Kelli O'Hara in THE KING AND I streams for free on May 8th

That's good news. FYI, while the filmedonstage.com link refers to "worldwide streaming", the BWW article indicates that this will be available in North America only. Following the BroadwayHD link therein, bears this out.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/RH-Movie-Night-Returns-With-Lincoln-Center-Theaters-THE-KING-AND-I-Starring-Kelli-OHara-and-Ken-Watanabe-20200501

I'm watching this now and I have a question. Is the physical production...sets and scenic design...identical to the production that played in New York? I ask because I'd always heard that the opening scene, with the ship arriving in Bangkok, was breathtaking; that the ship seemed to move out beyond the proscenium, etc. In this performance from the London Palladium, there was nothing about the opening scene that had my jaw drop.

I wasn't expecting a 500 foot clipper ship, but based on everything I'd heard...I wasn't expecting the small set piece on display here.

The rest of the show looks great. I saw the 1977 production with Yul Brynner and Constance Towers as well as the last revival with Donna Murphy and Lou Diamond Phillips.

Just wondering about that opening scene. Maybe it's just something you had to see live, but there was nothing that looked like the bow of the ship was jutting out into the audience, etc.

Thanks for the answer here, Imelda. I would've thought the Palladium's stage could've handled the physical Lincoln Center production.

I also miss the 1977 overture...

Still, it's great that this production was preserved. The cost of doing these here in the states is prohibitive.

People are talking about the large orchestra, but I missed the broadcast, and from the clip that's available, the orchestrations seem scaled down (unpleasantly so) to me.

Updated On: 5/10/20 at 04:58 AM

Well this London production ran for just 3-4 months if i am not mistaken, so they probably wanted to save on some bits.