LCT'S KING AND I closes on June 26th — Page 2

AnnieBlack said: "Who is going to star in My Fair Lady? Someone told me it was Emma Watson- is that true?



"

I assume if they did a My Fair Lady revival, Laura Benanti would be cast in it. She brings it up all the time, and would be really great in the part.

I'd think that South Pacific and The King and I are ranked pretty equally in the R&H big five. Both are really plays that could stand on their own merits without all that familiar music thrown in.

I don't think I'll ever see better productions of either. Same creative, same full orchestras, same star and the perfect cozy venue. It's hard to remember anyone here not liking The King and I, even if that person was young and completely unfamiliar with it.

So why did South Pacific play for two years and four months, with over a thousand performances including the previews?

Maybe as we Boomers start to exit, the "Golden Age" musicals will lose some of their luster, as the Boomers were the last to grow up surrounded by that music on TV, radio and HiFi.

Not only is The King and I closing but I just heard that the nearby Starbucks at 68th and Broadway is closing its doors due to high rents. Both closings are a shocker!

What a wonderful production this was. I'm so glad I got to see it with both Kelli and Marin. I only wish I had gotten to see it with Jose Llana.

Just bought tickets for June 22nd...and this will be my 100th Broadway Show!

I was under the impression that the live from Lincoln Center was already written into contracts. I hope it happens. This production needs to be preserved.

I would suspect that a clause for a potential "Live from Lincoln Center" broadcast is written into all show contracts at the Beaumont. My guess is that it comes down to semantics -- can the Broadcast be put together in the remaining time the production is running. Perhaps they take that into consideration when they set the closing date, but of course, the broadcast as part of pubic television isn't a money maker, so they have to really take those costs into consideration.

Since all the major LCT musicals of the past decade have been Broadcast; I do suspect plans are in place for the KING AND I. I also suspect Kelli O'Hara has it in her contract to be part of the broadcast, so yes, they will need to find an elegant way to relieve Marin perhaps a few days early if the taping does happen.

Updated On: 6/6/16 at 11:04 AM

If they do Live from Lincoln Center, and Kelli O'Hara is in it, do you suppose that Ken Watanabe may also be contracted? I too feel really bad that this show is closing. I saw it once after opening with Watanabe and the second time with Hoon Lee. The entire production was simply amazing both times.

I saw the show over the weekend, and the pairing of Marin Mazzie and Daniel Dae Kim is by far my favorite in 3 viewings of this production. Jon Viktor Corpuz was out (twice I've missed him), but his understudy was quite good.

OlBlueEyes said: "I'd think that South Pacific and The King and I are ranked pretty equally in the R&H big five. Both are really plays that could stand on their own merits without all that familiar music thrown in.

I don't think I'll ever see better productions of either. Same creative, same full orchestras, same star and the perfect cozy venue. It's hard to remember anyone here not liking The King and I, even if that person was young and completely unfamiliar with it.

So why did South Pacific play for two years and four months, with over a thousand performances including the previews?

Maybe as we Boomers start to exit, the "Golden Age" musicals will lose some of their luster, as the Boomers were the last to grow up surrounded by that music on TV, radio and HiFi."

I'm sure one factor was that the LCT South Pacific was the first Broadway revival the show ever had, which was not the case for The King and I.

I know I'm in the minority, but I didn't think The King and I was nearly as good a production as South Pacific. It was quite good, but was missing, for me, the spark and magic South Pacific had. (I thought it was actually the weakest revival last season, and was bummed it won the Tony over On the Town and On the Twentieth Century.)

"So why did South Pacific play for two years and four months, with over a thousand performances including the previews?"

This announcement was not unexpected given how they've been selling. I'm not that sad about it because I was lucky enough to see the show more than once and more than wanting to see the show again, I'm excited to see what a lot of these actors are going to do in the future. Hopefully great things in great parts.

As for the South Pacific question, even though I sadly saw it with Laura Osnes (I don't need to go into my feelings about that again) I do think it was a stronger production, if only because it worked better with the sparse staging and way the stage is built at Lincoln Center. The King and I is a different experience depending on where you sit in the theatre but you don't get the full effect just seeing the show once and sitting in either the Loge or the Orchestra. The dances and scenes that take advantage of the depth of the stage (e.g. the prayer) read much better from the Loge but then you miss the intimacy of other scenes that you get in the orchestra. Also, there are little things like comparing the effectiveness of Liat and Cable on the bare stage vs. Tuptim and Lun Tha with that cheap-looking flower curtain behind them.

As for the South Pacific question, even though I sadly saw it with Laura Osnes (I don't need to go into my feelings about that again) I do think it was a stronger production.

I didn't see Laura Osnes, but I wondered how such a relentlessly young and enthusiastic actress could play heartsick Nellie in the second act. I wondered even more how she could play quiet and shy Julie in Carousel. Not that I don't like her, I just wondered if she had been through enough negative life experiences to play the roles.

I, too, would if pushed choose South Pacific over King and I, although not by much at all after seeing this King and I. The former is on a grander scale, with big showstopping numbers "Some Enchanted Evening" and "This Nearly Was Mine," great chorus songs like "There is Nothing Like A Dame," and some songs that just popped up out of Rodgers at his peak, like "Honeybun," "Cockeyed Optimist," and especially the extraordinary "Bali Ha'i."

And South Pacific has no ballet. But there's nothing wrong with preferring the more intimate, character-driven King and I.

For the sake of the disappointed fans, who could not make it to NY during June, I do hope that we will get a confirmation whether or not a live performance will air on PBS. What a way to start a week