Hello world! Welcome back to another blog. Today I will be giving my review of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I, which I saw at The Theatre Royal Nottingham on 18th October 2023.
This show follows Anna Leononwens, a Bristol school teacher, as she heads to Siam to be a teacher to the kings many wives and children, all whilst having to deal with her unconventional relationship with the king himself and the cultural differences.
Annalene Beechey played the widow Anna Leonowns. And what a role she played. Her voice was beautiful her characterisation was flawless and she had perfect comic timing. This fitted in very well with Darren Lee, who played the King of Siam. Their chemistry throughout the show was so genuine and they bounced off each other very well, especially when the king told Anna that “she must never be higher than the king”, and Anna having to constantly kneel down until the king was above her.
My stand outs though throughout the whole show were Marienella Philips, who played the kings new wife from Burma Tuptim and Cezarah Bonner who plays head wife Lady Thiang. Vocally they were the best out if the whole cast.
Tuptim's personality really shined throughout the show. Her love for Lun Tha was beautiful, and throughout the show she explores her creative side, and wants to show that she is more than a beautiful woman. I think thats what attracted her to Lun Tha, as he wanted to show her that there is a world to explore and wants to show her creative side.
Jeffery Chekai was the understudy’s for Lun Tha, a slave of the king who falls in love with Tuptim. I’ve was honestly a true professional, s when you’re an understudy you never know when you need to take on that role, as sometimes you could be told on the day you’re taking over. But jeffery was the true example of getting thrown at the deep end pulling off an outstanding performance as lun Tha. His chemistry with Tuptim was beautiful, as they would do anything to be together if they could.
Louis Leonowns was played by Fin Goodman. What a little star he was. He was confident, he knew his lines and I loved the energy he brought to the show. His duet with Prince Chulalongkorn, the heir to the throne (played by Caleb Lagayan) was so entertaining. They bovines off each other, the vocals were fantastic and it was a nice little number to relax to.
There were many numbers that stood out to me. One of which was “Getting To Know You”. When I watched the film I couldn’t get it out of my head and the stage adaptation has just reignited that time again. It was lovely though, and Annalene Beechey’s voice was beautiful throughout the song. And the routines they did like throwing the fan in the air and catching it may look simple when in fact it wasn’t. I was dreading that they would drop it, but they didn’t. That was an impressive dance indeed.
Another number I was impressed with was “The Small House of Uncle Thomas” in the form of a dance routine. With Yuki Ozeki playing Little Eva, Rachel Wang-Hei Lau playing Eliza, Hiromi Toyooka playing Uncle Tom, Jason Yang-Westland playing Angel/George and Qinwen Xue playing Simon Legree. I may not have understood the plot of the original story behind it, but the movement in that piece was spectacular. Some of the dancers had masks on when they came out as dogs and guards, and that can’t have been an easy task. Tuptim narrated the piece and what a good job she did to bring the story along. A chaotic but magical number indeed.
My only downside to this show was the seating I was at. I was sat near the end so I couldn’t see the whole stage and I had a slightly restricted view, and it was quite narrow. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying this Oscar’s and Hammerstein classic.
Overall I would give this some a 4.75. It was beautiful, funny and a proper Oscar and Hammerstein classic. Even though I didn’t understand the fully story of “The Small House of Uncle Thomas”, I admire the amount of tails and effort into taking it to the stage, especially with the masks some of the cast had to wear.
And that concludes my review of The King and I. See you soon for another blog. Until next time...
This is the Autistic Actress signing off :)
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