Opera San Luis Obispo is mounting the region's first full-scale production of The Mikado, bringing a cast and crew of more than 100 performers to Harold Miossi Hall at the Performing Arts Center on Cal Poly's campus on October 17 and 18. The show pairs a 70-person chorus of adults and children with a nearly 40-person live orchestra and an eight-person ballet troupe, all performing the 1885 Gilbert and Sullivan comic operetta reimagined for a modern Central Coast audience.
According to the San Luis Obispo Tribune, OperaSLO has modernized The Mikado for contemporary audiences while keeping its original send-up of British social politics intact. The operetta, written by Arthur Sullivan and W. S. Gilbert, is set in the fictional Japanese town of Titipu — a setting the pair originally chose to satirize 19th-century British political institutions while capitalizing on Victorian London's fascination with Japanese culture, according to the English National Opera. The operetta premiered at London's Savoy Theatre on March 14, 1885, and ran for 672 consecutive performances.
A Classic With a Complicated Legacy
Modern revivals of The Mikado have drawn scrutiny for decades over yellowface casting and East Asian stereotyping, prompting companies nationwide to revise librettos and staging practices, per the University of Minnesota Press. OperaSLO's decision to update the production for today's audiences places this Central Coast staging squarely within that broader conversation about how regional companies handle beloved but fraught repertoire. The Tribune's report notes the production will feature expansive, colorful drops, two-story sets and vivid costumes, alongside internationally acclaimed opera singers in the lead roles.
OperaSLO general and artistic director Brian Asher Alhadeff framed the stakes plainly, telling the Tribune that the SLO County community should turn out to support local artists. “This is the Olympics of live performing arts,” Alhadeff said. Alhadeff also serves as principal conductor for the Civic Ballet of San Luis Obispo and music director of the Lompoc Pops Orchestra, according to the Santa Maria Sun.
Mostly Local Talent, With a Few Imports
While OperaSLO recruited some orchestra members and main-cast performers from out of town, the production is mostly local, the Tribune reports. Section leaders Tom Villa and Rebecca McKinley are among the local performers rounding out the cast; Villa said the production will be a nice experience in a different environment, while McKinley said she's simply looking forward to it. The Mikado has been performed in San Luis Obispo before, though this marks the region's first full-scale staging of the work.
The dance elements come courtesy of the Civic Ballet of San Luis Obispo, founded in 1978 by Lorilee Silvaggio and now led by artistic director Drew Silvaggio. The troupe has presented its annual Nutcracker at the PAC for more than 25 years, a track record that underscores its experience partnering with OperaSLO's mainstage productions.
A Stage Built for Grand Opera
Harold Miossi Hall seats 1,286 patrons and opened in September 1996 as a joint venture between the City of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly and the Foundation for the Performing Arts Center. Its main stage features a 49-foot by 25-foot proscenium opening, a 70-foot fly tower and a Forbes Pipe Organ installed in 2007 — physical scale that makes room for the two-story set drops and sprawling cast this production calls for, per the Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo.
OperaSLO, founded in 1984 under the name Pacific Repertory Opera by Jill Anderson and Jean Cook, remains the only professional opera company operating on California's Central Coast. This Mikado staging continues a pattern for the company, which has previously brought full-orchestra productions of South Pacific in 2019 and Disney's Beauty and the Beast in 2024 to the same stage. Beyond its mainstage work, OperaSLO also runs one of the country's oldest Children's Summer Opera Camps for youth ages 9 to 17, reflecting the organization's broader investment in the region's performing arts ecosystem.
Tickets for The Mikado range from $32 to $92, with performances set for October 17 and 18 at the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly.
