THE MIKADO PROJECT

THE MIKADO PROJECT (with Ken Narasaki)
Desperate for a grant to keep the company in business, the director of a small Asian American theater company commits to producing The Mikado and finds himself in furious conflict with his leading diva and splitting up the rest of the troupe. It takes all of them to invent some angry and crazy new takes on the music, lyrics, dancing and a twist on the Gilbert and Sullivan plot to restore their personal relationships and artistic dignity.

Premiere: Lodestone Theater Company, Burbank, CA, 2007

Press: Doris Baizley and Ken Narasaki’s world premiere musical, makes serious points about cultural stereotypes and the endemic racism of certain classics, in this case "The Mikado." However, the play's political context is sugar-coated subtext to what is, first and foremost, solid entertainment of a charmingly wacky stripe. Los Angeles Times, 2007

Winner, Pacific Rim Playwrights Award, Kuma Kahua Theater/University of Hawaii, 2008

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