Mikado Memories

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"Well, I'm going to get rid of all that campy Japanese nonsense for a start" - and with these words, Jonathan Miller lured Eric Idle into playing Ko-Ko in his production of The Mikado for English National Opera way back in July 1986. "I'm not having any of those silly knitting-needles-in-the-hair rubbish." "The audience should feel as they come out of this show that they have over-eaten an enormous cream meringue". At that time, ENO's finances were in dire straits. What the Director General needed was a new production that would capture the public's imagination and be popular enough to run for over fifteen performances: it must play to capacity houses and thus save the company. It must also not compromise the company's artistic integrity. In such unpromising circumstances, Jonathan Miller's production of The Mikado was born, and it soon became the company's 'banker'. It has played over 200 performances at ENO over 35 years, as well as performances in Los Angeles, Houston, New York and Venice. In this book Richard Suart celebrates the performers and creatives who have contributed to the triumph of this iconic production.