I liked this book, because it is such a great play!

I can tell from my kid's reading enthusiasm that this is a great collection of classics. But best of all, I think it's a great idea to
print the books in small dimensions (15 cm) ---- kids simply can not hold the regular books as conveniently as adults!

I tried those 8.5" x 11" weight-lifting versions of the same-title classics, my kid never read them for more than five minutes.

Martyn Green was one of the Great D'oyly Carte patter singers. This book has the libretti of all of the shows, except for Utopia and Grand Duke, and Simary arrangements of the music. It is a great first book for any lover of G&S and a must have for anyone with any interest in G&S.

If there would be a criticism, it would be the relative lack of explainations of some of the more obscure words in the cannon, but this can be remedied by reference to the Harry Benford Lexicon (also available from Amazon). And the little bits about production practice which litter the libretti, more than make up for this.

The other drawback is the absurd decision not to keep this book in print.

Any lover of this Gilbert & Sullivan masterpiece will gain a fuller appreciation of it by being able to follow the lyrics and dialog while listening to the operetta. The score also has a nicely written preface and synopsis of the story. Although knowing how to read music is not essential to the enjoyment of this Mikado full score, buyers that do read music will gain an even greater appreciation of it by being able to follow each instrumental line along with the lyrics of the songs. The Dover score is beautifully printed at a very bargain price to boot. Everyone can derive a great deal of pleasure from this score, no matter what level of musical training they possess. Highly Recommended! (P.S. I understand that the full score of The Pirates of Penzance is due for release this fall)

Once again Dover has managed to produce a Piano Vocal score which is a major improvement over the existing editions. While I can't speak for the Scholarly content, and while it doesn't claim to be a "critical edition", it does EXACTLY what a performer wants in a piano vocal score. It is clear and readable and has the words as well as the music. It is also clearly market with measure numbers at the start of each staff and has clear and well marked Major Measure markers throughout. In sum, if you are looking to perform the work, this is the edition to get.

(And if you need a Full Score, the Dover full score is also a very good deal).

THE CUSTOMS, CULTURES AND SUPERNATURAL INCIDENTS THAT HAPPENED IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS.

All the songs to satisfy even the most discriminating G&S fan

It must be because of that line about the square of the hypotenuse.

When I compare this edition of the libretto to the Ian Bradley edition of the collected librettos (Oxford), I find that this has more weak points compared to the Bradley book. Of course, both books suffer from inaccuracies in the libretto, but here is a more serious case. Also, the print of the book is a little bit hard to read, because of its age from many years ago. The Bradley book seems to be easier. Yet even despite these shortcomings I am happy to know that you can still sing along to ANY G&S song in here, or find your favourite passage, be it from MIKADO, PIRATES or PINAFORE, or any other opera. But this book still has two advantages to it - containg the librettist's drawings, and its cheaper price compared to the Bradley book. As well as the libretto for the never-before-heard THESPIS opera. Overall, while I am prepared to recommend this to the true Savoyard, I am not really prepared to recommend this to a beginner, except those who cannot afford to spend more money on the Bradley book. Still, this edition is an easy one with which you can live.

If you are a Savoyard, or even if you know what that means, this jumbo collection is one you will treasure. With a preface by esteemed music critic, Deems Taylor, and illustrations by W. S. Gilbert himself, the complete librettos from all fourteen Gilbert & Sullivan operettas is the perfect companion at a great low price. You'll find yourself humming the Arthur Sullivan melodies as you read "I polished up the handles so carefully," "Let the punishment fit the crime," and "I'm called little Buttercup, Sweet little Buttercup." In one attractive volume are the complete and unabridged texts of "The Mikado," "The Pirates of Penzance, "H.M.S Pinafore," and the eleven other operettas that set a world standard for intelligent musical theatre.

Great! A marvelous satire of Victorian politics. Iolanthe, a fairy, has a son, Stephon, who is half mortal and cannot marry his true love because the entire House of Lords is in love with her too! To revenge themselves on the Peers, the fairies put Strephon into Parliament and arrange it so every bill he chooses is passed into law.

