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The Origins of The Hot Mikado

 

The Hot Mikado and The Swing Mikado

"Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas were frequently revived on Broadway right through the twentieth century. In the 1930s, Broadway saw a battle between two jazz updates of a Gilbert and Sullivan favorite: The Hot Mikado and The Swing Mikado." (26)

 

The following information and quotations is from Black Culture and the New Deal: The Quest for Civil Rights in the Roosevelt Era by Lauren Rebecca Sklaroff. Please see the Works Cited page for more info.

 

The Federal Theatre Project existed from 1935-1939 and is

the only time the United States had government-subsidized

theatre. The FTP produced The Swing Mikado as part of its

Negro Unit, which was created to give theatre jobs to African

Americans. The Swing Mikado opened in 1938 and was a

syncopated version of Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado that

moved the operetta from Japan to a tropical island and had

an all-black cast. It was the most successful show that the

FTP Negro Unit ever produced. (27)

 

In 1939, when producer Michael Todd could not secure the

rights to The Swing Mikado, he created his own version called 

The Hot Mikado, "which swung the entire performance and

featured famous black actors such as Bill "Bojangles"

Robinson. With more money for costumes and sets than the

FTP could ever afford, The Hot Mikado  became a much slicker

version, suiting the tastes of many critics and audiences.

Offering a huge cast of dancers, musicians, and elaborate

visual effects, the performance contained many attractive elements that the FTP simply could not replicate." (27)

 

When Congress began to pressure the Federal Theatre Project and investigate what they thought could be Un-American activities, the FTP decided to sell The Swing Mikado to two producers who opened the show at the 44th Street Theatre, which was right across the street from the Broadhurst where The Hot Mikado was playing. "The 'Mikadization of New York' went even further, as the International Ladies Garment Workers Union did their own version, The Red Mikado, satirizing various elements of political conservatism. But the competition of the black Mikado productions eventually led to their demise; the commercial Swing Mikado ran for only twenty-four performances (along with sixty-two performances under the FTP at the New Yorker) and The Hot Mikado left Broadway after eighty-five shows." (27)

 

"Thus, by the summer of 1939, the "Battle of the Black Mikados" had ended, though leaving an indelible mark on the future of black theater. These many Mikados proved that white individuals were willing to view black entertainers in roles outside minstrel stereotypes; yet, they still offered the comfort of a recognizable artistic format where the audience could sing along. The proliferation of The Mikado, therefore, resulted from the fusion of one of the most beloved musicals with white America's insatiable desire for black performance." (27)

 

The 1986 Revival

When David H. Bell, the artistic director of Ford's Theatre in

Washington DC decided to bring back The Hot Mikado, there were

almost no materials available. He decided to collaborate with

Rob Bowman create an adaptation. The show was well-liked, but

did not make it to Broadway. It incorporated white cast members

into the production. They set the show in the 1930s-40s and

"traditional Japanese costumes were eschewed in favour of

‘snappy zoot suits and the skin tight skirts of jitterbuggers’, modes

of dress entirely suitable for performing a score comprising

elements of gospel, jazz, blues and swing, as well as the odd Andrews Sisters take-off." Producers moved the show to the West End in 1995, where it closed. This version is the one available to perform today. (28)

 

 

 

 

 

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