The King and I

It was good to be reminded what a lovely show The King and I is, with this production doing it full justice.  That the show went on at all is also a credit to the society and to Jamie Hughes who courageously stepped in to the main role of The King with less than six weeks’ notice, due to an illness affecting the original cast member.  It is, of course, an enormously important part and Jamie did exceptionally well with his delivery and the presentation of his numbers.  He looked right too and extracted the humour that is an integral feature of the role.

The change of casting will also have affected Helen Nichols who played the part of Anna but it certainly did not show as she played the part strongly, singing well, building her relationship with The King and forming a good rapport to the team of children and wives.

Tuptim (Oprah Kitchen) and Lun Tar (Stefan Jefferson) were a good couple and Oprah did not stop working throughout an enjoyable Small House of Uncle Thomas scene.

I was particularly impressed with Andrew Studholme who played the King in waiting, Prince Chulalongkorn with real stature, also showing off his fine young voice.  There were also good supporting performances by Pat Hughes (Lady Thiang), Bob Downing (Sir Edward Ramsey) and Kenneth Davison (The Kralahome).

If I have a negative it is that some of the diction was not as sharp as it could have been but, with a simple set and colourful costumes well suited to the production and the beautifully refurbished Spotlight Theatre, this was a production that kept a full house entertained throughout.

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