Page 6
Daily Nebraskan
Tuesday, July 1, 1986
Still funny after 101 years
'The Mikado1 passes test of time delightfully
Arts
By Chris McCubbin
Staff Reporter
Our (j real Mikado, virtuous man,
When lie to rule the laud began,
Coneeired to try a jtlau u'herebi
You nt men mifjht best be steadied.
So he d eel a red with irords sueeinet
That all u h flirted, leered or irinked,
Unless eonnubiallfi linked,
Should forthwith be beheaded!
If this sounds like a completely ridiculous
premise tor an opera, that's because it is.
When Gilbert's tales are
combined with the infectious
melodies and brilliant or
chestrations of Arthur S.
Sullivan the results are
among the most enduring
entertainments in the Eng
lish language.
William S. Gilbert's main genius was taking
ridiculous situations, complicating them to the
nth degree, then adding a healthy dose of telling
social satire to prevent the story from becoming
trivial. When Gilbert's tales are combined with
the infectious melodies and brilliant orches
trations of Arthur S. Sullivan the results are
among the most enduring entertainments in the
English language.
"The Mikado" was first presented 101 years
ago, at the midpoint of Gilbert and Sullivan's
collaboration. Many people also consider it the
highpoint of t heir w ork. "The Mikado" is set in a
cartoonish vision of feudal Japan, and much of
the humor comes from ancient in-jokes, forgotten
fads, and 100-year-old current events. Somehow
it is just as funny today as it was a century ago.
This is the other, more mysterious facet of
Gilbert's genius.
The I'NL School of Music Opera Theatre's
production of "The Mikado" is requisitely
delightful. The opening night audience last
Saturday was treated to a nearly flawless per
formance, and left feeling relaxed and enter
tained. The vocal performances were first rate, good
enough actually t o raise my opinion of the entire
School of Music several notches. The accom
paniment was simple piano, percussion and a
discreetly-used synthesizer. Because of the small
size of this ensemble, presumably, no overture
was performed. Some people might find this
nearly sacreligious, but I have always been bored
by overtures, and I found I did not miss it at all.
The set is simple and modular. Most of the
time the brightly colored costumes are what
attracts the eye. The set seldom intrudes. The
accompanists are boldly seated on the stage a
nice touch.
1 did have a slight problem wit h the direction.
There was a frenetic, campy quality to the acting
which at times came perilously close to reducing
Gilbert's well-delineated comic characters into
a progression of clowns.
This one weakness I'm sure was not the
actors' fault, and it was far from fatal. All of the
cast put in fine, vigorous performances. The
comic timing was excellent throughout. The cast
could usually draw laughs from even the most
esoteric in-joke. They also dealt well with the
large number of takes and sight-gags t hat are a
Gilbert and Sullivan tradition.
"The Mikado" is playing this Saturday and
Sunday at S p.m. at Kimball Hall. There is a free
"informance" lecture both nights at 7:15 p.m. in
room 119 of the Westbrook Music Building.
Tickets are $5 and $7, $3 and $5 for students and
senior citizens. Tickets are available from the
Kimball box office.
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Roommate revenge
The toaster in the back of the shower was all
the evidence that I needed. I was positive that
my roommate was trying to kill me.
It all began, as far as one can tell, after our
heated argument concerning my missing can of
ravioli.
Craig Anton
"What is mine is not yours," I tried to explain.
But he persisted by pointing the finger at me and
bringing up the dreaded beer situaion. "Hey
look, bud, I brought an entire six of beer in here
one weekend and come Sunday all that was left
was the cardboard box!" he said accusingly.
"Hey, don't hey me, 'cause I didn't drink it,
there were some dudes from the Drumstick over
that Saturday night, and they must have drank it,
'sides I hate Schafers."
"Well, it was your responsibility to replenish."
"Don't bring up responsibility when I'm the
only one that goes out to the dorms and steals
toilet paper."
He slammed the door of his room.
"Fine, fine, walk away, ignore the situation,
that's a real mature way of dealing with life. I
hope your student loan doesn't come in!"
I think that was what finally did it. He avoided
the apartment for days and would only come in
late at night after I was asleep. Listening to him
6(TSW CARE.
at night, I knew he was plotting something.
They, day by day, the mystery began to unravel
itself. It began with the ink I found in my answer
ing machine, then the two dead minnows found
in my half-gallon of milk. The topper came on
Friday after an intense week of heat. Somehow,
someone had managed to put a pound of butter
on the W, X, and Y sections of my record
collection.
Had I driven him off the deep end? Was it his
twisted childhood? Was it my twisted childhood?
Was it true that our mothers played golf together?
Why was he turning my life into a living hell?
Where does one go in situations such as this?
Was there such a thing as roommate police?
Maybe what he needed was a good exorcism,
right in the seat of his pants. The terror subsided
for about a week, and then I found a letter which
stated: "Gone home for some supplies, should be
back sometime within the week."
It was then that paranoia set in. He could
easily sneak into the house while I was asleep,
chop me up, and then convince everyone that he
was back home watching television. So I did the
only thing left to do: I bought a gun. I also bought
a big dog, an alarm system for my room, and my
own TV.
About a week later I noticed that he had been
back in the apartment. The next morning, I
found the toaster hiding beneath some towels in
the shower. He left me no other choice, I would
have to kill him before he killed me.
I waited silently in the alley behind his dry
cleaning establishment. He took the trash out
every day at exactly 4:30. 1 would of course make
it look like an accident. But some unforeseen
force had foiled my master plan. He never
showed up. I waited, but only for about an hour. I
had to get back in time to watch Double
Jeopardy.
When I returned I found him sitting in the
living room. "Hey, go grab a beer, how've you
been? Man, I've been busy. Hey, sorry about
being such a jerk lat ely. What have you been up
to? How 'bout the old toaster in the shower gag?
Pretty funny, huh? Grab a beer!"
Half smiling, I wondered if he was being
serious. He was engrossed in WTCRP.
I grabbed a beer, grabbed a handful of sun
flower seeds and said, "Y'know it starts out as a
joke, and then somebody always gets hurt."
He looked at me and said, "The new phone bill
came today."