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THE KING AND I

background and analysis by Scott Miller

Today, at the end of the millennium, many of the leaders and intellectuals of mainland China are
wondering how their country can continue to modernize, to compete with the western nations, while
still maintaining their cultural identity and traditions. Many wonder if it is even possible. Shanghai, for
instance, is a city split between the cultural pride and traditions of China and the developments and
economic pressures of the west. All of China faces difficulties in this area, as young Chinese covet
designer consumer goods from the west and the yuppie lifestyle they see portrayed on American
television, while the older generation worries about the decay of traditional morality and ethics. This
friction between east and west has resulted in a generation and culture gap in China far wider than
anything America has ever faced. But this is not a new problem in Asia. In fact, this is exactly the problem
King Mongkut of Siam faced in the 1860s -- how could he join the company of civilized nations, become
respected and competitive among them, without losing the rich history and culture of his beloved Siam,
without alienating his people who were not prepared to discard their simple but treasured way of life.

In the 1860s, Anna Leonowens, a widowed British schoolteacher was hired by King Mongkut to come to
his country and teach his wives and children the English language and western culture. She wrote of her
experiences in a two-volume memoir. Later, Margaret Landon turned Anna's story into a novel called
Anna and the King of Siam. A film version was made starring Irene Dunne and Rex Harrison as the King.
British stage star Gertrude Lawrence saw the film and decided the story would make a great musical,
with her as Anna. Rodgers and Hammerstein, after some initial objections, agreed to write the show,
now called The King and I. Though Lawrence was supposed to be the lead, Yul Brynner became an
immediate star playing the King when the show opened on Broadway in 1951. A film version of the
musical was made starring Brynner, Deborah Kerr, and Rita Moreno. The stage version won five Tonys,
including Best Musical, Best Actress (Lawrence) and Best Supporting Actor (Brynner). The film won six
Oscars, including Best Actor for Brynner. By the time Brynner died of lung cancer (he made the film with
only one lung), he had played the role of the King on stage 4,625 times. There was even, very briefly (a
few months in 1972), a television series based on the story, called Anna and the King, starring Yul
Brynner, Samantha Eggar, and Keye Luke.

The King and I has been revived in New York in 1956, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1977 (with Brynner), 1985 (for
Brynner's farewell performance after a long tour), and 1996. The 1996 revival, directed by Australian
Christopher Renshaw and starring Donna Murphy and Lou Diamond Phillips, was a radical re-
examination of this show that was intelligent, sexy, and for many people, a genuine revelation. Renshaw
had directed the show in Australia with Hayley Mills when Mary Rodgers and others from the Rodgers &
Hammerstein organization saw it and asked him to bring it to New York. This production garnered seven
Tony nominations, and won four Tonys, including Best Revival of a Musical and Best Actress in a Musical.

Like other Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, The King and I, is a classic and that had become its
greatest handicap. American directors and actors bring too much baggage and too much reverence to
the piece, too many recollections of past productions and of the movie, of pop singers' overly soulful
renditions of the "hit tunes." As it did with Carousel, it took a foreign director and the 1996 Broadway
revival to find again (or perhaps for the first time) the substance, intelligence, and sexuality of this
incredible work. Never before had a musical been built around two more complex, more passionate,
more intellectually fascinating characters (even Julie Jordan and Billy Bigelow, in Carousel, didn't have
this complexity). Yet because of the time in which the show was originally created and because of our
over-familiarity with the story, these two characters had become sanitized.