Playwright: Gilbert & Sullivan, adapted by Bell & Bowman. At: Drury Lane Theatre, Oakbrook Terrace. Tickets: 630-530-0111; www.drurylaneoakbrook.com; $31-$45. Runs through: Oct. 3
With a $45 top price, Drury Lane Theatre Oakbrook Terrace delivers more musical bang-for-bucks than any other troupe in town, especially with the lavish production values which are a signature of Drury Lane's new regime. The Hot Mikado bursts with talent and energy in a good-looking, fast-moving, musically strong production that "swings" the 1875 Gilbert and Sullivan operetta into the big band era.
The swing concept dates from the late 1930's, but director and choreographer David H. Bell and musical arranger/composer Rob Bowman created their own "hot" update in 1987, and Bell has staged it several times since. It retains the very substantial bones of Gilbert and Sullivan's story and music, but turns it into a multi-cultural "sukiyaki" with big band, R&B and close-harmony musical stylings.
If there's a fly in this ointment, it was stated by a gentleman I overheard at intermission: "It's beautiful, but I think it's a little overdone." Both are hallmarks of Bell, who visualizes in imaginative ways and doesn't believe that less is more, at least not in theater. In The Hot Mikado, the Act I Finale is too long, the bright brassy band sometimes is a trifle too hot and a handful of moments could benefit from calm sincerity, Koko's "Tit-Willow" song among them.
Nonetheless, it's a dazzling show to behold. Scenic designer Marcus Stephens takes advantage of the wide stage to create a Japanese Deco fantasy of fans, a pagoda and a gracefully curved characteristic Japanese bridge. Blues, gold and a range of purple-reds are his chief colors. Costume designer Jeremy W. Floyd has a field day with day-glo zoot suits for the guys and slinky little party dresses for the gals ( rather too short for the 1940's, but what the heck ) . Jesse Klug's lighting washes all in pastel tones, which softens the more garish colors. A nod, also, to Cecil Averett's superb sound design, which is crystal-clear and seems to come from the actors ( vs. speakers ) .
The cast is nigh-perfect. Stephen Schellhardt is a skilled and understated comic as Koko. Ted Louis Levy storms the stage in Act II as tap-dancing Mikado. Aurelia Williams is a substantial Katisha, and I mean her vocal chops ( with some of the show's heaviest music ) and not the figure she cuts. Devin DeSantis and Summer Naomi Smart ( who appears to have made Chicago her home, much to our benefit ) are triple-threat performers ( acting, singing, dancing ) who make a fetching ingénue couple. The supporting cast and the ensemble are equally strong. Conductor Jeremy Kahn leads a six-piece band that cooks ( kudos to trumpeter Larry Bowen ) .
The one oddity is the omission of "The Flowers that Bloom in the Spring," perhaps the best known of all songs from The Mikado.