They'd None of 'em Be Missed

Richard Suart, heir to the great Gilbert and Sullivan singers of the past, has made the role of Ko-Ko, Lord High Executioner, his own. Over the last 20 years his topical version of the Little List song has become a focus of audience expectation and hilarity. In this book he looks back over the Lists that have raised such laughter at the Coliseum and at the history of this immensely malleable song, taking in previous performers such as George Grossmith, Martyn Green, Groucho Marx, Frankie Howerd, and Eric Idle—not to mention poets as varied as John Hollander and Tim Rice. Early U. S. reaction to The Mikado is explored, and documents shown include a very rare brochure from the early days of Fort Worth, a New York Times cartoon, and a superb Little List by John Hollander about Nixon, illustrated by David Levine. An entire chapter is devoted to performances of The Mikado in NYC on the day after 9/11.