Review: `The King and I'

By James D. Watts Jr. World Entertainment Writer
1/15/98

"The King and I" is one of those rare musicals that lives or dies on the charisma of its stars.

It really doesn't matter if these stars can carry a tune -- Yul Brynner, the actor forever associated with the role of the King, was a serviceable singer at best, and Gertrude Lawrence, the original "I" on Broadway, was described as having "the greatest range between C and C-sharp of anyone." What is important for stars of "The King and I" is that they can charm an audience into believing that these two very different, almost antagonistic characters are slowly, but surely, charming each other.

The new Broadway touring production of this Rodgers and Hammerstein classic (which opened its eight-performance run at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center Wednesday) luckily has in Hayley Mills and Vee Talmadge two actors with charisma to spare.

It also doesn't hurt that these two are showcased in such a lavish production, one that replicates the Tony Award-winning staging that is still running on Broadway, or surrounded by a cast that includes a couple of impressive singers, a company of energetic and expressive dancers and a host of calculating, cute children.

All the various pieces of this show are so finely formed and so enjoyable to watch that it's easy to forgive the fact that this "King and I" doesn't quite completely come together.

It is as if almost there's too much going on with this show. Director Christopher Renshaw wanted to create a version of "The King and I" that addresses the devastating effects of colonialism upon a culture -- the way the King's desire to modernize Siam and English schoolteacher Anna Leonowens' efforts to bring Western civilization to the Siamese court ultimately and irrevocably change that society.

Place this interpretation (and it certainly is a justifiable way of looking at the story) on top of the other issues addressed, from slavery to feminism, and the musical that many may think of only as the source of some well-known songs like "Shall We Dance," "Getting to Know You" and "Hello, Young Lovers" becomes weighed down with too much thematic baggage.

Then, there is Talmadge's portrayal of the King. He gives the character the proper regal presence, but there's no hint of the brutality that fuels the King's personality, that accounts for his power. Talmadge makes the King a reasonable, likeable man, with a sly and quicksilver wit, and a poignant awareness of his own confusion about how he should lead his people if his country is to survive. But you never believe him capable of the barbarous behavior upon which hangs the show's climax.

But, conversely, it is this characterization that makes the rapport and repartee between Talmadge and Mills so sharp and enjoyable. Mills plays Anna Leonowens, the English schoolteacher who has come to Siam to teach the King's 67 children, as a steel-stemmed English rose, certain of herself and how to go about getting what she thinks she deserves. When Anna and the King butt metaphorical heads over a promised house or how low Anna should bow, Talmadge's King does not so much confront Anna as tease her. It makes for great comedy, especially when Anna must do equal battle with the King and her hoop skirts.

Mills is not a singer. She has two distinct singing voices -- a conversational, Rex Harrison-esque tone, and a more polished, melodic upper register -- and can deal with only a limited number of notes with either one. Fortunately, the songs she has to sing are not too demanding. And when she and Talmadge start twirling around the stage during "Shall We Dance," it's the visual spectacle that makes this a truly wondrous moment.

The real singers in this production are Luzviminda Lor as Tuptim, who puts her soaring soprano to excellent effect in "My Lord and Master" and "I Have Dreamed," and Helen Yu as Lady Tiang, who has sung Wagner at the Metropolitan Opera, and comes close to stopping the show with a richly nuanced rendition of "Something Wonderful."

Lar Lubovitch created new, sinuous, almost poetic choreography for the "Royal Dance" and "White Elephant," while Susan Kikuchi re-created Jerome Robbins' original choreography for the rest of the show, including the spectacular "Small House of Uncle Thomas," in which "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is transformed into a vigorous Oriental pantomime.

Brian Thomson's set designs rest on a fine line between the garish (some 2,000 square feet of gold leaf was used on some of the sets) and the simple (some scenes employ a couple of drapes to decorate the stage). Roger Kirk's costumes ranged from simple monks' robes to Anna's hooped skirts to the royal dancers' golden headdresses.

One final note: we also saw this production at the Gammage Auditorium in Tempe, Ariz., and it make us appreciate even more the assured professionalism of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center's technical staff. The show we saw in Arizona was full of technical gaffes from wandering spotlights to scrims that rose at inappropriate times.

"The King and I" continues with performances through Sunday at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. The show is officially sold out, but some tickets may become available during the run; call 596-7111 for information.


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