Horwood's HOT MIKADO Hits London in September

After a sell-out run at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury in 2006, Craig Revel Horwood's actor-musician production of The Hot Mikado is back on the road and will hit London this month, when it will play at the Rose Theatre, Kingston from September 22 to 26.

The show is set in a small town in Japan where flirting is punishable by death. The citizens appoint Ko Ko, a lowly tailor who has been condemned for flirting, as Lord High Executioner in the belief that he will not execute anyone else. Then the beautiful Yum-Yum, her ardent admirer Nanki-Pooh and the man-eater Katisha are thrown into the mix to create a wonderfully absurd comic opera - one of Gilbert and Sullivan's best loved classics. But this is G and S with a twist - adapted by Rob Bowman and David H. Bell, the hot version of The Mikado has a more contemporary feel, complete with gospel and blues, and its toe-tapping songs earned nightly standing ovations during its previous Watermill outing.

The production will come to the Rose Theatre following a two-week return to the Watermill (September 3-19). Musical supervision and arrangements will be by Tony Award winnerr Sarah Travis, with set design by Diego Pitarch, lighting by Richard G. Jones and sound by Chris Full. The ensemble cast will consist of: Robin Colyer, Lee Drage, Neil Ditt, Georgina Field, Jeffrey Harmer, Julian Littman, Karen Mann, Melanie Marshall, Aliona Omonua, Kit Orton, Cassie Pearson and Dominic Tighe. Direction will be by Craig Revel Horwood, whose highly acclaimed production of Sunset Boulevard recently delighted audiences both at the Watermill and London's Comedy Theatre.

After its stint in Kingston, the production will tour to the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford (September 29-October 3); The Lowry, Salford (October 6-10); The Playhouse, Oxford (October 13-17); The Devonshire Park, Eastbourne (October 20-24); The Arts Centre, Aberystwyth (November 3-7); the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich (November 10-14); and the Temporada Alta Festival, Girona, Spain (November 20-22).