! amazing

[Grauenstadt]

No kidding, that Eurovision song's about as bad — maybe even worse — than the Canadian national anthem!

[loulouanthropo]

Grauenstad, je ne vois pas le rapport.

[tmotn]

I LOVE THIS KOKO!!!!!!!

[lolmathlol]

hahah, watch the stewieparody on this. freakin hilarious!

[typacsk]

In my opinion, one of Macfarlane's redeeming qualities is his taste for G&S.

[billh891]

Just great!! I wish that more c ompanies did not update material---though one does have to remove some racist comments. That said, just like American Folk Music one can listen to it as long as one puts into the perspective of its time. My favorite Doyly Carte patter song performer was Martyn Green--sadly badly hurt in a garage accident in NYC in the 1950s

[lskarin]

billh891:

Actually it was an elevator (lift) accident in New York City (1959) that he incurred his leg amputation. But he still performed thereafter.

He has a small part in The Iceman Cometh -- a televised production that not only includes Green, but an early Robert Redford.

BTW,

[lskarin]

Must correct myself. Martyn Green was in the Lee Marvin film production -- not the televised one 13 years previous.

Sorry.

[jamanticus]

Only 4.5 stars out of 5?

This vid deserves 6 out of 5- Gilbert and Sullivan for the win!

[tikimuppet]

I love this... when I saw it live said little list stretched right across the stage. I found it very amusing when I was 5 XD

[youknowhowtoloveme]

this was the d'oyly carte opera company version filmed in 1992 live at Buxton Opera House. Fenton Gray as Ko-Ko, Gary Montaine as Pooh Bah.

[TibetIssra]

this is FANTASTIC! Which version is this? I want to see the full version if there is a video available for purchase.

[compeld2sing]

I believe the libretti have been changed (for "I've Got a Little List"). I heard this song numerous times at rehearsals (when I was in Mikado) and those are not the words I remember.

Directors do that often. You can tell it can't be the original when he mentioned the subway and Mickey Mouse. That is SUPER UPDATED. Neither of these existed in G & S days.

[TibetIssra]

Oh definitely a new version. But can you tell me which company is performing? If there is a video of this version I would love to see it, the WHOLE Mikado I mean.

[compeld2sing]

Well, I don't know about a video of this EXACT version, however the compny, I'm pasting straight from the descripton of this video, as following: D'oyly Carte Opera Company. 1990/92 production on BBC2.

You might want to google them and find out more. Maybe it IS possible to get a tape, or DVD of this version.

If you do find it, please let me know (and if I find one, I will let YOU know). Good luck.

[tikimuppet]

They updated because of various racist lyrics

[eharris89]

How on earth are the original lyrics racist? They're satirical.

[tikimuppet]

Mainly the use of the word "nigger" and making fun of transvestites, I believe

[NixonIn2008]

"dresses like a Guy" (notice the capitalization) is a reference to Guy Fawkes, not being a transvestite.

[typacsk]

I heard the former was directed toward "minstrel" performers

[ghughesarch]

The line, "and that singular anomaly, the extra lyricist", does give it away a bit. (I believe for this production the extra lyricist was Kit Hesketh-Harvey of cabaret act "Kit and the Widow"

[TheJazzManKing]

wow! a sci-fi setting! THIS IS AWSOME!

[eoppen]

And their costumes even look reasonably authentically Japanese! Isn't that one of the biblical signs of Armageddon?

[jonafun516]

a top hat and side burns? that it not authentic at all!

[000nour000]

HAHAHA he's fabulous!!! he really knows how to play the audience!!!

[xenbear]

I want to see the 'I am so proud...' section culminating in the 'big black block' song from this production....

[KatherineXIX]

I'd love to see that, too! The Ko-Ko, Pooh-Bah, and Pish-Tush are awesome in the clips I've seen, and that's one of my favorite numbers.

[NaomiBainu]

If you will indulge me here, I think that no one does KoKo better than Clive Revill in the 1982 BBC performance. He is extrarodinary. He gets at the hypocracy and self-serving character of KoKo; and he interprets the script in a completely fresh and inside out way. Check it out if you can. He's brilliant.

[KaiseRex42]

Excellent!

