The Mikado January 9, 2011

Wit, charm, fabulous music and lyrics — it's the most celebrated operetta in the English-speaking world, and it’s been tickling funny bones for more than a hundred years!

How can you not have a good time visiting the town of Titipu, where Nanki-Poo (second trombone in a minstrel band) wants to marry the lovely schoolgirl Yum-Yum? Alas — she's promised to Ko-Ko (a tailor), who's changed his occupation to Lord High Executioner so he can save himself from being beheaded for the horrible crime of...flirting! But the Mikado, ruler of all, insists that heads must roll!

"Tit-Willow"..."Three Little Maids from School"..."The Flowers that Bloom in the Spring"...and more!

James Morris: The world's Wotan and Scarpia of choice as the Mikado? You bet, says Morris, who loves the role!

Neal Davies: This bass-baritone luminary had audiences laughing and cheering for his Major-General in Lyric's Pirates of Penzance in 2004.

Opera News calls Stephanie Blythe "a comic wonder" as the battle-axe Katisha, who wants to send Yum-Yum packing so she can marry Nanki-Poo.

Toby Spence: The ideal Nanki-Poo, he's cute, charming, and sings with "perfect panache." The Independent, London

Official Website: http://www.lyricopera.org/tickets/production.aspx?performanceNumber=9799