I am in constant communication with the Mikado of Japan, who is a leading authority on such points

[sovay]

I am so tired that I feel like an idiot. It is difficult to think and difficult to write anything without feeling that I'm doing it wrong. I tried to describe my favorite romance plot from Gilbert and Sullivan's Utopia, Limited (1893) to skygiants earlier this evening and I'm worried it came out like affectionate word salad.

I have fleurdelis28 to thank for introducing me to the operetta; she mentioned it favorably sometime in 2007 and I read the libretto out of the gigantic volume of G&S with illustrations that I inherited from my grandparents and fell in love with the secondary couple on the spot, even though I think I've heard the music exactly once on a road trip. The whole thing is a satire of Englishness set on a fictitious South Seas island recently opened to commerce with Britain, which is one of the reasons I suspect it is rarely performed. I don't remember being knocked over by the music, either, which may be another. And while I suspect the deus ex absurdo of the Joint Stock Company Act of 1862 will still resonate in an era where corporations are considered people, it's a particularly abstruse get-out-of-jail-free card even for G&S. I have nonetheless hoped for a number of years for a local production to turn up, because I love this one thread and it justifies the existence of the rest of the operetta for me.

At the start of the story, King Paramount of Utopia has imported an English governess, the redoubtable Lady Sophy, to educate his two younger daughters as is now the fashion among all the royalty of the South Seas. (The eldest is off at university in England; her return will precipitate the second act.) She's the middle-aged contralto and he is desperately in love with her, but his unscrupulous advisors have taken advantage of a loophole in the Utopian constitution—the government being of the form known as "Despotism tempered by Dynamite," it's always been an option that a King who governs badly can be blown up by order of his Wise Men—to force him under threat of explosion to write scurrilous articles about himself under various pen names, with the result that even his own Public Exploder believes he's an embarrassing libertine. He takes a kind of sad professional pride in his skills as a satirist and is otherwise very depressed. Lady Sophy, meanwhile, having progressed through the courts of Europe with a wreckage of royal hearts in her wake—she vowed to marry only a monarch of blameless character and hasn't found one yet, though not for lack of trying—actually returns Paramount's affections, but his reputation makes it impossible for her to tell him. In person she finds him sweet, smart, and honorable; then she picks up the latest paper and reads such things as would make Elegabalus blush and despairs all over again. Her attempts to determine the truth of the rumors are prevented by Paramount's resigned insistence that he cannot put the authors to death even if they are lying. It's weirdly poignant for a completely ridiculous situation. Fortunately, common sense and legal obfuscation come to their aid: the Princess Zara returns from England, discovers her father's situation, and determines that the solution is to turn Utopia into the joint stock company of the title, legally rendering the King a corporation rather than an individual and therefore no longer subject to dynamiting ("You may wind up a Limited Company, / You cannot conveniently blow it up!"), whereupon Paramount and Lady Sophy come clean to one another, perform an adorable duet, and kiss so enthusiastically that it embarrasses his children. There's more plot, but I pretty much don't care about it. I am in it entirely for the eccentric middle-aged couple who are just so happy to be able to make out at last. My post-canon fantasy is that ex-King Paramount becomes a political humorist on his own time and is very successful at it.

(This is not a movie, of course, and I need to be writing about those. I need to start sleeping more first. It's four in the morning; much chance of that.)

Comments

[skygiants]

You explained all of this to me both clearly and hilariously! (And it's not easy to explain G&S plots in such a way that they're still funny when put through the word processor; I have tried it and failed before.)

[sovay]

(And it's not easy to explain G&S plots in such a way that they're still funny when put through the word processor; I have tried it and failed before.)

Okay, my objectivity is shot. Thank you for the reality check.

I find their relationship both hilarious and touching! Here, by the way, is my horrifically out-of-date post on Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). I can read back about five years in my own entries before I start wanting to rewrite them and this has definitely exceeded that limit, but it's the most I've ever written about the movie in public. Here is my favorite illustration from Bonfires and Broomsticks (1945), the novel.

[genarti]

...What an amazing plot thread. Wow. I love it.

[sovay]

...What an amazing plot thread. Wow. I love it.

