Saoirse Daly

R00209883
David Hayes
Musical Theatre Ensemble 3 (MUSC7031)
Analysis and Criticism of an Agreed MT Performance

My chosen musical for analysis is the Golden Age classic ‘The King and I’ which was
composed and written by the dynamic duo Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The
musical was their fifth show worked on together, the idea having been turned down by Cole
Porter and was then passed on to them. It premiered on March 29th, 1951 on Broadway in St.
James Theatre. The show is based on the real memoirs of Anna Leonowens, the governess to
the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the 1860s. It follows her arrival in Siam, to meeting
the children and wives of the King and their time together. It also delves into the complicated
friendship between Anna and the King, and is a show that discusses and debates
unconditional love on many different levels and with different intentions. Although the lead
character Anna does not engage romantically with the King, she finds herself caring for him
more than one might have thought on first glance, and the main romance of the show is
between Tuptim and the man who delivered her as a present to the King, Lun Tha. He is a
scholar from her home country, the enemy of Siam, Burma. The show instantly became
successful with critics praising the performances of Gertrude Lawrence as Anna and Russian-
American performer Yul Brynner as King Mongkut. The show would go on to win Best
Musical in the 1952 Tony awards, as well as Best Actress for Lawrence and Best Featured
Actor for Brynner. Brynner would later repeat his role for the movie adaptation with Deborah
Kerr as Anna, which is the performance I have chosen to analyse for this project. Since then,
the show has been revived many times, most notably in 1996 and 2015 when it won the Tony
award for Best Revival of a Musical both years.

The Libretto:

This musical contains both scenes of songs and spoken word, so the libretto is full and
detailed. The show starts with Anna arriving in Siam on the boat with her son to be teacher to
the children of King Mongkut, and they are greeted quite harshly by the Kralahome, who is
the prime minister that serves under the King. He brings Anna to the palace, where she notes
that she was promised a house adjacent to the palace but has not be given one. Anna stands
up to the King on their first meeting and he immediately shuts her down, instead starting to
introduce her to the kids, who Anna instantly falls in love with and caves in. The show then
revolves around Anna teaching the children and many wives of the King basic English as
well as other subjects. She gives a copy of ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ to the King’s newest present,
Tuptim. Anna helps Tuptim meet her lover Lun Tha in secret. Upon being called barbaric by
the English, the King enlists Anna’s help to repair his reputation and throw a grand banquet
for visiting English diplomats. The King learns of Tuptim’s affair after she puts on a
rendition of ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ at the dinner and begs the King to let her go. She runs
away but is caught and we learn that Lun Tha has drowned in a river. Anna is disgusted by
the King’s behaviour and sets off packing to leave Siam. The King’s leading wife, Lady
Thiang, begs Anna to stay and reveals the King is dying. Anna immediately goes to his side
and is there as he dies. Anna cannot help but forgive everything that has happened as she
mourns the death of her closest friend. The libretto is filled with many songs that carry the
show through moments of happiness, anger and sadness, featuring broken English, in my
opinion as a comic crutch, and accents are exaggerated, often with incoherent noises that
seem as though they make no sense. While there are jokes in the libretto, most of the comedy
that I actually enjoyed came from the actor’s interpretation and choices both in terms of lyrics
and body language.

The Score:

The score, to me, is the most standout part of this musical. The combination of classical, legit
singing as well as a full, romantic orchestra combine the instrumentation and lyrics together
to create a truly beautiful soundscape. There are many repeated musical themes, such as the
overture, ‘Getting to Know You, and my personal favourite ‘Something Wonderful’. In true
Richard and Hammerstein fashion, there is strong use of strings and classical singers in
harmony as well as oriental instruments that certainly add to the setting of the story which is
the ancient kingdom of Siam. The song ‘Something Wonderful’ is a lamenting song that
Lady Thiang sings to Anna to try and get her to understand the ways of the King, and that his
endearing actions often are overshadowed by his cruel words. Anna has a newfound
appreciation of the King afterwards and this really helps to form their foundations of a
friendship. The long legato lines of the melody can often be heard under spoken word during
the show, and symbolise Anna seeing the King show his true good nature and caring heart.
There is a focus on the vocals as the orchestra simply accompanies underneath them, as the
music and lyrics are simple and evoke great emotion without great effort from the singer.

The Staging:

My main point about the staging of the movie and overall direction has to of course be the
choices of casting. While Kerr gives the most raw, emotional and authentic performance of
Anna, it has to be said of the obvious yellowface and lack of proper casting for the characters
of Asian descent. While at the time of course this didn’t come from a place of harm, it is
offensive and the actors of Asian descent are simply used as extras and filler characters.
There is blackface and the appropriation of Geisha culture to be seen in the play put on by
Tuptim based on ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ which I found quite shocking and horrifying. This
movie was also released in the mid 1950s as racial justice was starting to take ground and I
believe there were choices made in terms of accents and stereotypes that could have been
avoided and wouldn’t have had effect on the movie in the grand scale. That being said, the
overall aesthetic and setting of the movie is truly majestic, with extravagant and detailed
costuming and ornate sets. The attention to detail was beyond precise and truly showed time
and effort on behalf of those behind it. The use of dance in the movie was also very well
executed and it was obvious that the dancers were trained professionals who took the care to
learn about the traditional dances of Siam. The overall flow of the movie worked really well
and was very natural and seamless.