Batley Gilbert & Sullivan Society

Events Diary

Did You Know

"The Mikado" was our 66th production and the 8th time we have presented the show.

• The production was dedicated to the memory of Barry Pearson, one of the Society's Life Members who died in 2013. Barry joined the Society in 1959.
• Stephanie Roe made her directorial debut on this production role having previously played Katisha in the previous 2 Society productions of "The Mikado" (1995 and 2005).
• This was Gilbert & Sullivan's ninth of of their fourteen operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, where it ran at the Savoy Theatre for 672 performances, which was the second longest run for any work of musical theatre and one of the longest runs of any theatre piece up to that time. Before the end of 1885, it was estimated that, in Europe and America, at least 150 companies were producing the opera. The work has been translated into numerous languages and is one of the most frequently played musical theatre pieces in history.