Based on novel by Margaret Langdon
Princes Theatre, Melbourne, until Aug 31, 2014
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Stars: ***1/2
Review also published online in Herald Sun and in print on News pages June 13. KH
ALL PHOTOS BY JOE CALLERI
In an exotic and sumptuous display of crimson and gold finery, Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s enormously popular musical, The King and I, bursts onto the Princess Theatre stage with its parade of memorable and singable tunes.
The
musical is based on a 1944 novel inspired by the memoir of Anna Leonowens,
British governess to the King of Siam’s children during the 1860s.
As part of his plan to modernise Siam
(Thailand), The King of Siam (Jason Scott Lee) invites Anna (Lisa McCune) to educate
his numerous children and wives about Western customs and the English language.
Anna argues persistently with the King about
her contract that forces her to live in the palace, about his outmoded views,
his treatment of his slaves, and the ‘kowtowing’ that compels all his subjects
to bow deeply before him.
Scott Lee and McCune make the most of the
conflict between the King and Anna that is heightened by the unspoken but
palpable attraction between the two characters.
They express the hidden love between the pair in
Shall We Dance? when they perform a lively but intimate polka during which
McCune glides gracefully as Anna, and Lee gallops gleefully like a playful
puppy as the King.
McCune is elegant and gracious as Anna, and
her tuneful soprano is suited to the brightness of songs such as Whistle A Happy
Tune and Getting to Know You, and she eloquently performs the poignant ballad,
Hello, Young Lovers, although her voice lacks depth and resonance.
Scott Lee finds the humour and dynamism in the
competitive, feisty, pompous, but often bemused Siamese tyrant, and has fun
with the King’s struggle with the English language in A Puzzlement.
A highlight of the show is Jerome Robbins’ dramatic
choreography for the narrated ballet, Small House of Uncle Thomas, an inspired
vision of asymmetrical, rhythmic movement that echoes Siamese traditional
dance.
Of course, the voices of the King’s 13
children provide not only the bright tones of a youthful chorus, but a cuteness
factor of about 100, particularly when greeting ‘Mrs. Anna’ during The March of
the Siamese Children.
Chinese-born opera singer, Shu-Cheen Yu, is
charming and dignified as Lady Thiang, the King’s number one wife, and reveals
her thrillingly rich voice when she sings Something Wonderful in support of her
husband.
Christopher Renshaw’s production and Peter
Casey’s musical direction pay homage to Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s incomparable
music and lyrics, while Roger Kirk’s costumes and Brian Thompson’s design
provide a vision of vivid opulence.
Adrian Li Donni, as Lun Tha, has a warm tone
when singing We Kiss in A Shadow, but, as his lover, Tuptim, the Burmese slave,
Jenny Liu lacks vocal control in her top register. While make a pretty couple, their voices do not blend well in I
Have Dreamed, and their onstage relationship is disappointingly passionless in
their clandestine trysts.
John Adams is amusing as the toffy Sir Edward
Ramsay and Marty Rhone is suitably brusque as The Kralahome, the King’s
authoritative Prime Minister.
The King and I is ‘bright and breezy’, to
quote Getting To Know You, and it will provide a cheerful and entertaining
night in the theatre for the whole family.
By Kate Herbert
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