Description
THE MIKADO Groucho Marx, Helen Traubel (1960) (DVD)
GROUCHO MARX IN THE MIKADO (Gilbert & Sullivan)
For the legendary comic actor Groucho Marx, playing the role of Ko-Ko in The Mikado “fulfilled a lifelong ambition.” The Mikado was Groucho’s favorite among the works of his beloved Gilbert and Sullivan, and the 1960 Bell Telephone Hour production was adapted for television and directed by Martyn Green, a man Groucho revered as an authority on interpreting the role of Ko-Ko. The strong supporting cast features distinguished veterans like Helen Traubel, Stanley Holloway, Robert Rounseville, and Dennis King, as well as young artists like the lovely soprano Barbara Meister as Yum-Yum and Groucho’s 13-year-old daughter, Melinda, as Peep-Bo.
Special features [46 minutes] include audio interviews with Dick Cavett, Melinda Marx, and Barbara Meister; Martyn Green in excerpts from H.M.S. Pinafore (Bell Telephone Hour, 1963, in color), cast bios, the commercials from the original telecast, and more!
B&W, 52 minutes, 4:3, All regions
THE MIKADO; or THE TOWN OF TITIPU
A Comic Opera in Two Acts
Music by Arthur Sullivan
Libretto by W.S. Gilbert
Cast:
Ko-Ko: Groucho Marx
Katisha: Helen Traubel
Pooh-Bah: Stanley Holloway
Mikado: Dennis King
Nanki-Poo: Robert Rounseville
Yum-Yum: Barbara Meister
Pitti-Sing: Sharon Randall
Peep-Bo: Melinda Marx
Host / Adaptation: Martyn Green
Produced for the Bell Telephone Hour television series
Originally telecast April 29, 1960
