Please bear with me for a few minutes; I'll get to my opinion of the performance shortly. But first, why is it that critics spend so much time reviewing individual performances but not the theaters? Do they assume that people already have an intimate knowledge of the theater where a particular performance will be held?

I don't go to the theatre very often, but the Merriam was an experience unto itself. I ordered my tickets by phone, so I needed to pick them up at the "Will Call" window. We arrived some 40 minutes before the performance was to begin and there was a fairly large crowd waiting outside the theater. There was no indication of where the "Box Office" or "Will Call" windows were located. After asking several people, someone finally told me to go inside the first set of doors, turn left and go as far as I could.

With the number of people waiting to enter the theater, this was not by any means an easy task. However, I managed to convince enough people that I only needed to get to a window where I could pick up my tickets that they let me through; coming back out was an easier proposition.

Finally, with less than 30 minutes remaining before "showtime", the inner doors were finally opened and the crush to enter was in full force. Since all tickets were for reserved seating, I have no idea why anyone felt they had the need to be "first in line".

In any event, we finally made it to our seats. As soon as I sat down I realized that these (orchestra) seats had been designed for an auditorium of grade-school students. Isn't a night at the theatre supposed to be an enjoyable experience? A nice, comfortable chair might have a cushion width of 2 feet. Even the chair I use when working on my computer has an 18-inch wide cushion, with 19 inches between the armrests. If the seats in the Merriam were anywhere near this wide I'd be surprised. The image of sardines packed in a can immediately came to mind.

This performance was essentially a "sell-out", at least in the orchestra section. When the lights dimmed and the curtain went up on the first act, the temperature in the theater was fairly comfortable. An hour and a half later, at the end of the first act, it must have reached at least 80 degrees. The intermission found me heading for the exit. Outside the temperature was in the low forties, but it was more than a welcome relief. I found that aside from myself and the other smokers who were "forced" outside to indulge, we were joined by an approximately equal number of people who just sought to get cooled off. I later found out that most of the side doors were even opened to let some cool air in. I hate to imagine what it must be like in there in the summer!

But there were a few good features. Each row's seats were offset from the rows in front and behind; so no one had someone else's head directly in front of them. And the floor was sloped so that as you moved back from the stage each row was "higher" than the row in front. Basically, if they had a better air handling system and hadn't tried to cram as many seats as possible into the available space I think it would have been a very enjoyable experience.

OK, so much for the "bricks and mortar". What did I think of the show? Well, let me break it into parts. First, the sets were spectacular. As were the costumes. The lighting, especially, was exceptional. The combination of front, side and back lighting, especially in "action scenes", really made the performance come alive. And, aside from the few instances where mics weren't turned on quite soon enough, the production team did an exceptional job.

The musicians performed very well, but I found myself wishing that their volume could have been a bit more restrained during some of the soloists' performances. And speaking of the sololists, my highest accolade goes to Helen Yu, who played the part of Lady Thiang; her rendition of "Something Wonderful" was, for me, the musical highlight of the show.

And, of course, there was Luzviminda Lor, playing Tuptim, whose sweet, soft, beautiful voice in (I believe) four different numbers was very memorable, although at times I wish it could have been enhanced by a bit more amplification. And Timothy Ford Murphy also gave an excellent performance as Lun Tha (Tuptin's love).

Then there were the children. I am always amazed at how well some children, especially those under the age of 10, can perform. And the ones in this cast did a superb job. I could go on about the quality of the dancing (especially in the "Uncle Tom's Cabin" segment of Act 2), the choreography, the staging, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. But I suspect you've already come to the conclusion that I think this was a spectacular production.

My biggest disappointment was that Vee Talmadge was not playing the King. It is my understanding that Mel Duane Gionson (his understudy) would be playing that part for all of the performances at the Merriam. But Mr. Gionson normally played Kralahome, so one of his understudies had to play that part, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

While I thought that Mel Gionson did a credible job playing the King, it appeared to me that the spontaneity that Hayley Mills probably had with Vee Talmadge, due to the many months that they had been playing opposite each other, just wasn't there in this performance. But I can't fault either of them for that; they just hadn't had the time performing together in those roles.

OK, I've been putting it off long enough. I felt that Hayley Mills gave a fine acting performance, but her singing left much to be desired. I'm not really a fan of musicals. I'd much rather see a good drama or mystery instead. I have a tape of the film 'Anna and the King of Siam', which I really enjoy. I suspect that if she had been appearing in a non-musical version based on the book, she would have given an excellent performance. But then, how large an audience would that type of production have commanded compared to the Rogers and Hammerstein version? Much smaller, I believe.

In summary, I'm glad I finally had the opportunity to see Miss Mills perform in person. She truly is a wonderful actress. I'm sorry that I never had the opportunity to see any of her performances in London. I suspect that they provided better vehicles to show off her talent.