“OH JOY! OH RAPTURE!” After a smashing success last summer with H.M.S. Pinafore, the University Theatre, the Department of Music, and Opera Theater Corvallis returns this summer with one of the
all-time favorite Gilbert and Sullivan operettas: The Mikado, which will play August 14-16 at 7:30 with a matinee at 2:00 on Sunday, August 17. Laced throughout the operetta are some of Gilbert and
Sullivan’s best-loved songs: “The Flowers That Bloom in the Spring,” “A Wandering Minstrel I”, “Here’s a How de Do,” and “Three Little Maids from School.” And of course there is the “LIST” song, and
given the current political scene and in keeping with The Mikado tradition, the song will be updated with topical political and cultural references for the University Theatre 2008 production. Perhaps
the best-loved of all the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, this is the fifth time the play has been produced at Oregon State. First done in 1909, it was then produced in 1927 and that production
toured to Oregon logging camps. In recent times, The Mikado was the last play created in the Mitchell Playhouse before it was closed in 1990 and became the Valley Gymnastic Facility. There was also a
1997 production in Withycombe Hall. Cast in the production are the following: Colin Fant as the Mikado, Scott Ingham as KoKo, Tom Bombadil as Pooh Bah, Nickoli Strommer as Pish Tush, Jeff Larkin as
Nanki Poo, Abbe Groh as Yum Yum, Emily Thielen as Katisha, Allison Duever and Delaney Deaver as Peep Bo, Megan Sand as Pitti Sing. Singing and dancing in the ever- important and ever-delightful
chorus of the production are Amy Rowles, Allison Duever, Delaney Deaver, Katie Badowski, Jene Jacobson, Maarika Teose, Jillian Bower, Amy Severin, Christine Eagleson, Tim Brassfield, Bryan Bernart,
Matt Smith, Junho Chang, Tony DeMeo, Steve Ermer and the director of the OSU Marching Bands, Brad Townsend. Choreographer for the production is Megan Matthes, assisted by her students Ashley Selvey
and Cassie Allen; scene designer is George Caldwell; music director is Joseph Prather; costume designer is Kim Decker. Elizabeth Atchley and Rebecca Jeffers serve as rehearsal accompanists. Stage
Director is Charlotte Headrick. Richard Poppino is the music consultant. Tickets are available online at http://www.oregonstate.edu/dept/theatre and at the University Theatre box-office in Withycombe
Hall (737-2784)
