When the curtain goes up on this touring production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I to reveal the teeming port of Bangkok against a twinkling backdrop of stars, one is simultaneously transported back almost fifty years to its legendary Broadway opening and to the l850s when a young English school teacher, Anna Leonowens, arrived to teach the 67 children of the King of Siam. There is a monolithic and eternal quality to this musical, which is inscribed in the characters of Anna and the King, the exotic theme of East meets West, and the wonderful Rodgers and Hammerstein music.
Every production immediately refers to the original, every Anna to Debra Kerr, every King to Yul Brynner. Jill Van Velzer is the quintessential Anna -- from her erect and elegant carriage in voluminous 1860s satin gowns, crisp diction and full soprano to her commanding, no-nonsense delivery. Lego Louis as King, however, does not stand up well in Brynner's shadow. He is loveable and comic but lacks the vocal and dramatic size to be Ms. Van Velzer's equal. This is a lavish road show to say the least. Sequin-encrusted and brocaded Siamese costumes in tropical oranges, reds and pink are set off against ornate gilt columns, Thai elephant motifs and tiered Buddhist shrines and thrones. Shimmering chiffon drop curtains illuminated by purple and blue light periodically wash theset to change the production tones.
The Rodgers and Hammerstein songs -- "Whistle a Happy Tune," "Getting to Know You," and "Hello, Young Lovers" -- still have their old charm and the choreography by Jerome Robbins is brilliant, especially the dance pantomime sequence of "Little House of Uncle Thomas," based on Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Yet, this jewel of a revival cannot make us forget the assumptions of Western moral superiority that underlie The King and I (once considered a pioneering feminist and multi-cultural work) are questionable today. Anna clearly has all the power in this production.
Without the towering figure of Yul Brynner, we feel very little regret at the passing of the King of Siam and with him the wonderful "barbaric" and exotic diversity of his court.
