Tony winner Bartlett Sher (South Pacific) directs this classic tale of a British schoolteacher's unexpected relationship with the imperious King of Siam.
Five-time Tony Award nominee Kelli O'Hara (The Light in the Piazza, South Pacific) and Academy Award nominee Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai, Inception) star in a magnificent new Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's beloved THE KING AND I.
Featuring a cast of more than 50, choreography based on the original by Jerome Robbins, and a score of treasured songs including "Getting to Know You," "I Whistle a Happy Tune" and "Shall We Dance?" in their glorious, original orchestrations, Lincoln Center Theater's new staging of THE KING AND I invites you to get to know this inspiring and enchanting musical classic.
O'Hara's Anna is fiercely determined, if cautious as a newcomer, and it's thrilling to watch her negotiate the pitfalls involved in establishing herself at court...It's hard not to be moved as O'Hara describes the beauty of a snowflake after the blissful 'Getting to Know You' sequence. O'Hara's voice is in prime operatic form throughout, rivaled only by her ability to waltz in Catherine Zuber's lavish, flowing gowns. I had mixed feelings about Watanabe's performance...Watanabe's got the imperiousness down pat, but he's falling back on enough of his Japanese accent that it makes some of his line readings difficult to parse...It's not a fatal flaw, whatever you've read in the chat rooms. And anyway, I could watch these two perform 'Shall We Dance?' all night long...'The King and I' requires a regal, charismatic leading lady, and in O'Hara, it has one who's just about perfect.
I doubt I'll see a better production of 'The King and I' in my lifetime. Mr. Watanabe gets out from Brynner's long shadow by giving a performance that is gleefully playful, regally commanding and wholly his own...Kelli O'Hara leaves nothing whatsoever to be desired as Anna. Firm but not priggish, touching but never sentimental, she stands up to Mr. Watanabe like a redwood to a tornado...The supporting cast is sterling, and Mr. Sher's detailed character work repays close study: Every part, right down to the smallest of the children, is endowed with strong and clear individuality...Ted Sperling's 28-piece pit band plays Robert Russell Bennett's original 1951 orchestrations, which glitter and shine. Indeed, I'm not sure I've ever heard a Broadway score played in the theater with such finesse.
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