With the glamour of a rock concert and the glitz of a Las Vegas revue "The Not Mikado: A Hip-Hopperetta", a satirical and very funny musical loosely based on Gilbert and Sullivan's 1885 opera, "The Mikado". Conceived and directed by Worth Gardner, "The Not Mikado" provided zesty commentary on the complexity and absurdity of today's pop culture. It was very similar to the original "Mikado" in that both were stage productions performed by carbon-based life forms. The similarities generally ended there. Gardner took the original Gilbert and Sullivan storyline and infused it with more pop culture references than you'll find in both " Wayne's World" movies and a week's worth of "Entertainment Tonight". The setting was still Titipu, Japan, where the emperor - the Mikado - made flirting a crime punishable by death, but the characters, the sassy dialogue, and the variety of musical styles, ranging from country-western to calypso, had a distinctly '90s feel.
Review from The Michigan Daily by Robert Yoon.

Dude! Like the Virginia Opera's totally rad adaptation of "The Mikado" isn't even light opera, like it's the anti-opera - like totally! Dig, it's even called "The Not Mikado," like how totally righteous! Worth Gardner, the director guy (who did this punk Mikado thing in 1983) calls it a "jazz riff" on the original Gilbert and Sullivan scene, which is, by the way, too moldy for any modern mall-going citizen to appreciate. Way! "The Not Mikado" pretty much travels the same twisted plot path as the original, but with wacked-out modern characterizations and occasionally hilarious commentary.
Review BY Laura Outerbridge THE WASHINGTON POST