By: Janos Bajtala

Janos Bajtala — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 18:02:01 +0000

While your positive comments about the Black Mikado is much appreciated, I am not sure about the relevance of the Hot Mikado – none of us knew anything about that production when we sat down to re-arrange and orchestrate the G&S score. I might add, I am not much impressed with your previous contributor’s comments who recons he saw the show, but still calls it Hot Mikado. Then, mentions the “only white actor”, but has nothing to say about the “remainder” black artistes, some twenty four of them, whose energy, exuberance and creativity made the production the success it was. If he didn’t get that, he wasn’t there! By the way, the world premiere of the Black Mikado took place at the Kings Theatre in Edinburgh.

By: John Groves

John Groves — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 08:51:11 +0000

I saw the Hot Mikado way back in 1975. The only white actor was Michael Denison as Pooh Bah – the remainder being black. I remember it as being disappointed because it was, even in 1975(I was 25),rather tame. So much more could have been done to ‘Jazz it up’, whereas it was actually quite ‘straight’, in both senses of the word! The Cambridge Theatre in London, at the time, was owned by someone(sorry, his name escapes me), who was a thorn in the flesh of all other West End managers/owners, as he would have nothing to do with them! Some very strange musicals were presented there at the time, such as TROUBADOUR, financed/written by a Japanese millionaire. Originally about 5 hours long, it was drastically shortened, but, even so, the only way they could get even a small audience was to offer free tickets plus a glass of champagne to everyone!!

Comments on: Blacks Doing Yellow-Face, Or Some Very Queer Gilbert & Sullivan

By: Janos Bajtala

By: John Groves