Sensational Dance at The King and I
“A woman has written a book? “
The King
The King and I stands the test of time as one of Rodgers and Hammerstein lavish musicals with tunes you can sing on the way home.
Helen George plays Anna Leonowens, the English governess who bravely goes to Siam in 1862 to teach English to the children of the King of Siam (Darren Lee).
The real Anna was not born in Wales as she claimed but in India. Her grandmother was probably Anglo Indian and she sought to disguise her mixed-race heritage. Her husband wasn’t a major but a sergeant.
Her description of King Mongkut of Siam as a tyrant was also inaccurate according to his relatives. Although much of her biography is obviously fiction, she was a feminist and in favour of votes for women. Many of the reforms in Siam were attributed by Anna to her own influence on the king and his eldest son and heir Prince Chulalongkorn (Caleb Lagayan). Prince Chulalongkorn himself said that his father having spent 27 years as a Buddhist monk before ascending to the throne was always a reforming monarch.
The musical of The King and I is based on the novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon but should be seen as historical fiction rather than historically accurate.
The opening scene has Anna and her son Louis (George Maguire) arriving in the busy port of Bangkok. Dancers convey the bustle of traders and beggars at the port and Anna teaches her son her technique for dealing with fears of apprehension by whistling a happy tune. The boat scenery is impressive as is the choreography as the colourful dockside inhabitants give way to beautiful, white faced dancers in white and silver traditional Siamese clothes with pointed headdresses, curved shoulder pads and bare feet.
There is much made of Anna’s being promised a house for herself and her son but then being offered an apartment inside the royal palace. She gets her revenge by teaching English phrases with home and house in them as a reminder to the king of his forgotten promise. The parade of the Royal children is one of my favourite scenes in any musical and here the children are delightful with their hovering mothers anxious that they should make a good impression.
We meet Tuptim (Marienella Phillips) a gift from the King of Burma to the King of Siam who, with her lover Lun Tha (Dean John-Wilson), have two of the best tunes in the show. Tuptim’s first song “My Lord and Master” questions what has pleased the king.
The costumes by Catherine Zuber are spectacular as we remember that Bartlett Sher’s production originated at the Lincoln Center and there is good comedy as the Siamese wives try to make sense of the hooped undergarments for crinoline frocks. These are called for because the King has been called a barbarian and uses Anna’s advice to create a good impression on the British Ambassador Sir Edward Ramsay (Sam Jenkins-Shaw). We are reminded of the intervention of Western powers in Indo-China with the French establishing a protectorate in Cambodia.
The highlight for me was the traditional ballet, the retelling of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin as the Siamese influenced “The Small House of Uncle Thomas”. It is the most beautiful spectacle, the story chosen by Tuptim to make her anti-slavery message and the acrobatic dancers are thrilling. So often in these musicals the ballet escapes me but here I want to see this again and again. Yuki Ozeki is Little Eva and Qinwen Xue is the sinister Simon of Legree.
Helen George is well known for Call the Midwife which I haven’t followed but she could be a great musical star with her beautiful singing voice and composure. I enjoyed Caleb Lagayan’s performance as the heir apparent Prince Chulalongkorn with his formality softening towards his teacher. Cezarah Bonner’s first wife Lady Thiang has a wonderful voice and stage presence.
This production is only on at the Dominion until 2nd March 2024 and Theatrevibe, the site that doesn’t do stars, awards The King and I five sparkling stars.
Musical Numbers
Act One
Overture
I Whistle a Happy Tune
My Lord and Master
Hello, Young Lovers
The March of the Siamese Children
The Royal Bangkok Academy
A Puzzlement
Getting to Know You
We Kiss in a Shadow
A Puzzlement (Reprise)
Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?
Something Wonderful
Act Two
Western People Funny
I Have/Dreamed
Hello, Young Lovers (Reprise)
The Small House of Uncle Thomas
Song of The King
Shall We Dance?
I Whistle a Happy Tune (Reprise)
Production Notes
The King and I
Book and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein
Music by Richard Rodgers
Based on the novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon
Choreographed by Christopher Gattelli
Directed by Bartlett Sher
Cast
Starring:
Cezarah Bonner
Darren Lee
Dean John-Wilson
Helen George
Kok-Hwa Lie
Sam Jenkins-Shaw
Marienella Phillips
Caleb Lagayan
Josh Bortoloso
Charlie Maguire
Ballet:
Rachel Wang-Hei Lau
Hiromi Toyooka
Jason Yang-Westland
Cher Nicolette Ho
Qinwen Xue
Yuki Ozeki
Royal Children
Cody Concha
Alana Bahane Koppen
Alexander Chin
Phoebe Zhao-Welsh
Ruby Mae Lewis
Creatives
Director: Bartlett Sher
Original Choreographer: Jerome Robbins
Choreographer: Christopher Gattelli
Set Designer: Michael Yeargan
Costume Designer: Catherine Zuber
Musical Supervisor and Arranger: Sarah Travis
Lighting Designer: Donald Holder
Sound Designer: Scott Lehrer
Orchestrations: Robert Russell Bennett
Musical Director: Stephen Ridley/Christopher Mundy
Information
Running Time: Two hours 55 minutes with an interval
Booking until 2nd March 2024
Theatre:
Dominion Theatre
268-269 Tottenham Court Road
London W1T 7AQ
Tube: Tottenham Court Road
Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge
at the Dominion Theatre
on 31st January 2024