Few opera/operetta librettos read very well on their own (of course, they weren't intended to). In the case of Gilbert and Sullivan, the exercise is not only sheer pleasure, but almost a necessity; such is the speed of the monologues and intricacy of the ensembles that much of Gilbert's brilliant verbal wit gets lost.

'Iolanthe' is one of his most enrapturing confections, the story of a shepherd, Strephon, half-fairy half-mortal, whose mother, Iolanthe, is a disgraced sprite (it is forbidden for fairies to marry mortals), and whose father (unbeknownst to either) is the Lord Chancellor who won't let him marry his ward, Phyllis, darling of the Lords.

The material may be fantastic, the setting pastoral, but the satire in this 1882 work is spot-on contemporary, with jibes at the Irish problem, the uselessness of the House of Lords (who as a caste are as close to fantasy as the fairies, so it is no surprise they exchange the House of Peers for the House of Peris), and the ruling class' fear of democracy and universal suffrage. A most delightful fancy has the fairies take over Parliament in the shape of Strephon, whose every whim unites the notoriously factional Liberal and Conservative in his favour.

this is Gilbert at his funniest - the verbal contortions he undergoes in the search for rhymes break all linguistic boundaries, and his view of the fragility of centuries-old English institutions prescient. There is an extraordinary patter song by the Lord Chancellor which shows the man embodying Law and Constitution plunging into nightmare, the culmination of a libretto in which identities and forms, as well as seemingly irrevocable laws and customs, are repeatedly broken down or metamorphosed.

While some Gilbert & Sullivan devotees may quibble with this Canadian version of their masterpiece, THE MIKADO, there's no denying this version's infectious energy and fun. This production by the Stratford Festival is awash with high-jinks antics, solid acting and a boldness rarely seen since the Kevin Kline/Linda Ronstadt version of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE. Director Brian Macdonald directs this production with a sure hand and a fine sense of humor. Eric Donkin makes for a solid and delightfully uptight Ko-Ko, while the tall and very lanky Richard McMillan steals the show as the self important Pooh-Bah. Marie Baron's Yum-Yum is a pure delight, and Karen Wood is a delightful Pitti-Sing. Gidon Saks makes for a rather hammy, but delightfully fierce, Mikado. Henry Ingram seems a little old for the youthful Nanki-Poo, but he definitely gets into the spirit of this wonderfully broad production. Some fans may not appreciate the "modern" Canadian references nor the very slight liberties in the score, but this is probably the one production that doesn't treat the immortal work like a museum piece. This is definitely the best version on DVD to date and one that I would definitely recommend.

The Mikado with a Canadian, satiric twist. A wonderful production that pokes fun at itself yet at the same time features outstanding singing, with a great bonus that on the big numbers the actors do a one or two line encore immediately following the song, to the delight of the audience. The staging is sparse but effective, and with the possible exception of the Mikado who is a bit over the top, the main characters -- Yum Yum, Nanki Poo, Pooh Bah and of course KoKo (who steals this show with his wit, sarcasm and humanity) -- are brilliantly played. Some of the special Canadian lyrics (especially on the list song) are hysterical (list does indeed rhyme with separatist), and all in all this is a highly enjoyable, if somewhat different and sui generis, performance of the Gilbert and Sullivan masterpiece.

A different but very entertaining version of the Mikado, in which the cast takes a satiric view of the "state of things" at times but performs the numbers with great singing and performing talent and relish. The staging of the work is very sparse, but the performances of Nanki Poo, Pooh Bah (who towers over the rest of the cast), Yum Yum and most of all Koko (who essentially plays the clown but steals the show with his wonderful expressiveness and humanity) are rich. The Mikado is, even for the role, a bit over the top, but it does not detract. One interesting twist is some of the Canadian jokes and lyrics interspersed, especially in the List Song (yes, separatist does rhyme with list!). An added bonus is that on the big numbers the cast does a one or two verse encore immediately following the conclusion of the number, to the delight of the audience. A bit different but highly recommended and thoroughly entertaining start to finish.