Synopses & Reviews
Richard Suart, heir to the great Gilbert and Sullivan singers of the past, has made the role of Ko-Ko, Lord High Executioner, his own. Over the last 20 years his topical version of the Little List song has become a focus of audience expectation and hilarity. In this book he looks back over the Lists that have raised such laughter at the Coliseum and at the history of this immensely malleable song, taking in previous performers such as George Grossmith, Martyn Green, Groucho Marx, Frankie Howerd, and Eric Idlenot to mention poets as varied as John Hollander and Tim Rice. Early U. S. reaction to The Mikado is explored, and documents shown include a very rare brochure from the early days of Fort Worth, a New York Times cartoon, and a superb Little List by John Hollander about Nixon, illustrated by David Levine. An entire chapter is devoted to performances of The Mikado in NYC on the day after 9/11.
Synopsis
- Richard Suart's biography of the hilarious, malleable song the Little List, of English National Opera's The Mikado, through its many topical versions, many of them his own '..the news that Baritone Richard Suart has produced an account of Ko-Ko's Little Lists will be music to your ears. Beginning with a brief history of The Mikado, this hearty collaboration focuses on the way contemporary politics and society are freshly lampooned in each season's book' - Sunday Telegraph Richard Suart, heir to the great Gilbert and Sullivan singers of the past, has made the role of KoKo, Lord High Executioner, his own. Over the last 20 years his topical version of the Little List song has become a focus of audience expectation and hilarity. In this book, he looks back over the Lists that have raised such laughter at the Coliseum and at the history of this immensely malleable song, taking in previous performers such as George Grossmith, Martyn Green, Groucho Marx, Frankie Howerd and Eric Idle - not to mention poets as varied as John Hollander and Tim Rice. Illustrated with 56 colour and 45 black & white illustrations, many never previously reproduced, this is a delightful biography of one of the most entertaining songs in the English language.
Synopsis
Richard Suart's biography of the hilarious, malleable song the 'Little List', of English National Opera's The Mikado, through its many topical versions, many of them his own.
About the Author
Richard Suart is a baritone who began his operatic career with the English Music Theatre Company and Opera Factory. A. S. H. Smyth is a freelance foreign affairs journalist.