The King and I
The King and I is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel Anna and the King of Siam (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. The musical's plot relates the experiences of Anna, a British schoolteacher who is hired as part of the King's drive to modernize his country. The relationship between the King and Anna is marked by conflict through much of the piece, as well as by a love to which neither can admit. The musical premiered on March 29, 1951, at Broadway's St. James Theatre. It ran for nearly three years, making it the fourth-longest-running Broadway musical in history at the time, and has had many tours and revivals.
This article is about the stage musical. For other uses, see The King and I (disambiguation).The King and I
Oscar Hammerstein II
- 1951 Broadway
- 1953 West End
- 1954 U.S. tour
- 1973 West End revival
- 1977 Broadway revival
- 1979 West End revival
- 1981 U.S. tour
- 1985 Broadway revival
- 1996 Broadway revival
- 1998 U.S. tour
- 2000 West End revival
- 2002 U.K. tour
- 2004 U.S. tour
- 2011 U.K. tour
- 2015 Broadway revival
- 2016 U.S. tour
- 2018 West End revival
- 2023 U.K. tour
- 2024 West End revival
In 1950, theatrical attorney Fanny Holtzmann was looking for a part for her client, veteran leading lady Gertrude Lawrence. Holtzmann realized that Landon's book would provide an ideal vehicle and contacted Rodgers and Hammerstein, who were initially reluctant but agreed to write the musical. The pair initially sought Rex Harrison to play the supporting part of the King, a role he had played in the 1946 film made from Landon's book, but he was unavailable. They settled on the young actor and television director Yul Brynner.
The musical was an immediate hit, winning Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Actress (for Lawrence) and Best Featured Actor (for Brynner). Lawrence died unexpectedly of cancer a year and a half after the opening, and the role of Anna was played by several actresses during the remainder of the Broadway run of 1,246 performances. A hit West End London run and U.S. national tour followed, together with the 1956 film for which Brynner won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the musical was recorded several times. In later revivals, Brynner came to dominate his role and the musical, starring in a four-year national tour culminating in a 1985 Broadway run shortly before his death.
Christopher Renshaw directed major revivals on Broadway (1996), winning the Tony Award for Best Revival, and in the West End (2000). A 2015 Broadway revival won another Tony for Best Revival. Both professional and amateur revivals of The King and I continue to be staged regularly throughout the English-speaking world.
Plot[edit]
Act 1[edit]
In 1862, a strong-willed, widowed schoolteacher, Anna Leonowens, arrives in Bangkok, Siam (later known as Thailand) at the request of the King of Siam to tutor his many children. Anna's young son, Louis, fears the severe countenance of the King's prime minister, the Kralahome, but Anna refuses to be intimidated ("I Whistle a Happy Tune"). The Kralahome has come to escort them to the palace, where they are expected to live – a violation of Anna's contract, which calls for them to live in a separate house. She considers returning to Singapore aboard the vessel that brought them, but goes with her son and the Kralahome.
Adaptations[edit]
The musical was filmed in 1956 with Brynner re-creating his role opposite Deborah Kerr. The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won five, including Best Actor for Brynner, with Kerr nominated for Best Actress.[162] Sharaff won for best costume design.[163] The film was directed by Walter Lang (who was also nominated for an Oscar) and choreographed by Robbins. Marni Nixon dubbed the singing voice of Anna, and Rita Moreno played Tuptim. Saunders as Thiang, Adiarte as Chulalongkorn and Benson as the Kralahome reprised their stage roles, as did dancers Yuriko and de Lappe. Alan Mowbray appeared in the new role of the British Ambassador, while Sir Edward Ramsey (demoted to the Ambassador's aide) was played by Geoffrey Toone.[164][165] The movie's script was faithful to the stage version, although it cut a few songs; reviews were enthusiastic. Thomas Hischak, in his The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia, states: "It is generally agreed that the [movie] is the finest film adaptation of any R & H musical".[164][166] Thai officials judged the film offensive to their monarchy and banned both film and musical in 1956.[167]
A non-musical 1972 TV comedy series, starring Brynner, was broadcast in the U.S. by CBS but was cancelled in mid-season after 13 episodes. It followed the main storyline of the musical, focusing on the relationship between the title characters. Samantha Eggar played "Anna Owens", with Brian Tochi as Chulalongkorn, Keye Luke as the Kralahome, Eric Shea as Louis, Lisa Lu as Lady Thiang, and Rosalind Chao as Princess Serena. The first episode aired on September 17, 1972, and the last aired on December 31, 1972.[168] Margaret Landon was unhappy with this series and charged the producers with "inaccurate and mutilated portrayals" of her literary property; she unsuccessfully sued for copyright infringement.[169][170]
Jerome Robbins' Broadway was a Broadway revue, directed by Robbins, showcasing scenes from some of his most popular earlier works on Broadway. The show ran from February 1989 to September 1990 and won six Tony Awards, including best musical. It featured "Shall We Dance" and "The Small House of Uncle Thomas" ballet, with Kikuchi as Eliza. Yuriko was the choreographic "reconstruction assistant".[171][172]
