Hot Mikado Review

© Jonas Green. 16th August 2005
Published on www.edinburghguide.com.
Images courtesy of the Tempo Musical Productions website Run Until 20th August

This is local amateur musical talent at its best, and it is very, very good. Tempo have regularly done a competent one-week Fringe show with much the same production team and performers, but this beats all their previous ventures.

Partly, it's down to the material. This version of the G&S favourite originates surprisingly early, as a parody first staged in 1939. That was adapted to reprise the 40's style in 1986, and I would guess they have updated it further themselves. Much of Sullivan's music is recognisable, though transformed with heavy applications of blues and swing. (I bet he wouldn't recognise Going to Marry Yum-Yum.) This version favours the male chorus, so that the girls don't even get to do Braid the Raven Hair - that was the only low point for me.

All parts of the production work beautifully: stylish costumes, set and lighting; well drilled choreography on a first night; polished production and ensemble numbers in a limited space; tight 6-piece band; convincing swing, scat and blues singing; and energetic singing and acting from everyone.

Among a strong cast, Moray Nairn as Pish-Tush and Lesley Rooney as Yum-Yum come through strongly in the second half. But the stars are undoubtedly Norma Kinnear as a heavy-metal Katisha and Kenneth Pinkerton as a pliable Ko-Ko. His I've Got a Little List, her Alone and Yet Alive, and their numbers together near the end rightly stole the show.

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© Duncan Forgan. 23rd August 2005
Published in Jazzy operetta real hot stuff

AN executioner in sparkly trousers, Japanese schoolgirls in hotpants and a camp-as-Christmas tap-dancing emperor - they're all among the elements that make Hot Mikado one of the most vibrant musicals you'll see on the Fringe this year.

Gilbert and Sullivan might have had kittens at the idea of re-staging their classic, the Mikado, using the swinging sounds of swing and big band jazz, but they're hardly in a position to complain.

The show is a riot of sassy songs that sweeps audiences along in its breathless wake.

Tempo, the musical production company behind the show, and its cast, deserve eternal credit for such a professional attempt at making the Mikado so hot. The main players all perform their spotlight moments with gusto and real skill.

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© Three Weeks eDaily - on the inside 21st August 2005
Published in Three Weks Reviews

MUSICALS AND OPERA

Hot Mikado

Tempo Musical Productions

Other Fringe musicals beware, 'Hot Mikado' is here and it knows how to entertain an audience until their hands can clap no longer! The jazzy re-working of Gilbert and Sullivan's original is performed by a cast intent on having as much fun as physically possible on-stage. The singing is generally of an incredible standard, especially when Ian McInnes or Kenneth Pinkerton enter the arena. The atmosphere is reminiscent of 'Chicago', and the costumes are dazzling and flamboyant. Breathtaking stuff.

St.Oswald's Hall, 15 - 20 Aug, 7:50pm (10:00pm), prices vary, fpp 120.

tw rating 4/5

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