It was a pleasure to see so many people at our production of Mikado – weren’t we glad that the show wasn’t a week later, given the post-Titipu weather! And our ladies were especially pleased to meet our youngest-ever audience member, Walter Turnbull, who came backstage during the matinée with his mother Claire, for whom his arrival earlier in the month had been her reason for not taking part this year!

You’ll have read what NODA thought of the show, and some of you have already given a reaction, but it’s always good to hear your reactions to what we are doing. Reviews, both bouquets and brickbats, are welcome, as is any other feedback – just email our webmaster.

So that’s the last we’ll see of Titipu until the performers get the DVD that Dave took. If you came to the show, you’ll know how much fun it was for everyone: if you didn’t manage to get there, you’ll have to make do with a look at the web version of the programme. [File size limitations mean that images aren’t as sharp as we’d like, so there’s a higher-definition version of the content pages at this link.] Eventually there’ll also be material linked to our programme archive page.

In her introduction to the programme, our Director Rae Lamond said :“What I like to do with Gilbert & Sullivan is try to showcase the continued relevance of the satire inherent in Gilbert’s words by tuning them in to modern sensibilities. The time and the place are largely beside the point, the machinations of small town politics ring as true today as they did in 1885. Our Mikado remains respectful of the legacy of Gilbert & Sullivan – but there may be a tweak or two that you might not expect.”

One of those ‘tweaks’ was the casting of Robin Ożóg as Katisha and Susanne Horsburgh as Ko-Ko – the reverse of what the audience expected, until the blocks parted to reveal our choice of Lord High Executioner! This swap was deliberately kept secret, with no conventional cast list on website or programme, and our cast are to be congratulated on keeping mum. And it worked, as you’ll see from the NODA show report.

It’s not often that any of the audience members get to see the folk in this picture, other than the top half of our conductor! Seeing that The Mikado is all about a ‘second trombone’, Val thought it would be nice for you to have a picture of the guys and girls in black who were playing “so beautifully on the Marine Parade” all last week. Well done, everybody! And special thanks to Eddie for keeping them in order (at least most of the time!) and for bailing out both principals and chorus with unfailing accuracy and good humour.