Mikado Madness

Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado wasn’t just a hit operetta, it was a cultural phenomenon and a marketing juggernaut. You could buy Mikado-themed corsets, stoves, condoms, toothpaste, and tomatoes, and it was the basis for many adaptations, from dueling jazz-based versions — The Hot Mikado and The Swing Mikado — that both ran on Broadway in 1939 to the Swinging 60’s Cool Mikado to 2010’s The Mikado Project. There were even early television versions starring Groucho Marx and Tennessee Ernie Ford. We’ll explore this rich heritage through many video excerpts and plentiful period imagery.

PRESENTER

Mark Tiarks studied opera and theater in London as a Watson Foundation fellow, then served as artistic administrator of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, general director of Chicago Opera Theater, and director of strategic planning and marketing at Santa Fe Opera. He now writes on music, opera, film, and popular culture for The Santa Fe New Mexican.

Host or Publisher RENESAN Institute for Lifelong Learning