1999, The Mikado
Rehearsals
Also in November 1998 Graham Ford, as Director, outlined his concept for a radically different Mikado. Brainstorming meetings were held to discuss Mikado. Graham's concept was a Japanese company, Katisha's Kaftans and Kimonos, but to accommodate the "boiling oil", the setting was changed to a Japanese Restaurant on the Gold Coast. The planning meetings were a lot of fun, Michael Try wanted to include an extra song for Nanki Poo - "Wake up little Sushi"! A meeting was held at a Japanese restaurant in the new year to get the feel for it.
While this was going on The Mikado was on our mind. Park Players were also doing Mikado at Warrandyte prior to us, so it was organized to share sets. We went round to get some sets for them to work on and found half were missing, as our storage was being refurbished and we needed to move it out! Storage has always been a difficulty for us and we appreciate the work that people have done to find suitable accommodation for our materials.
Meanwhile auditions were held for Mikado. Many of the regulars were found roles, with a new soprano, Kate Taylor, to play Yum-Yum, and Paul Dernelly, a recruit from Overture Productions, as Pish Tush. Michael Try, having finished his music degree, was available to return for Nanki Poo. Malcolm Wilton and Tim Warren were Pooh Bah and the Mikado, and Diane Morgan, Katisha. Meanwhile Darren and Raymond Khong were off playing roles in The Merry Widow with Loyola.
As usual, the cast were invited to contribute to the show, and this has been a great source of amusement and debate amongst the company. One chorus member composed some innovative words for the Mikado's entrance. This song was supposedly an authentic Japanese song, but Park Players had a Japanese soprano playing their lead who said it was rubbish! Oh well.
For a change, there were no Friday night rehearsals for principals and Sunday rehearsals started much earlier, but that was until the principals called for some.
For some time we were missing our Mikado, until Tim returned from Europe. Another absentee was Ian Lowe who, having agreed to be stage manager, answered an emergency call from his brother and stepped in as musical director for the Australian musical The Venetian Twins, a very funny show. Malcolm Wilton was also under pressure to go to Kosovo with World Vision, but had to put his foot down to stay until the end of the show. After all, it was to raise some much-needed funds for them. Again after some juggling, the DVS coped very well.
Show Program
Scene from the show - The Mikado
Production
Mary Wright - Conductor, Graham Ford - Director, Ian Lowe - Vocal Coach, Lisa Stampf - Choreographer
Dianne Richter - Producer
Cast
Kate Taylor - Yum Yum, Lesley Walton - Peep Bo, Judith O'Shea - Pitti Sing
Diane Morgan - Katisha, Michael Try - Nanki Poo, David Cox - Ko Ko, Paul Dennelly - Pish Tush
Tim Warren - Mikado, Malcolm Wilton - Pooh Bah
Chorus
Sue Adderly, Helen Cerin, Trish Dale, Janette Fly, Maxine Lemcke, Allison Lemcke, Liz O'Hanlan, Ann-Maria Plevier, Anna Smolenaers, Jane Smolenaers, Margaret Tacke, Lisa Miller, Ann Pearce, Dianne Richter, Carrie Salter, Norma Turnbull-Smith, Gerard Fullarton, Phillip Adams, Daniel Bellis, David Blackman, Gareth Pye, Kevin Pye, Phillip Tune, Geoff Vaughan, Kevin Whiting.
Mikado was very successful, being the third most popular after the two Pirates productions. Six principal players were brought in for the orchestra and the difference was significant. Lynne Counsel, an actor and singing student of Graham's, came along to help with makeup, and did a magnificent job, particularly on Tim.
For the charity performance, the lighting designer was called in to work, so set things up early before everyone arrived. The show really picked up with an audience. Darren came to video the performance, and afterwards many in the cast stayed around to eat pizza and watch it. One couple brought in their dog, which helped clean up the left-over pizza.
On opening night Diane missed her best line about "the largest circulation in the world". Judith, having played Katisha before, fed her the line. Despite a slightly tentative opening night, the show developed over the season.
On the second weekend Graham was stage manager, as the other had the flu. A number of our more critical audience members said it was the best we'd done. On the last night one audience member, a Diamond Valley Singers member, on hearing the line "the modern mobile phoney who in theatres lets it ring", reached into her bag to turn it off.
There were a number of awards given at the cast party, the most memorable being:
The Toulouse Lautrec award to Gael Shearer who skewered her cerebellum on the fire escape stairs when most people would have barked their shins.
The Joan Sutherland coloratura award to Diane Morgan for going feral during No 11 and finishing twelve notes higher than she had ever sung before.
The John Cleese Dancing Award to Tim Warren.
These history notes have been kindly provided by our long-term artistic director and co-founder, Graham Ford.