Shows · The King and I
The King and I
Opened 1951
1,246 performances
Musical, Golden Age
Tony Award for Best Musical, 1952
The King and I . Anna (Gertrude Lawrence) asks the King (Yul Brynner). “Shall We Dance?” The King and I . “Shall We Dance?” Anna (Gertrude Lawrence) asks the King (Yul Brynner). Based on the diaries of an adventurous Englishwoman, Anna Leonowens, the story of The King and I (a title Miss Lawrence never liked) is set in Bangkok in the early 1860s. Anna, the new governess and teacher to King Mongkut’s many children, has frequent clashes with the autocratic, semi-barbaric ruler, but eventually — and discretely — comes to love him.
- Music
- Richard Rodgers
- Lyrics
- Oscar Hammerstein II
- Book
- Oscar Hammerstein II
Productions8 productions: 5 on Broadway, 3 in the West End
Songs17 songs
Getting to Know You, Shall We Dance?, Hello, Young Lovers, Something Wonderful, I Whistle a Happy Tune, My Lord and Master, Hello, Young Lovers!, The Royal Siamese Children, March of the Siamese Children, A Puzzlement, The Royal Bangkok Academy, We Kiss in a Shadow, Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?, Western People Funny, I Have Dreamed, The Small House of Uncle Thomas, Song of the King
Recordings 23 recordings
Licensing 2 entries
| US | Concord Theatricals R&H Theatricals | available |
| UK | Concord Theatricals R&H Theatricals | available |
'The King and I' [1951], Williamson can make no tragedy of the story, because none has been set up but also because he isn’t putting much into it.
More Opening Nights On Broadway Steven Suskin, p. 793Lines such as “At standing she could be sitting” and “Having happily had it with a spoon” reminded him of dialogue from The King and I at its “most Siamese.”
The Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals Dan Dietz Hardcover 2014 Rowman Lit, p. 247Something wrong here? Correct a field or report the problem. Every change is recorded in public under the contributor licence.