It's one of the few genuine, believable love matches in G&S as far as I'm concerned. Its existence makes me so happy.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

That is a fantabulous plot and I don't see why one would need anything else to go with it.

Not 100% off-topic, but close -- I can't remember whether I've ever talked to you about Takarazuka before. All-female musical theatre companies in Japan that appear to be where Golden Age Hollywood's sequins and giant feather fans disappeared to; their male impersonators in particular have obsessive fan followings and one really only has to take a look at 'em to see why. I can dig up video links if desired.

(This digression was brought to you by thinking "that sounds like the kind of plot Takarazuka would perform.")

[sovay]

That is a fantabulous plot and I don't see why one would need anything else to go with it.

I'm glad you agree with me! I really can't remember much of the rest. It just doesn't stick the same way.

Not 100% off-topic, but close -- I can't remember whether I've ever talked to you about Takarazuka before.

I don't know if you've specifically talked to me about Takarazuka before, but I know who they are. I've seen clips of some of their performances online.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

This is delightful, the moreso because I just rewatched Topsy Turvy about a week ago. I impressed on the broadcast of The Mikado from the Stratford Festival when I was about 7, mostly due to the scenic design, but also because light operetta= musical and I was a musical-obsessed child.

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

Good cast too -- I think Eric Donkin may still be my favourite Koko.

[sovay]

I think Eric Donkin may still be my favourite Koko.

"Katisha, for years I have loved you with a white-hot"—fumbles in his sleeve for crib sheet—"passion . . ."

[edit] This is, of course, my favorite version of "On a tree by the river."

[sovay]

I impressed on the broadcast of The Mikado from the Stratford Festival when I was about 7, mostly due to the scenic design, but also because light operetta= musical and I was a musical-obsessed child.

Richard McMillan's Pooh-Bah! I wish I could remember the year my grandparents showed that production to me and my brother; they were taking us to a one-woman show of The Mikado and quite sensibly thought it might be a good idea if we had an idea about the plot beforehand. I'd read the libretto in the aforementioned gigantic volume of G&S and can still remember noticing how the music fit to the lyrics, some of which I'd inadvertently memorized in the way that happens if you read things that rhyme. What I primarily remember about the one-woman Mikado is that she was very good with voices and that they served sushi at the reception afterward. I believe it now to be the first sushi of my life. What I primarily remember about the Stratford Mikado is that it immediately became my definitive version for years.

I still wish the cast of Topsy-Turvy had made a full recording of The Mikado. Louise Gold's Katisha is so good! I really wanted to hear her and Martin Savage do "There Is Beauty in the Bellow of the Blast"!

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

Among the G&S fans on Tumblr, Utopia, Ltd. seems to have quite a following, but yes, figuring out how to costume it without coming off as racist is tricky. I suspect the only recourse may be extremely stylized and nondescript outfits on everybody, or a concert production; even though the temptation to steampunk it up is huge. There are clips from a production (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF2d0_w6MTc) on Youtube with the cast in a mix of Victorian and pseudo-South Asian gear (except Zara, whose dress looks more 1930s), but that's probably still pushing it, although I enjoyed the touch of King Paramount making his entrance on a giant mechanical tortoise.

[sovay]

Among the G&S fans on Tumblr, Utopia, Ltd. seems to have quite a following

I'm glad to know that, actually. I think of it as even more obscure than The Gondoliers (of which I've seen exactly one production in local memory and at least it has the Duke of Plaza-Toro going for it).

but yes, figuring out how to costume it without coming off as racist is tricky. I suspect the only recourse may be extremely stylized and nondescript outfits on everybody, or a concert production; even though the temptation to steampunk it up is huge.

I have the memory that someone on my friendlist saw a production some years ago—pameladean?—which costumed the English characters for the 1920's and the Utopian characters in sarongs and Hawaiian shirts and handled the Anglicization of the island by adding small English sartorial touches to the Hawaiian shirts in ways which made the Utopians look very subversive and chic and the overdressed English silly, which seems to have helped. But you may be right that just not trying to dress the Utopians Oceanically is the best way to go.

(The Mikado, of course, you can set anywhere you like. If you're Jonathan Miller, a seaside hotel in the '20's works just fine.)

I enjoyed the touch of King Paramount making his entrance on a giant mechanical tortoise.

