Townsend Opera Players brings classic production into 21st century

You've likely never seen Gilbert and Sullivan quite like this before. Townsend Opera Players is taking the pair's 1885 musical comedy classic, "The Mikado," and updating it for the 21st century — adding anime-style characters, smart cars and cell phones.

The story is still the same — about a tailor in fictional Japan who is put on death row for flirting and then appointed lord high executioner. The music is also the same, including the famous humorous number "I've Got a Little List," about people who would not be missed if they were killed.

But the staging, which will be presented Jan. 27 and 29 at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto, is all new and has nothing in common with the traditional D'Oyly Carte Opera Company productions.

It's all part of TOP's new Opera Remix initiative, funded last year by the James Irvine Foundation to rethink opera and make it more appealing to a broader audience.

"Because opera is a difficult thing for a nonopera person to experience, we're trying to make it a more interesting, festive event," TOP Executive Director Matthew Buckman said. "You're not just coming to an opera, you're coming to an experience."

Along those lines, there will be anime art displayed in the lobby and possibly an anime costume contest put on by members of the Turlock High School anime club. Members of the chorus will have their elaborate makeup applied in the lobby during intermission. There also will be video displays of backstage activity in the lobby 15 minutes before the show and during intermission.

"People can see the pandemonium going on backstage, like the costumer running like crazy to fix the belt that broke," Buckman said.

To get people excited about the production, TOP is posting daily videos on www.townsendoperaplayers.com showing the rehearsal and interviews with the cast. The video series is called "Opera 911, " a spoof on the TV comedy "Reno 911."

In one post, director Joseph Wiggett talked about his inspirations for the production and how he wanted to show the stratification of society in the world today. The production will show the clash between the "ultra-young, modern, hip set, the middle ground and the old guard, trying to hang onto things," he said.

Guillermo Garcia, one of a handful of California State University, Stanislaus, music students appearing in the production, said he is excited about the changes and so are his friends. The 21-year-old junior says a new approach is needed.

"If you can't attract the younger generation, then when the younger generation becomes the older generation, there's no one to keep it going," he said.

Stuart Sims, an associate professor of music at California State University, Stanislaus, made a presentation to the TOP board about the decline in attendance to arts events nationwide in recent decades. He recently completed his doctorate of musical arts at Arizona State University and wrote a thesis where he showed that the decline is, ironically, happening at the same time Americans are more engaged in the arts than ever before through other areas, such as the Internet. TOP used part of its $50,000, two-year grant from the James Irvine Foundation to hire him as a creative consultant to help implement the Opera Remix program and to put up its new Web site, www.operaremix.com.

"The research tells us audiences want to see process, audiences want to know the people who make the art they love," Sims said. "It's like listening to a director's commentary on a DVD of a movie they like."

Garcia, who is playing Pish Tush in "The Mikado," said he is looking forward more to this production than he has to past operas.

"I think this one will most attract audiences of all ages and backgrounds," he said.