The Mikado:

Set in the vibrant 1920s, the story unfolds in the fictional city of Titipu, now reimagined as a bustling metropolis inspired by the Jazz Age. The city is alive with flappers, jazz bands, art deco architecture, and the spirit of social change.

Nanki-Poo, the son of the powerful Mikado (the city’s mayor), arrives in disguise as a jazz musician, fleeing an arranged marriage to the formidable Katisha. He is in love with Yum-Yum, a glamorous chorus girl engaged to Ko-Ko, the city’s bumbling nightclub owner who has recently been promoted to the unlikely position of Lord High Executioner to avoid his own execution for a minor infraction.

Ko-Ko, desperate to keep his job and avoid carrying out any executions, learns that the Mikado demands an execution to take place soon. Nanki-Poo, heartbroken over Yum-Yum’s engagement, offers himself as a willing victim if he can marry Yum-Yum for one month first. Ko-Ko agrees, but complications arise when it is discovered that, according to city law, a widow of an executed man must be buried alive.

Meanwhile, Katisha arrives in Titipu, determined to claim Nanki-Poo as her husband. The truth about Nanki-Poo’s identity is revealed just as the Mikado himself arrives, expecting to find order restored. Through a series of clever deceptions, misunderstandings, and jazz-fueled antics, Ko-Ko, Nanki-Poo, and Yum-Yum manage to avoid disaster. Katisha is eventually won over by Ko-Ko’s desperate charm, and the Mikado is satisfied with the outcome.

The opera ends with love triumphant, the city’s quirky laws sidestepped, and the characters celebrating in true Roaring Twenties style, complete with music, dancing, and a sense of newfound freedom.