Performed in the first scene of The Mikado by Ko-Ko, Lord High Executioner of the town of Titipu, along with the male chorus, the “Little List” song (“As someday it might happen”) is a litany of unsavory characters and personages deserving of punishment. The words of this song – the types of offenses and offenders described – have been traditionally modified for socio-cultural relevance throughout the work’s performance history. This includes the insertion of allusions to local events that make for a more timely understanding of what the Lord High Executioner deems socially undesirable.

-David Fick