Rich Animation Studios, Morgan Creek Productions and Warner Bros. Pictures released a 1999 animated film adaptation of the musical. Except for using some of the songs and characters, the story is unrelated to the Rodgers and Hammerstein version. Geared towards children, the adaptation includes cuddly animals, including a dragon. Voices were provided by Miranda Richardson as Anna (speaking), Christiane Noll as Anna (singing), Martin Vidnovic as the King, Ian Richardson as the Kralahome and Adam Wylie as Louis. Hischak dislikes the film but praises the vocals, adding that one compensation of the film is hearing Barbra Streisand sing a medley of "I Have Dreamed", "We Kiss in a Shadow" and "Something Wonderful", which is borrowed from Streisand's 1985 The Broadway Album and played under the film's closing credits.[173] He expressed surprise "that the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization allowed it to be made" and noted that "children have enjoyed The King and I for five decades without relying on dancing dragons".[164] Ted Chapin, president of that organization, has called the film his biggest mistake in granting permission for an adaptation.[174]
Music and recordings[edit]
Musical treatment[edit]
In his music, Rodgers sought to give some of the music an Asian flavor. This is exhibited in the piercing major seconds that frame "A Puzzlement", the flute melody in "We Kiss in a Shadow", open fifths, the exotic 6/2 chords that shape "My Lord and Master", and in some of the incidental music.[23][175] The music for "The Small House of Uncle Thomas" was for the most part written not by Rodgers, but by dance music arranger Trude Rittmann, though "Hello, Young Lovers" and a snatch of "A Puzzlement" are quoted within it.[176]
Before Rodgers and Hammerstein began writing together, the AABA form for show tunes was standard, but many of the songs in The King and I vary from it. "I Have Dreamed" is an almost continuous repetition of variations on the same theme, until the ending, when it is capped by another melody. The first five notes (an eighth note triplet and two half notes) of "Getting to Know You" also carry the melody all the way through the refrain. According to Mordden, this refusal to accept conventional forms "is one reason why their frequently heard scores never lose their appeal. They attend to situation and they unveil character, but also, they surprise you."[176]
According to Rodgers' biographer William Hyland, the score for The King and I is much more closely tied to the action than that of South Pacific, "which had its share of purely entertaining songs".[177] For example, the opening song, "I Whistle a Happy Tune", establishes Anna's fear upon entering a strange land with her small son, but the merry melody also expresses her determination to keep a stiff upper lip.[177] Hyland calls "Hello, Young Lovers" an archetypical Rodgers ballad: simple, with only two chords in the first eight bars, but moving in its directness.[177]
Recordings[edit]
The original cast recording of The King and I was released by Decca Records in 1951. While John Kenrick admires it for the performances of the secondary couple, Larry Douglas and Doretta Morrow, and for the warmth of Lawrence's performance, he notes that "Shall We Dance" was abridged, and there are no children's voices – the chorus in "Getting to Know You" is made up of adults.[178] In 2000, the recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[179] Later in the same year Patrice Munsel and Robert Merrill made the first studio recording of selections from the musical.[180] Hischak comments that in the 1953 London cast album, Valerie Hobson's vocals were no stronger than Lawrence's and that the highlight is Muriel Smith's "Something Wonderful" in a disc with too many cuts. He calls Anna's songs "well served" by Marni Nixon's singing in the 1956 film soundtrack and judges the recording as vocally satisfying;[180] Kenrick describes it as a "mixed bag": he is pleased that it includes several songs cut from the film, and he praises Nixon's vocals, but he dislikes the supporting cast and suggests watching the movie instead for its visual splendor.[178]
Kenrick prefers the 1964 Lincoln Center cast recording to the earlier ones, especially approving of the performances of Risë Stevens as Anna and Patricia Neway as Lady Thiang.[178] The recording, for the first time, included the narrated ballet music for "The Small House of Uncle Thomas". Because a single LP limited a single-disc album to about fifty minutes, its inclusion required the absence of some of the other numbers.[181] Kenrick finds the recording of the 1977 Broadway revival cast to be "[e]asily the most satisfying King & I on CD". He judges it to be Brynner's best performance, calling Towers "great" and Martin Vidnovic, June Angela and the rest of the supporting cast "fabulous", though lamenting the omission of the ballet. Hischak, in contrast, says that some might prefer Brynner in his earlier recordings, when he was "more vibrant".[180] Kenrick enjoys the 1992 Angel studio recording mostly for the Anna of Julie Andrews, who he says is "pure magic" in a role she never performed on stage.[178][182] Kenrick praises the performance of both stars on the 1996 Broadway revival recording, calling Lou Diamond Phillips "that rarity, a King who can stand free of Brynner's shadow".[178] Hischak finds the soundtrack to the 1999 animated film with Christiane Noll as Anna and Martin Vidnovic as the King, as well as Barbra Streisand singing on one track, more enjoyable than the movie itself,[180] but Kenrick writes that his sole use for that CD is as a coaster.[178]