Legend has it that one day in 1884, when W. S. Gilbert (of the team of Gilbert & Sullivan) was searching for a subject for a new operetta, his antique Japanese sword fell from its place on the wall of his study -- a "monumentous event" that directed his attention to Japan.
The sword reflected the general British craze for anything Japanese that followed the beginning of trade between the two empires.
As dramatized in the 1999 film "Topsy-Turvy," which went along with the traditional account of the creation of the pair's most popular work, Gilbert gained further inspiration and information from a Japanese exhibition in Knightsbridge.
The Whiting Park Festival Orchestra, Chorus and guest soloists join forces Saturday night in a concert performance, with narration, of Gilbert & Sullivan's "Mikado." The principal characters will be in costume and engage in some stage action and movement.
"Mikado" is the WPFO's second presentation of a musical. The first was an energetic rendition of Meredith Willson's "The Music Man" in 2006.
"Except for the setting, the humor of 'The Mikado' is distinctly British, spoofing royal and social conventions," says music director Robert Vodnoy, "as well as operatic conventions, with its mock-romantic duets and mock-tragic arias."
As is often done in present day performances, Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner (Richard Lynch), adds names that may be familiar to WPFO audiences to his list of persons who would not be missed, and the Mikado (Larry Rapchak) adds some region infractions to his list of crimes and punishments.
Soprano Sharon Quattrin returns to her hometown to sing the role of Yum-Yum, a maid from school who is in love with Nanki-Poo, a role to be sung by Chicago-area tenor Matt Lorz, who has performed previously with Quattrin and is making his debut in Whiting's Summer with the Symphony.
Lorz describes Nanki-Poo as a rule-breaker and a bit of a rascal. "He pretends to be someone of a far more meager background than he really is, as if to say 'Love me for what I am, not who I am.' "
Lorz, who began his career as a baritone, earned music degrees in vocal performance from Illinois Wesleyan University and Illinois State University. Last summer he participated in the Des Moines Opera Young Artists Group, one of 35 chosen from approximately 1,000 who auditioned.
Talented veterans of Northwest Indiana theater complete the list of principals -- Patti Manich (Katisha), Marty Dybel (Pish-Tush), Aline Saliga Zoricfh (Pitti-Sing), Geri Hildreth (Peep-Bo) and Scott Allen (Pooh-Bah).
Hildreth also has prepared the 35-member chorus, who portray school girls, nobles, guards and coolies as required.
