As a
child, I loved the movie “The King and I.”
I must admit that I had a crush on the king, Yul Brenner, in the movie,
bald head and all! This is a story of two people from very different cultures (The
King of Siam) and the British schoolteacher (Anna), who’s contentious
relationship at first develops into
a loving friendship. Initially, their ideas are very polarized
because their worlds could not be more different but by being open to learn about each other, and by
developing a deep respect for each other, a powerful friendship/love evolves. “The King and I" is all about the process of overcoming cultural differences.
Reflection
The
musical is based on historical events.
It is set in the 1860’s in Bangkok. The King hires Anna to teach his wives and children as part of his
plan to modernize his country. He realizes that to keep Siam from becoming a British territory he needs
to learn more about the western culture.
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| Arriving to Siam |
Excitement
is generated in the opening scene with a spectacular ship arriving in the port of Bangkok. As Anna enters this exotic new world, she
sings to her son, "Whistle A Happy Tune" sharing that, “whenever
ever I am afraid, I hold my head up high, and whistle a happy tune and
no one will know I am afraid”.
The interaction between the King and Anna is both tense yet loving throughout the play, as these two cultures collide. Anna quickly learns that in Siam, the King’s subjects bow very low to the ground. She hates this practice where in her words, everyone “grovels around the king like toads.” Her heart melts as the Siamese children and wives are introduced to her in “The March of Siamese Children”. Her fondness for the children is expressed in the school room as she sings "Getting to Know You". Humorous tension between the King and Anna continues throughout the play when the tenacious strong-willed teacher continues to remind the King that he is not abiding by his promises to provide her with a house as she is instructed to live in the palace. Yet in the second half of the play, Anna teaches the King about courtship as they waltz together performing,Shall We Dance?".
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| Anna with the King's children |
This Rogers
& Hammerstein musical has a classic operatic score that is sung so well by Laura Michelle Kelly (Anna) and Jose
Llana (King). The demanding melodic range
is beautifully sung by Manna Nichols (Tupim, a slave girl given to the king to be one of his wives) in "My Lord and Master", and by Joan Almedilla (Lady Thiang, the King’s favored
wife) in "Something Wonderful".
This musical is also filled with elaborate sets from
a ship yard, to the various rooms in the
palace, to gardens and to the theater pavilion with a huge gold Buddha. Ornate costumes fill the show's second half during the narration of the play, “The Small
House of Uncle Thomas”(a Siamese version of the book,“Uncle Tom’s Cabin”). This is preformed
as a Siamese
ballet dance.
I think that I love this play so much
because it is about trying to understand and except the differences in others. The King struggling with leadership decisions and the modernization of Siam, puts
it so well in one of my favorite songs, "Puzzlement". He points out that, “There are times when nobody
really is sure of what they absolutely know… but it puzzles me that a man in doubt of what he knows, is willing to fight to prove that what he does not know is so."
(“King and I” is part of the PNC Broadway Pittsburgh Series from the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and runs from April 4th to 9th
at the Bendeum Center. It is also on tour if you missedt in Pittsburgh.)
Spiritual Reflection
Think of ways to encourage one another to outburst of love and good deeds. (Hebrews 10:24)
Other
Sources
Cultural Trust http://pittsburgh.broadway.com/shows/the-king-and-i-baa/