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Mills is 'King's' ace in the hole

By Kyle Lawson
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 9, 1998

Photo by Joan Marcus

Romance nearly blooms between the King (Vee Talmadge) and Anna (Hayley Mills) in this scene from The King and I.

At 14, Hayley Mills knew what was best for everyone. Witness her bossy but adorable teens in Pollyanna and The Parent Trap. At 50, she has lost none of her skill in chivying people around her into doing the right thing. She asserts her authority over The King and I with the assurance of a born matriarch.

Whatever reservations Gammage audiences may have had about Mills in the role of Anna Leonowens, the strong-willed governess made famous on stage and screen by a host of stars, including Gertrude Lawrence, Irene Dunne and Deborah Kerr, are dissolved with her first appearance in this opulent revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic.

Glowing with a mature, English-rose beauty, her acting powers operating at peak level, Mills sallies forth, ready to bend every obstacle to her will. Chief among these obstructions is Vee Talmadge, the arrogant, sexually attractive, forward-thinking but still too reactionary to her way of thinking, king of Siam.

It is the mid-1860s and the monarch is embarked upon a campaign to bring his kingdom into the modern community of nations. He has hired Anna to teach Western history and customs to his royal wives and children, and particularly to his heir, Crown Prince Chulalongkorn.

Anna, a feminist before the name, takes to the job like the proverbial duck to water, and the results are often distasteful to the king, who has been raised to think of women as inferior beings who should keep to their place - which is groveling at his feet.

These two are stubborn, opinionated, determined individuals, and, as Anna comes to realize late in the play, it is inevitable that they hurt one another.

But they develop a mutual respect, and perhaps something more. In one of the most romantic scenes conceived for the stage, and beautifully realized in the Gammage production, Anna poses the musical question 'Shall We Dance?' to the king, and love comes very close to blossoming.

This affection cannot stem the ultimate clash between East and West, and The King and I's bittersweet ending gives it an emotional power rare in musical comedy.

The king often describes Anna as a "very difficult woman," and Mills gives voice to all of the passion and frustration that her character feels in this strange land, and to all of the love that develops among her and the children and, finally, the king.

It is a satisfying performance, and not even the fact that Mills is, at best, a pleasant singer can mar its effectiveness. Those spoiled by the vocalizing of Marni Nixon in the movie (dubbing for Kerr) and Julie Andrews on the recent recording may be disappointed but I don't think it will matter to most people.
'THE KING AND I'

WHAT: Christopher Renshaw directs the Broadway revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical classic. Produced by ASU Public Events and starring Hayley Mills and Vee Talmadge.

WHEN: 8 p.m. Jan. 9; 2 and 7 p.m. Jan. 10-11 (Jan. 11 matinee is signed for the hearing-impaired).

WHERE: Gammage Auditorium, Mill Avenue and Gammage Parkway, Tempe.

TICKETS: $33-$47. 1-602-965-3434 or Dillard's, 1-602-503-5555.

PARKING: Free, but lots usually are full 30 minutes before curtain.

SENSITIVITY RATING: Suitable for all ages.

Mills brings every number to dramatic life, and that's sufficient. In this musical, the plot doesn't exist as an excuse for the music; the music is there to enhance an engrossing story. By providing audiences with a forceful, admirable, honest Anna, Mills serves her king very well.

In any case, there are other voices, trained and lovely, to compensate. As Lady Thiang, the king's chief wife, Helen Yu's rendition of Something Wonderful is the evening's musical highlight, followed closely by I Have Dreamed and We Kiss in a Shadow, duets sung by the play's young lovers, Tuptim (Luzviminda Lor) and Lun Tha (Timothy Ford Murphy).

If theatergoers are disconcerted by this production, it will be by the performance of Talmadge as the king. The years since his death have not diminished the memories of Yul Brynner in the part. Wisely, director Christopher Renshaw has allowed Talmadge to find his own image. The result is a characterization that is as eccentric as it is wholly original.

Whether it is as wholly satisfying as Mills' will, I suspect, be a matter of taste. For this critic, Talmadge seems a bit too contemporary and, well, Western. Brynner brought a hint of exotic barbarism to the role that his successor lacks.

This version of The King and I originated in Australia and later swept virtually every Broadway award. It is not so much a revival as it is a makeover. Renshaw has taken a fresh approach to every scene, from the opening, which exchanges its traditional shipboard setting for the bustling markets of Bangkok, to the introduction of the children to Anna, which remains utterly charming but is much more amusing.

Certainly, the show has never been more dazzling, thanks to Roger Kirk's costumes, Brian Thomson's lush scenic design and Nigel Leving's lighting. Jerome Robbins' fondly remembered dances, including the Siamese-inspired Uncle Tom's Ballet, have been augmented by the work of acclaimed modern choreographer Lars Lubovitch, giving a much needed sense of movement to the otherwise leisurely paced three-hour opus.

All that is marvelous but, in the final analysis, The King and I is a love story played out against some of the grandest music composed for the stage.


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