Ken Watanabe is The King of Siam in THE KING AND I — Page 4

Anyone know when tickets go on sale?

Posted a new avatar showing an all Thai version I saw of Miss Saigon in Bangkok. It was all sort of OK until the American wife [Thai] made her entrance. I mean he COULD have married a Vietamese/Thai but the confrontation between the two women lost all impact as they were both the same race[I think].

Unfortunately Lou Diamond Phillips won't do his first show until July 10...meaning those of us going before then (i.e. ME) are stuck with the understudy who is about 25 (compared to Lisa McCune's 43) and making his professional debut. Now, I get that stuff happens and I have seen some wonderful understudies in my time, but it's quite disappointing when this is one of the few Australian shows being sold using star names and they didn't cast an appropriate understudy.

Anyone here see the 90's revival?

I saw it and LOVED it. Gorgeous production and stunning performances. It was the first time I'd seen the role of Anna played with a more realistic approach to emotional depth. I was mesmerized. And during the March of the Siamese Children, I just burst into uncontrollable tears (as did the fellow sitting next to me). I later saw the tour with Hayley Mills and it was fine, but the direction was lacking the attention to detail.

Then I saw that more recent new tour production with Sandy Duncan and Martin Vidnovic. Gorgeous sets and costumes, but everything else was AWFUL. I don't know how they could let Sandy go on performing Anna with that crazy half-Cockney accent. And Vidnovic was giving a wooden theme park performance. I'd love to see this new revival just to erase that from my memory.

So. I am thai. And I think Ken Watanabe is perfect for the part.

Newintown has already decided how Asians should be cast, so the opinion of someone racially relevant to the discussion is unnecessary. It is important that white Americans feel shamed. Watanabe was clearly forced to accept this offensive casting under the duress of white Americans, so we will never get a true opinion from him. And companies like Takarazuka get a pass because racially pure casting should only be required of white American directors (well, all white Americans, really). On behalf of our country and my race, I deeply apologize you are forced to endure this production that you foolishly admit you would be happy to see. How could you possibly know better without newintown to speak for all races that are minorities in America?

---

Are you two auditioning for the American version of Vicious?

Darn, I had my money riding on Audra McDonald as the King.

---

Ok Watanabe isn't Thai but Japanese, and some people have problem with that, so Kelli is not English but American. Anyone have problem with that?

Random Thoughts, I would love to see Tally Leung as Lun Tha

PalJoey -
Exactly, a lot of the movement were very Balinese and Cambodian as most thai dances (from every regions) are smoother and softer, there should be no sudden movement. What he got right was the way the stories are told, one person telling a story and the dancers reenact. However, the stories told through dances must be based on a thai classical literature (or adaptation) like Ramayana. But, it is understandable as the context of 'uncle' is important to the story. I don't expect to see a thai performance up there but it would be nice to see how they would adapt ballet and thai arts together (without adding balinese movement) and the results should be outstanding as everything will go gently and smooth. I am not a hundred percent sure about this because back then they may do, but we don't paint our face white when perform, it's either your natural face with red lips or a khon mask for characters that are not angels and human (monkeys and giants). So the first moment I saw the thai dance in the movie I thought it was super creepy.

Fan123 -
I'm sorry I have never seen that production but I am interested to see how it was.

Matt -
LOL.

It will run a long time.

Thanks for responding, Jingjo! I always had a feeling that the only thing that really made Robbins's ballet inauthentic was that he mixed in the other Asian dance traditions that Tuptim would either have no knowledge of or would be considered wrong for her to do. It's almost as if he did too much research, that if he had limited his movement vocabulary to Thai dance only, he would have had a more authentic piece. (But who knows? It might not have been as creative.)

My favorite moment in it is when the silk of the river is pulled tight and becomes ice. I don't think that is especially Thai--silk had been used for stage effects in Europe and America before that.

As far as the white makeup, I think that has to be considered part of the story, because if you accept that Tuptim even knew of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, you kind of have to accept that she also knew of the dozens of play adaptations, all of which would feature actors in blackface.

So it's part of the conceit and brilliance on the part of the creators of the musical to include the ballet in the show that places Asians in a ballet in whiteface/blackface reenacting Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery parable, as a way of one of the characters making a protest against slavery in Thailand and the creators of the show making a protest against racism.

The irony, of course, is that the yellowface casting and the whiteface/blackface ballet, over the past 60 years, have given the musical itself a tinge of unintended racism. Uncle Tom's Cabin itself has gone from seeming ANTI-slavery to seeming like something racist, so the very act of telling the story nowadays seems suspect.

I'm hoping this revival restores to the musical the progressive reputation that Rodgers & Hammerstein, Jerome Robbins and playwright John Van Druten (the original director) intended.

---

In South Pacific, the progressive intent of the Cable/Liat/Bloody Mary subplot was restored.

I feel confident that Bartlett Sher can restore the progressive intention of The King and I as well.

---

I agree PJ, Bartlett Sher has done incredible things for South Pacific so it's a given that he and the same creative team work on The King and I as well. I can't wait for this one! :)