G&S Re-Conceptualized in Renaissance Italy

Banner design for IL DUCATO (from the City Box Office Web page)

Next month the Lamplighters Music Theatre will revive one of its most ambitious (and, in my own humble opinion, most successful) productions. IL DUCATO took W. S. Gilbert’s text for The Mikado; or The Town of Titipu and transplanted it to an unnamed little town in Renaissance Italy. This re-conceptualization was first performed here in July of 2016; and, more than half a decade later, I still have fond memories of that production. Those that remember Mike Leigh’s Topsy-Turvy, which amounted to a dramatized account of how The Mikado came to be, may recall that there were at least a few cringe-inducing scenes, particularly involving Gilbert recruiting several Japanese girls (working at an exhibition of Japanese arts and crafts in London) to teach his performers how to “act Japanese.”

Ellen Brooks, the original Stage Director, realized that Asians in the audience might find Gilbert’s approach to staging to be demeaning and that a shift in both place and time might be in order. As she put it in her notes for the program:

In the earthy Lombard countryside, Gilbert’s wry and wicked humor, his observation of human foibles and sense of irony are stronger than ever and through this new lens (certainly of Venetian glass) - made even more ridiculous.

Next month Stage Director M. Jane Erwin will pick up the baton from Brooks and revive the transplanted Renaissance spirit of IL DUCATO.

The Music Director and Conductor will be Robby Stafford. As one that spends a generous amount of time at San Francisco Symphony (SFS) performances in Davies Symphony Hall, I have to confess to a certain delight in encountering two SFS Chorus members in the cast. Bass Chung-Wai Soong will sing the title role, and soprano Jennifer Mitchell will be Amiam (Yum-Yum). I also have fond members of contralto Sara Couden’s performances as a student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music; and I am looking forward to seeing her again, this time in the role of Catiscià (Katisha).

This production will be given three performances at the Blue Shield of California Theater at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. The first two will take place on Saturday, August 19, one at 2 p.m. and the other at 7:30 p.m. The final performance will begin at 2 p.m. on Sunday, August 20. City Box Office has created a single Web page for purchasing tickets to all performances, along with an addition option for a livestream of the Sunday performance. Supertitles will be provided for the full dialogue and the sung lyrics.