The King and I

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I is based on ‘Anna and the King of Siam’ by Margaret Landon. It is set in the early 1860’s when newly widowed Anna Leonownens and her son, Louis, set sail from England to Siam (now Thailand). Anna has set her sights on a new adventure and taken a position as the schoolteacher for the royal children of the King of Siam. To me, the show is always associated with Yul Brynner mainly because of the film but, in 1951, Yul Brynner was in the original stage production with Gertrude Lawrence and although she died a year and a half after the opening, the role of Anna was played by several actresses during the remainder of the Broadway run of 1,246 performances. A London run and US national tour followed, as did the 1956 film (Brynner winning an Academy Award) with Deborah Kerr as Anna. In later revivals, Brynner starred in a 4 year national tour culminating in a 1985 Broadway run shortly before his death.

Sarah Evans was delightful as Anna giving a strong, believable performance and she totally captured the fearlessness and self confidence of the character perfectly. Her voice has a lovely tone and she sang the well loved songs, quite beautifully. Sarah was definitely a match for The King who was confidently and impressively played by Michael Bailey. Michael’s acting skills were very much in evidence as he pompously and arrogantly strutted around the stage regally expressing his ultimate power but later showing the uncertainties that confronted him following Anna’s influence. He has a good singing voice and his delivery of ‘A Puzzlement’ was great as were his duets with Anna. William Woodroffe gave a fine portrayal as Louis, Anna’s son. He was full of confidence and both his acting and singing were of a high standard as were those of Thomas Bailey in the role of Prince Chulalonkorn, the King’s son. He was a perfect miniature of his father with his posturing etc. etc. etc. Korina Steed as Tuptim and Ronan Fowkes as Lun Tha gave quite lovely and moving performances as the two lovers. Their singing of ‘We Kiss in the Shadow’ was divine. Lady Thiang was well acted and sung by Al Wheatly and giving good support was Andrew Bailey as The Kralahome, Kev Allen as Sir Edward Ramsey, Tony Wain as Captain Orton (loved the Scottish accent), Duncan Smith as Phra Alack and Tony Wardle as The Interpreter. The Royal Wives, Priests and Guards too, gave tremendous support and all of the children were adorable. 

I was very impressed with the re-enactment of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. It was imaginatively choreographed and splendidly danced and performed by Amy Measures - Eliza, Olivia Bailey - Simon of Legree, Eleanor Webster - Uncle Thomas, Olivia Bailey - Little Eva and Alyce Taylor - Little Topsy. The story was superbly narrated by Korina Steed as Tuptin. However, just as Uncle Tom’s Cabin was due to start with the cast already on the stage, the unthinkable happened, Alison, the Musical Director walked out of the auditorium leaving those on stage, the orchestra and the audience totally stunned! Just a very short time later she reappeared followed by two men carrying a piano to inform us that her keyboard was broken. The replacement  was put in front of the original keyboard, and now, with no illumination on the piano, Alison continued and everyone carried on as if nothing had occurred - what stars they all were and how fortunate to have a piano in reserve! I have experienced some strange things in my time but this was definitely a first for me.

The costumes throughout were exquisite and aided by appropriate wigs and hairpieces gave the cast a truly, overall ‘Siamese look’. The sets were simple with the addition of some excellent props and together with first-rate sound and lighting effects, a great cast and band, it was a most entertaining and enjoyable show. Congratulations to everyone involved.  

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