I may have to watch just for that.

[zdenka]

MITG&SP does it every once in a while. I've somehow managed to be in it twice, once in the orchestra and once as one of the interchangeable twins. I can see why it's not popular, but I think parts of the music are very beautiful. I also have a certain fondness for "A tenor, all singers above."

[sovay]

MITG&SP does it every once in a while. I've somehow managed to be in it twice, once in the orchestra and once as one of the interchangeable twins.

Oh, neat. What did they do in terms of production design?

I also have a certain fondness for "A tenor, all singers above."

Fair enough. That's sung by Zara's love interest?

[zdenka]

The productions in question were in 2003 and 1996 respectively, so I might not remember all the details! They weren't concept-y, though. MITG&SP has a collection of Victorian costumes which the English or English-influenced characters wore. For 2003, I think the female chorus members wore sarong-like things and the male chorus wore loose cotton pants with white T-shirts? No one seemed to think it was offensive at the time. The quartet where the two English men persuade the twin princesses that they don't have to be so proper involved them blatantly seducing the girls and getting them drunk, a directorial choice which I was dubious about at the time, though I went along with it.

Yes, the excellently named Captain Fitzbattleaxe. In the 2003 production, our Fitzbattleaxe (who was dating the actress playing Zara in real life) had to miss a bunch of rehearsals for various reasons, so we had some rehearsals where Zara introduced a Fitzbattleaxe who wasn't there. At one of them she jokingly announced, "And this is my boyfriend, Captain Invisible!"

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Our local amateur G&S - which is seeded through and through with friends of ours, including Connie Willis' daughter - did this last season. Which pleased me because it was the one G&S I'd never seen; and then it pleased me all over again by being delightful.

[sovay]

Which pleased me because it was the one G&S I'd never seen; and then it pleased me all over again by being delightful.

Nice!

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

MIT G&S just performed this one this past spring, actually. I didn't manage to go and see it, being at the height of juggling-three-student-populations-at-once job madness while it was playing. Judging from the pictures, the Anglicization of Utopia involved Doctor Who costumes, Harry Potter costumes, and other nontraditional elements.

Mind you, I have no room to talk, as I performed some years back in MITG&SP's modern-dress production of Patience which was probably more egregiously nontraditional.

[sovay]

MIT G&S just performed this one this past spring, actually.

Aw, man! This is a measure of how my life has gone this year: I didn't even hear about it. I would have at least tried to make it if I'd known.

Judging from the pictures, the Anglicization of Utopia involved Doctor Who costumes, Harry Potter costumes, and other nontraditional elements.

That's great. Seriously, that's better than bowler hats.

Mind you, I have no room to talk, as I performed some years back in MITG&SP's modern-dress production of Patience which was probably more egregiously nontraditional.

Oh, yeah? How many years back? [REST OF THIS COMMENT DELETED FOR MOMENTARY FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE WHICH G&S OPERETTA IS WHICH]

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

*checks MITG&SP web site* Good heavens, that was 2006. desireearmfeldt was in that production too, and it was J. Deschene's debut as a mezzo soloist (playing Jane and completely blowing everyone's mind).

For reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture, I got to play Ella. I can't act at all, but it was tremendous fun.

ETA: Was it the production of _Iolanthe_ featuring a very thin blonde Fairy Queen?

[sovay]

desireearmfeldt was in that production too, and it was J. Deschene's debut as a mezzo soloist (playing Jane and completely blowing everyone's mind).

Nice! I would have liked to see that.

For reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture, I got to play Ella. I can't act at all, but it was tremendous fun.

I am glad to hear it. I have never been in G&S, but I am not in anything these days.

Was it the production of _Iolanthe_ featuring a very thin blonde Fairy Queen?

I haven't a clue: all I know is that when Iolanthe was condemned to death, the Lord Chancellor had to be physically restrained from defending her, which made an impression on fleurdelis28. She thought the production was mixed, but he was great; whoever he was, he became her definitive version of the part. It might have been around 2005?

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

all I know is that when Iolanthe was condemned to death, the Lord Chancellor had to be physically restrained from defending her

Ooooh.

