King and I Tour

Just wanted to say that I caught the opening leg of the tour in Providence yesterday, and it was magnificent.  I saw the show in NYC in February on a night when apparently Kelli was not feeling well, and I was overall underwhelmed, with the giant exemption of Ruthie Ann Miles, who I thought was absolutely glorious.

The tour was fresh, sounded glorious (18 piece orchestra did the score as much justice as the large orchestra in NY), and Jose Llana and Laura Michelle Kelly blew me away.  Jose got every laugh you could have possibly gotten out of the role, and still broke your heart when he needed to.  Laura found nuances in the score I'd never heard, and her ending of "Hello Young Lovers" in full belt, nearly stopped the show.  I can't say enough about the chemistry between the two..it was remarkable and palpable.  The entire cast was in fine voice with Manna Nichols as Tuptim, another standout, along with Kelly.  Obviously, this wasn't a thrust stage, but otherwise, all the set pieces (including the boat) are there.  I don't recall the pillars shifting and moving during "Shall we Dance" at the Beaumont, but they did here, and I think the whole audience held their breath as Kelly and Llana swirled around them effortlessly.  

I found this performance to be more fresh, better sung, and ultimately more moving than the NY show, and I will very likely see it again when it hits Boston in April '17.

Just wanted to share.  :)

I also heard raves for the production from my friends in Providence. Seems like this is a tour not to be missed (as was the Broadway production!).

Didn't see it in NYC so really looking forward to seeing it on Nov 17th when the tour comes through San Francisco. It's here for almost a month before Los Angeles.

 

I saw The King and I tour last night (San Francisco) and was completely underwhelmed. Laura Michelle Kelly was wonderful and the sound from my excellent seats was exemplary (I heard every word and the show is sung mostly beautifully), but everything else about this production was just so so. Jose Llana, who I have enjoyed in other productions, was acting in a totally different time period. His larger than life interpretation seemed way too contemporary and completely inappropriate. The blocking was overly busy and unmotivated. They looked like they were moving only to accommodate the sight lines of the Vivian Beaumont (thrust), but are now performing on a proscenium. The set was terrible. I read so many positive things about the design. Why? The main set piece is a rather ugly, bland back wall to the palace.

Its the King and I and as such always enjoyable, but of the many productions I have seen, this was by far the least inspired.

Updated On: 12/13/16 at 10:37 PM

Does anyone have any idea if this tour will extend into the 2017-18 touring season? I would really love to see it, but the most feasible right now would be for me to go to Tampa to visit family and see it while I'm there. It would be ideal if they hit more cities in the midwest (Ohio area). 

gleek4114 said: "Does anyone have any idea if this tour will extend into the 2017-18 touring season?."

 

I can tell you for a fact that it will be touring into 2017-2018 season!

 

Saw it on Tuesday night in LA and really liked it.

It really is a beautiful production.

Spoiled having seen it at Lincoln Center with regard to the sets and the majestic, grand nature of the stage, but I thought it looked really good on tour. In its own way.

It also has the same lush costumes, and I felt the performances were outstanding.  

I will always love Llana, and I felt his interpretation was at once grand and playful.    He was super!  

LMK was just enchanting.  She's different from KO, but I must say that I liked her just as much. In her own way.

As for the two young lovers, I thought Tuptim had a glorious voice. I found her stronger than him, even though he was still pretty good.  

Though no one will sing "I Have Dreamed" better than Llana in my opinion. 

Overall, a very well done, beautiful production.  

Again, a bit spoiled by the majesty of the Lincoln Center staging, but the tour has achieved well with what they have.

Wait, you don't think there was a point to the Small House of Uncle Thomas ballet?

bear88 said: "If you like The King and I, you will enjoy this production. The problem was that I didn't really like the musical. It has some good songs, but that play-within-a-play in the second act is just stupid and drags on forever. (I never appreciated the Oklahoma ballet more, because at least that has a point.) "

Yeah, no reason for slaves to find a relatable story about slavery in another country, is there?!

I am Asian American and while I see some of your point regarding exotica (I liked the show much more than I did, but I waited until the end of the run on Broadway to see it, due to multiple instances of hesitation), but I didn't come down on it as hard as you did.

I'm seeing it Wednesday afternoon at the Hollywood Pantages. I have seats in the last orchestra row. I'm curious if I'll feel as involved as when I have better seats.

Audrey

I saw the magnificient production at Lincoln Center with Ken Watanabe, Kelli O'Hara, and Ruthie Ann Miles and loved the show. However, I have to agree with The Small House of Uncle Thomas ballet really being needless, which surprised me because I thought it was an absolutely highlight in the movie and was seriously looking forward to it when I finally got to see a professional live production of it. Maybe because I enjoyed the energy and momentum of show up to that point (whereas the movie was becoming a bit lifeless by that point) that I felt the ballet brought everything to a screeching halt and lasted way too long despite the excellent choreography and dancing on display.

I went with a few of my fellow Asian-American friends and we came to the conclusion that it seemed like the original creative team got really excited to incorporate Thai-style dances and costumes that they learned and also wanted to hit the slave analogy extremely hard to make the show "important" (Rodgers/Hammerstein's "Got to Be Taught" lecture) that they sacrificed further development of the story. The ending is always so rushed afterwards. It goes from Anna/King friendship then fight, Tuptim presumably being put to death (Ken Watanabe was extremely effective with that whip), and Anna wanting to leave only to have the King get suddenly sick due to heartbreak somehow and dying. I felt like more could have happened to make it a more natural progression if so much of Act II wasn't devoted to the ballet.

Updated On: 12/26/16 at 12:21 PM

The ending is always so rushed afterwards. It goes from Anna/King friendship then fight, Tuptim presumably being put to death (Ken Watanabe was extremely effective with that whip), and Anna wanting to leave only to have the King get suddenly sick due to heartbreak somehow and dying. 

That is a good observation. The ending is rushed. We go right from the high of the polka to the low of the whipping. And then all of a sudden the King is mysteriously dying.

Then again the master, Mr. Hammerstein, might have been right on target. The last minutes of the musical do command your absolute attention, and the ending I think is effective.