Evanston RoundTable, Sept. 25, 2025
The most famous and beloved of the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas — The Mikado — has had a bumpy time of it since 2014, when a Seattle production company faced heated protests over political insensitivity.
“… the show’s producers are now under fire for selecting a play that critics say relies heavily on ethnic caricatures, and then casting all 40 Asian roles with White actors, with the exception of two Latino actors,” NBC News reported at the time.
“The caricature of Japanese people as strange and barbarous was used to justify the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. … ‘The Mikado’ opens old wounds and resurrects pejorative stereotypes,” wrote then-Seattle Times reporter Sharon Pian Chan.
Since then producers have had to figure out how to stage the show without incurring the wrath of culture warriors while at the same time not offending Gilbert and Sullivan purists. Some companies have dropped it from their G&S catalogues altogether.
The Savoyaires, the longtime Evanston Gilbert and Sullivan company, hasn’t staged The Mikado for 12 years, the year before the Seattle debacle. But their 2013 production was set in 1940s Europe.
“Elizabeth Margolius, the director, and others have made an effort to recast the show in a way that avoids the original’s negative stereotypes,” said director Kingsley Day. He’s producing it on the first two weekends in October, with key elements reworked.
“Gilbert and Sullivan intended no offense,” Day said. “But they traded in unacceptable stereotypes that no one will tolerate now. We’re walking a very fine line between those who consider The Mikado racist and the G&S traditionalists who don’t want to change it at all.”
Changes for the better
To square that circle, Day has relocated the show’s setting from Japan to an imaginary land pronounced Hay Pan and also re-pronounced the title with a long Ī and Ā, as in My-KAY-doe. In addition, the look of the show will be “totally different” from what you’d expect in a typical Japanese production, he said.
Day pointed out that an Austin, Texas production renamed the show The McAdo and set it in the Highlands of Scotland, and a San Francisco production was set in Renaissance Italy.
“We were afraid of blowback but there hasn’t been any,” Day said, when the Savoyaires announced the 2025 show. “I think people can tell we’re being sensitive to the issues that were problematic.”
There was some reaction from traditionalists, however, along the lines of “How dare you tamper with this timeless masterpiece?” Day said. But they were mollified when he explained the show’s wonderful English lyrics by William Gilbert and effervescent musical numbers by Arthur Sullivan remain virtually untouched.
“Some Gilbert and Sullivan companies simply stopped producing it, which is a shame because it’s a great piece of musical theater,” he said.
‘Hooked for life’
Day should know. He first acted in a Gilbert and Sullivan show — H.M.S. Pinafore, another classic G&S musical — in high school, “and I was hooked for life.” He has performed the “patter baritone” role in every one of the 14 Gilbert and Sullivan musicals and has been directing Savoyaires’ productions every year since 2018.
The Savoyaires company is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. It was founded in 1965 by Chicago Symphony principal cellist Frank Miller, an avid G&S fan, and marketing guru and writer Lilias Circle. Miller conducted many of the early shows. He died in 1986.
This reimagined version of The Mikado will be performed 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 3 and 4, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5, as well as 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 10 and 11 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12. All performances are at Chute School, 1400 Oakton St. Tickets are $30/$25/$20 ($25/$20/$15 for ages 12 and under).
For more information, visit the company’s website.