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

I think that was the 2004 production, which included lignota and chanaleh among the cast and me as one-third of the music direction team. Our Lord Chancellor for that production was an MIT alum about a dozen years my senior (meaning he had some actual age and experience to bring to the role) and I seem to recall that his performance was both intense and complex.

(I say "I seem to recall" because I would have been knee-deep in Vocal Director Hell at the time and probably had a brain full of turnips insufficiently wrangled demiquavers.)

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

OMG yes. Here is that cast list (http://web.mit.edu/gsp/www/Archive/2004fall_iolanthe/), and here is the cast list (http://web.mit.edu/gsp/www/Archive/1999fall_iolanthe/) from the fall 1999 Iolanthe (my first mitgsp show and very first G&S show ever, which I imprinted on heavily, in turn).

My theater group in NYC, the Blue Hill Troupe (http://www.bht.org/), did a fairly steampunk version of Utopia in the spring of 2012. They cut a LOT from the script -- including cutting Tarara (the Public Exploder) altogether, which made me sad, but admittedly made the whole thing a lot less overtly racist (the minstrel-show number aside) -- and otherwise tightened up a lot of the plot, and in the end I enjoyed that production a lot more than I even expected to.

[sovay]

OMG yes. Here is that cast list, and here is the cast list from the fall 1999 Iolanthe (my first mitgsp show and very first G&S show ever, which I imprinted on heavily, in turn).

Thank you! Wow, I know a lot of people in the 2004 cast.

. . . How does Utopia, Limited work without the Public Exploder?

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

They made *reference* to the Public Exploder, but any dialogue referencing actual plot machinations got reassigned to Scaphio and Phantis (with scenes cut or edited and reordered to suit). It did mean they cut the Cunning Private Plot trio altogether, which pained me.

... On the plus side, they also cut out the "Phantis loves Zara" subplot (that never goes anywhere and gets completely forgotten by the end anyway), so that tightened things up for S&P in turn.

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

(I say "I seem to recall" because I would have been knee-deep in Vocal Director Hell at the time and probably had a brain full of turnips insufficiently wrangled demiquavers.)

I know a talented and patient musical director who once commented that should he go to Hell when he dies, he will be given a large group of tone-deaf people and forced to stage the Ring Cycle. (Heaven, on the other hand, will likely have chocolate, music, books and beautiful men.)

[sovay]

should he go to Hell when he dies, he will be given a large group of tone-deaf people and forced to stage the Ring Cycle.

Well, that's a genuinely terrifying vision of hell.

[sovay]

(I say "I seem to recall" because I would have been knee-deep in Vocal Director Hell at the time and probably had a brain full of turnips insufficiently wrangled demiquavers.)

Sounds legit to me.

Do recordings exist of any of these productions? I'm sorry not to have [edit: cat decided to stretch out on the keyboard] seen the 2004 Iolanthe, although I can't feel guilty about it: I was in New Haven at the time, reading Pindar.

[schreibergasse.livejournal.com]

http://www.cracked.com/article_18626_6-real-people-with-secret-identities-nobody-saw-coming_p2.html

(See #2)

Feel better!

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

The fact he conscientiously paid taxes on the income from his secret second job is particularly Gilbertian.

OK, now I'm falling down the Cracked rabbit hole of fun facts (they should have included Doris Stuart (https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19271007&id=xZ1XAAAAIBAJ&sjid=u_MDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4107,2949467&hl=en).)

[sovay]

The fact he conscientiously paid taxes on the income from his secret second job is particularly Gilbertian.

Seriously! That's Lord Chancellor levels of ethics ad absurdum.

[sovay]

(See #2)

"And in 1906, while on the PM campaign trail, he even accused himself of bullying his opponents."

THAT IS BEST.

Thank you; I had no idea.

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

It's actually even weirder than King Paramount, because no one seems to have been forcing him to do it. Come to think of it, I suspect the closest G&S parallel here is Pooh-Bah: "But then, as Archbishop of Titipu, it would be my duty to denounce my dishonesty and give myself into my own custody as First Commissioner of Police."

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Wow, I think more nations should try despotism tempered by dynamite! And yes, the solution is *amazingly* in keeping with current day.

[sovay]

And yes, the solution is *amazingly* in keeping with current day.

I don't know whether to find G&S forward-thinking or be depressed by corporate law today!