The Mikado

• Enough groups in Jerusalem produce Gilbert and Sullivan that you can go to one of their operettas once or more each year. Today, The Mikado was presented at Beit Shmuel (http://www.beitshmuel.com/english/ ), about two blocks from the King David Hotel, where George W. Bush was staying.
• The production was professional-quality (and some performers were, indeed, professionals) and enjoyable.
• On nearby streets what seemed to be the entire Israeli police force was arrayed. They had set up barriers to block traffic and put on down-filled ski suits as protection from the projected freezing temperature.
• Keren HaYesod Street was blocked, I supose because it is on the path from the hotel to the Prime Minister's office. At one intersection the police told us we could not cross. Two blocks down, police ignored us when we crossed.
• Nobody drove past. One in our party said, "Bush comes to Jerusalem and it is Yom Kippur" (http://jerusalemblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/yom-kippur.html ).

Copyright 2008 Jane S. Fox