The King and I

The King and I

National Tour
Buell Theater
Denver, CO 
January 2-14, 2018

Most people’s familiarity with Rogers and Hammerstein’s The King and I doesn’t stretch beyond the Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr film.

The script is very simple so the music and lovely sets gave the show a much more interesting feel. However, the play within a play at the heart of Act 2 was tedious and pointless. The music is not as familiar as many Rogers and Hammerstein shows which kept the show interesting.

The highlight of the show was the performance of the King. He was lovably backward – most of the time. When he was irrational (in Anna’s eyes anyway) it made sense. His comedic timing was perfect and he was a constant, yet surprising, source of laughter throughout.

Anna’s character was fairly bland. The performance didn’t give her the spunk or personality to make her interesting. Her son, Louis, was intelligible most of the time, so his storyline was often lost.
The sets for the show were nothing short of spectacular. In the opening scene we were treated to a large boat onstage which morphed into the dock. The palace and beautiful columns which seemingly moved on their own to change the location.

The costumes were similarly gorgeous. Anna’s costumes were lovely, although she seemed overdressed for a governess. The Thai costumes were stunning for the men and women. It almost seemed a travesty when Anna suggested the people dress in Western clothing.

Despite the beauty of the production, some elements were perplexing. Much of the blocking had characters parading across the stage with no real reason. It’s rare to see this type of lazy blocking in a production of this caliber.

Another irritant was the King’s inconsistent demand for his head to be higher than everyone else’s. Yes, it is in the script, but the staging was such that this convention was broken by practically every character. So the King complaining about Anna’s head being higher seemed silly.

Also strange was the emphasis on the King’s wives trying to adapt to Western clothing. Yet when the time came for them to show of this style, the clothing was hidden upstage. Most of the complaining wives were not a part of the scene at all and some weren’t even wearing the much talked about attire. Worse yet, the dress of Anna, the governess, was far more elaborate than any of the King’s wives. Where would that happen?

The production has its flaws, no doubt. Those in love with the 1956 film will likely be enthralled.