Stage spotlight: 'The Mikado' and 'The Fantasticks' at Skylark Opera

Opening Friday: In its first go at Gilbert & Sullivan, Skylark Opera teams with Mu Performing Arts to give "The Mikado" a fresh spin. In the original, English actors played Japanese characters. In Rick Shiomi's production, set in England, Asian actors play Brits. This is Shiomi's last production as Mu artistic director. "Mikado" runs in rep with the longest-running musical in history, "The Fantasticks," directed by perennial favorite Robert Neu, who has successfully helmed "On the Town," "Merry Widow" and "Naughty Marietta" in years past. ("The Fantasticks:" 7:30 p.m. June 14, 20 and 22 and 3 p.m. June 16; "The Mikado:" 7:30 p.m. June 15, 19 and 21 and 3 p.m. June 23, E.M. Pearson Theatre, 312 N. Hamline Av., St. Paul, $10-$43, 612-343-3390, www.skylarkopera.org.)