The Mikado - Our 2026 production and some history
Published: April 10, 2026
As the Off-Monroe Players prepare our spring production of The Mikado – our eighth since 1978, and our first production of it in nine years -- we’re reminded that this operetta, long Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular creation, was not only a huge success throughout much of the world, but also a cultural icon unlike any previous work of musical theatre.
If The Mikado’s faux-Japanese setting and characters originally lent it color and charm, it has also led to a complicated, occasionally contentious performance history. (Our approach in 2026 is to leave the dialogue and songs (including “Miya Sama”) unchanged and to create costumes in a hybrid style: Victorian – pants, vests, etc. – with Japanese robes and fans.) But Gilbert’s verbal and Sullivan’s musical delights have led to many productions, adaptations, and travesties.
For one aspect of The Mikado’s history, a wonderful, vastly informative source is Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado: Racial and Cultural Appropriation in American Theater Adaptations , a remarkable academic collection of essays, images, and examples of this aspect of the show and its presentation. It’s the work of Abigail Vetrone, drawing on the extensive collection of Gilbert and Sullivan memorabilia donated to Rush Rhees Library by retired University of Rochester professor (and OMP Patron) Hal Kanthor. (Dr. Kanthor’s collection is also the basis for the library’s online exhibition Gilbert & Sullivan: From London to America .) It’s available on the University of Rochester Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections Online Exhibitions website . If you are interested in The Mikado, be warned if you start exploring you may fall into a Gilbert and Sullivan rabbit hole!
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