e again to present Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado. We performed four times, twice for school audiences during the day, and twice on Wednesday, May 23rd for our parents and friends.
Narrators set the stage in the Prologue. Nanki-Poo is traveling disguised as a musician, and he has fallen in love with Yum Yum, who is promised in marriage to Koko. Koko has been made Lord High Executioner, since the Mikado has decreed that any flirting is punishable by death, and Koko was the first to flirt ... but he can hardly execute himself, or anyone else, since he hates the sight of blood. The citizens of the "city" welcome Nankipoo ... and the Lord High Mayor, etc. etc. etc., Pooh Bah, tells him of the laws. Koko and his guards enter, and Nankipoo's hopes of being with Yum Yum are dashed as he finds Koko still intends to marry her. She enters, newly graduated from UH, with her friends Peep Bo and Pitty Sing. The maids sing of their joy to be home from school, and after Koko and the others leave, serve as look outs so that Yum Yum and Nanki poo can meet. They must be very careful, because of the law against flirting. As they wonder if they will ever be happy, Pooh Bah receives a proclamation that the Mikado is coming to visit, and wants to know why no one has been executed. They have a problem, and decided to solve it by letting Nanki Poo marry Yum Yum for one month, and then execute him so they will have something to show the Mikado. It's a dilemma, and finally Nankipoo agrees ... better 30 happy days than none at all. Pooh Bah shows that the wedding can be held at once, all is in readiness ... decorations, flowers, food, AND witnesses. As her friends get her ready for the wedding, Yum Yum sings of the moon outside her window. But the Mikado is coming sooner than expected, and Koko, Pooh Bah, Nanki Poo and Yum Yum must solve this new problem. They decide to stage a sham execution, sign the book, and let Nanki Poo and Yum Yum run away together. Koko swings the axe, Nanki Poo ducks and runs to safety, and then Koko and Pooh Bah sign the execution book. When the Mikado arrives, he has Katisha with him. She was engaged to marry Nanki Poo, and is the reason he went into hiding in the first place. The Mikado asks about the executions, and when they look at the book and find out Nanki Poo has been executed ... they tell Koko and the others that Nanki Poo is really the Mikado's son. The penalty for executing the heir? Execution! The emperor goes off to have lunch, and Pooh Bah and Koko look for a solution to this new dilemma. Luckily, Yum Yum and Nanki Poo return. Nanki Poo tells Koko the only solution is for HIM to marry Katisha, then Nanki Poo can show himself and let the Mikado know he wasn't executed. Reluctantly, Koko courts Katisha. At first he is unsuccessful, but when he sings her a sad song about a lonely black bird who drowns for love, she relents and agrees to marry him. Everything ends happily ... with a celebration for the whole village.
This year's opera was a bittersweet triumph, as it marked the retirement production for Mrs. C. Acoba, who has organized and led our productions since the beginning. The students brought leis and gave them to her at the end of the last performance.
Aina Haina School