The King and I continues at the Grand Theatre, Leeds until 9 November 2019 and then tour until 2 May 2020.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Famously (or infamously), the voice of Deborah Kerr in the 1956 film version of The King and I was dubbed (as it was for so many performers) by Marnie Nixon.
The current Anna Leonowens features the voice of Annalene Beechey. Not only does she sing magnificently in her own voice, she also acts with verve and passion; successfully alternating the widowed school teacher with the great lady, while managing not to catch her heels in her voluminous crinolines. She is, undoubtedly, the star of the show.
However, she is not alone in turning in a five star performance.
Jose Llana, as the King of Siam, shares some of the singing duties, but essentially his is a tragi-comic acting role. It may be the character’s floundering attempts to reconcile his desire to modernise his nation and preserve traditional values, while struggling with the eccentricities of western cultural norms, that have led some critics to find the show patronising and imperialistic.
In fact, Oscar Hammerstein’s book and lyrics manage to balance the arrogance and bombast of the polygamous King with Anna’s stubborn wilfulness. Yet both emerge as lovable characters whose relationship goes well beyond issues of political correctness.
The second leads in the show are the lovers Tuptim, played by Paulina Yeung, and Lun Tha (Ethan Le Phong). In a show packed with great tunes, they have one of the loveliest – ‘We Kiss in a Shadow’. Yeung plays the ‘present’ sent by the King of Burma for the King of Siam’s birthday. Clearly, whatever the specifics of a culture, this can never be a justifiable state of affairs. The added complication is that she has fallen in love with Lun Tha and plans to elope with him, hence, they kiss in a shadow.
Not only is the singing and dancing consistently excellent throughout, but the set pieces, particularly the play-within-a-play of ‘The Small House of Uncle Thomas’, provide contrasts that add a dimension without distracting from the central story.
The staging of this ballet is so well known that it takes considerable creativity from choreographer Christopher Gattelli (from Jerome Robbins’ original) to make it new. Ena Yamaguchi, as Eliza, provides movement that feels traditionally oriental, while being bang up to date.
In considering the set designs of Michael Yeargan I am tempted to remember only the simple device of flying in the elaborate pillars of the King’s Palace. However, that would be to neglect the spectacular opening sequence as Anna and her son arrive in Bangkok. The paddle steamer coming in to dock as Anna keeps her, and her son’s, spirits high – ‘I Whistle a Happy Tune’ – is a stunning opening that had the small girl sitting next to me wide-eyed with astonishment.
Similarly, Catherine Zuber’s costumes provide all the colour and spectacle that any audience could wish for.
Director Bartlett Sher integrates words, music and dance into a seamless whole –no easy task given the size of the cast and the considerable resources at his disposal.
In trying to extract an original comment for this review, I asked the ten year old next to me who she thought was the best singer. Her answer was: “All of them.” Not helpful for my purposes, but accurate nonetheless.
Mike Tilling
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