[jesse2282]

This is probably one of the best casts I've ever seen, and the best Koko I've ever seen particularly.

[laurabryannan]

This is a wonderful production, and somehow I've missed it until now.  Thanks for posting!

[daisybtoes]

I kinda like the silly Lord High Executioner costume.

[FinalFreek]

i agree you get the impresian (pardon the spelling) that he's tall and scary but then you find out he's quite small and weedy.

[taureleafsilver]

I think this is one of funniest Ko-Kos I've seen. And that coustume is one of the most ingenious things ever made!

[slobone]

Not to be pedantic, but the British Rails reference isn't part of Gilbert's original text. I have a feeling this version has accumulated several layers of lyrics over the years...

[FinalFreek]

no i don't think so becuase the railways had just been invented and the only locomotive that was on those railways was the rocket made by the the geordie george steveson british railways are a lot younger

[WilsonsAngel]

Im currently in a production of the mikado n all characters r like these are xx

[CaptainShimmy]

Our Mikado was a fairly sadistic jerk. Nanki Poo was reminiscent of Fonzie. You could tell he was far too cool for KoKo. YumYum was fairly played to type. And Katisha was far more pathetic and lonely than loud and obnoxious. But it all worked well enough.

[CaptainShimmy]

I was in a production not too long ago. Our interpretations of the characters was limited by the people who volunteered. Our Pooh-Bah was more of a harried adviser, doing his best to keep the empire running, despite our KoKo, who was played by someone with a natural charisma and he was a fairly big guy. So he was played more as 'the highest ranking dork in Japan' and was followed simply because of his charm and relative intelligence.

[thomasking55]

Companies staging the plays add their own bits to them. The original words are quite dated and unfunny, some are arguably a teeny bit racist. I view Light Opera as a sort of pantomime.

The Opera House in this presentation is at Buxton, as seen in Mikado clip 10.

[MrViola94]

@thomasking55 I think the whole thing in general is pretty racist but hey...it's funny.

[skinbyrd1985]

@MrViola94 If I recall correctly, Gilbert and Sullivan were commissioned to write this for the Japanese (I think) ambassadors who were paying a visit to England. They nearly weren't allowed to stage it because the English were worried about the Japanese taking offense, but in the end it went ahead and the Japanese loved it.

[PatterSongSA]

@skinbyrd1985 Not quite.

They wrote it because Gilbert had visited a Japanese exhibit and bought a sword, then saw it plummet to the ground, inspiring him to do something about Japanese executions. The story you're thinking of has was the 1908 (IIRC) revival when the Crown Prince of Japan visited and the British Government forced the D'Oyly Carte to pull the show while the Crown Prince was in town. The Prince was actually disappointed and had been looking forward to seeing the show.

[MrViola94]

@skinbyrd1985 Neato. It's always a good thing when a country can take a joke at itself. =D that's a problem we have today.

[eshbena]

@thomasking55

The original words are very funny if you get the references, if not, then they might be baffling.

[phantom12321]

@thomasking55 yeah it was written as satire. Satire of out of date things or no longer known people isn't very effective.

[shagya49]

This is really funny. Were there other changes to the performance or just in Ko-Ko's presentation? Where did this take place?

[KatherineXIX]

Actually, I think this is my favorite Ko-Ko. My favorite Pooh-Bah, too...except the Pooh-Bah in the production I'm in!

[thomasking55]

I've included the opening titles of the Opera House.

How might a G&S performance in America be done differently?

[KatherineXIX]

Ours is pretty similar to this one (i.e. it is actually set in Japan in traditional dress), but our Pooh-Bah is a little more deep-voiced and condescending (while this one is more like an English dandy, but hilarious nonetheless). I'm Peep-Bo, and we're making her a lot cattier/bitchier, what with her lines in the beginning of Act II - it's practically a nothing part, and you can pretty much do with it what you please. Eric Idle was a great Ko-Ko as well!

[slobone]

There was a TV version a while back with Groucho Marx as Ko-Ko. Priceless!

[Avyncentia]

@KatherineXIX Absolutely my favorite Ko-Ko and Pooh-Bah as well.

[Dystopiaman]

Great presentation!