Christopher Renshaw's production of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado is being performed by Opera Pacific in Costa Mesa, Ca, through Nov. 16.
The production, first seen in 1986 at Sadler's Wells, takes its inspiration from the 1890 Japan Exhibition in London's Knightsbridge and has been described as a "spoof of the British interest in the Far East," though many of the institutions parodied in the operetta sound much closer to Westminster than to Kyoto.
Renshaw is the director of the Tony-winning Broadway revival (and the national tour) of The King and I and Cole Porter'sHigh Society, which is bound for Broadway following a run at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. He was born near London and began his career as an opera director in England and Australia.
The remaining performances of The Mikado are Nov. 13, 15 and 16 (mat) at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, CA. For tickets, call (714) 556-2787.
-- By Rebecca Paller
