Usually on a Monday, Katy provides me with a list of suggested tasks for the week. This I attempt to complete by Friday (well at least I have a go at it!). This put me in mind of the song ‘I’ve Got A Little List’ from the Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan. Koko, a cheap tailor about to be executed for the crime of flirting, finds himself suddenly elevated to the rank of Lord High Executioner by the townspeople of Titipu. They figure he’d be the last person to execute anyone, since he would have to cut his own head off first! But then the Mikado himself writes to say that if they don’t have an execution by the end of the month, the whole town will be downgraded to a village. So, since Koko has to execute someone, he comes up with a list of possibilities, those “society offenders who never will be missed.”
We begin with the original lyrics as written by Gilbert. Here is John Reed in the 1966 film of ‘The Mikado’ dubbed with his D’Oyly Carte 1973 stereo studio recording.
However the genius of the song is that each generation is encouraged to update the list to make it relevant. So here is Mitchell Butel of Avenue Q fame sings “I’ve Got a Little List”. This excerpt is from the cinema/DVD recording of Opera Australia’s 2011 production at the Arts Centre, Melbourne.
Here is Richard Suart’s re-written and very topical Little List from The Mikado – not to be missed! From Jeremy Clarkson to Jeremy Corbyn watch Suart promote his list of 2015 candidates for the Lord High Executioner’s chop, filmed at ENO’s current production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado.
Here Eric Idle of Monty Python fame, who toured the States with this production, puts his own distinct spin on the song. He has rather large innocuous groups like “people who play golf”, and “australians of all sorts” etc, and then some individuals. Its a perfect balance, and one of the best variations of the song, very much in the spirit of the original.
And finally something for our Covid-19 times.
