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Road show to help area get to know `King and I' By JOANNE MILANI of The Tampa Tribune CLEARWATER - `The King and I'' has been revived more than a half-dozen times since its 1951 debut, but the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic has as many lives as a cat.
The musical about an English schoolmarm and the king of Siam opens at Ruth Eckerd Hall Tuesday with Hayley Mills as the Englishwoman, Anna, and Vee Talmadge as the autocratic ruler.
It also brings with it a heritage quite different from the show's New York roots. That's because this production, which marks the Outback's first-ever export to Broadway, was shaped by Australian director Christopher Renshaw.
``The revival was originally mounted in Australia, which is close to Asian influence, '' says Talmadge, who joined the touring company a year ago. ``The director had spent time in Thailand.''
The $5.5 million show Renshaw brought to Broadway, with Donna Murphy and Lou Diamond Phillips in the lead roles (Mills had starred in the initial Australian production), authentically re-creates the gold and glory of 19th century Thailand.
``Actual Thai is spoken in the play,'' says the 42-year-old California actor, who saw the 1956 Deborah Kerr-Yul Brynner movie version when he was growing up.
``Anna and the king are equally strong,'' says Talmadge about the Englishwoman and the absolute monarch who employs her to educate his children.
``They are two very strong people representing their cultures. The real king spoke nine languages.''
Clearly, the bald-headed Brynner stamped his own image on the role of the king, but other strong personalities such as Stacy Keach, Ben Kingsley and Rudolf Nureyev also have portrayed the complex, conflicted ruler.
Talmadge, who studied psychology at New York's Cornell University before jumping into an acting career, has deliberately tried to distance himself from Brynner's appearance.
``I have shoulder-length hair,'' he says.
And yet, he finds that audiences across the country come to the show with their own memories and expectations of the musical.
``Many people were in it in their school plays,'' he says. ``People come invested in the show.''
``The King and I'' runs Tuesday through Sunday at Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen- Booth Road, Clearwater; Tuesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., 2 p.m. matinees Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $27, $32, $42. Call (813) 791-7400 for information.
- Joanne Milani is the Tribune's theater critic. She can be reached at (813) 259-7569. Joanne Milani is the Tribune's theater critic. She can be reached at (813) 259-7569. Depth from top is 705.5 points, or 58.7 picas, or 9.762 inches.
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