The King and I - Lincoln Center- Page 3

[Joviedamian]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 4:58pm

"Frankly, Bartlett Sher's appeal is wearing thin on me. There are other directors out there who are just as good, if not better. I would love it if Lincoln Center would get someone else. He just seems to want to go through the R&H catalog and do the same casting throughout. "

Bartlett is a resident director for LINCOLN CENTER, so technically has a contract to fill. So they basically have to use him to direct. Does it have to be THAT show,no, but in a way he get's to chose!

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 5:24pm

5 shows in 9 years hardly seems like resident director...

[Demitri2]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 5:37pm

I'd never cast him but I wouldn't be surprised if we see Bartlett Sher's personal fave, Danny Burstein, as the King. And speaking of Burstein, I wouldn't mind seeing his wife Rebecca Luker cast as Anna. She still sounded wonderful the night I saw her in CINDERELLA. And though I didn't love her in THE MUSIC MAN, I did like her work in NINE and MARY POPPINS.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 5:55pm

Rebecca Luker would be a lovely Anna. Much as I love Danny Burstein, I really hope he isn't cast in this. The show could be career-changing for an Asian actor, and I hope Bart Sher casts the role appropriately.

[Joviedamian]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 5:57pm

"5 shows in 9 years hardly seems like resident director."

That depends on his contract! We don't know what the agreement was. But the title and his involvement is what it is.


May be too old now, but George Takei would be great! Steven Yeun would be good if he was a bit older!


Updated On: 4/7/14 at 05:57 PM

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 6:07pm

B.D. Wong would make an interesting King. He could be the sexiest King to have ever played the role on Broadway, I have to say, and we all know how key the sexual chemistry between Kelli O'Hara and her leading men was for the success of both SOUTH PACIFIC and THE PAJAMA GAME. It makes me sad when people suggest non-Asian men to play the King.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 6:14pm

"He could be the sexiest King to have ever played the role on Broadway"

Sexier than Yul Brynner?

[Kad]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 6:17pm

I'd like to think no one involved in this production would cast a non-Asian actor as the King. Hope springs eternal.

[Joviedamian]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 6:23pm

B.D. Wong would be great, but why do I feel like I thought he played the role already regionally??

[tom2000a]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 6:24pm

They should cast Victoria Clark and have a BIG public search for a New KING! Find an unknown, masculine Asian guy that can sing and act. I know he is out there.

I think Kelli OHara is BORING. VERY BORING. Either Victoria Clark or Kate Baldwin. Why do so many roles just fall in Kelli's lap?

And NO.... Audra is not going to play Lady Thiang so don't even bring it up.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 6:41pm

I would love to see John Lone as the King, notwithstanding his being way older than both Mongkut and how the role is usually played (Yul Brynner's ad infinitum touring excepted).
Updated On: 4/7/14 at 06:41 PM

[jewishboy]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 6:42pm

Love this show, and still cherish seeing Donna Murphy's last performance in the latest revival. Although i do think Kelli O'Hara will be perfectly fine, I really wanted Audra McDonald to play this role (talk about controversial).

Has Tony Leung ever done stage work?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 6:50pm

Telly has done lots of stage work but he's too young. Though a youngish sexy King is a good idea.
Too bad Cerveris dosen't have some Asian blood.

My vote is for Tim Kang from the Mentalist.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 6:59pm

The thing is: you don't need a "name" for this. The revival of South Pacific had no stars headlining it and was an unmitigated success, based on the quality of the production and the fact that people still love the show. The King and I is still very beloved and will be seen, regardless of whether it has a household name.

Considering Sherr cast Paolo Szot in that production, I do have some faith in his ability to find a talented leading man a New York audience wouldn't know.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 7:12pm

Bart Sher is the same director who did WOMEN ON THE VERGE without a singular Spanish actor amongst the principal cast, cast the caucasian Kelli O'Hara as an Italian woman in THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, and who wanted the shiksa Lauren Ambrose to play Fanny Brice in FUNNY GIRL. If ever there was a director to be concerned about disrespecting the appropriate ethnicity in casting, it's Sher.

[vegas2]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 7:36pm

Daniel Dae Kim did indeed play the King in the Royal Albert Hall production from several years ago. I thought he did a very good job, and he looked pretty hot, too. That was a very short-term production. I'll bet he'll be even better if he gets to reprise the role.

[Joviedamian]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 7:45pm

"Bart Sher is the same director who did WOMEN ON THE VERGE without a singular Spanish actor amongst the principal cast, cast the caucasian Kelli O'Hara as an Italian woman in THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, and who wanted the shiksa Lauren Ambrose to play Fanny Brice in FUNNY GIRL. If ever there was a director to be concerned about disrespecting the appropriate ethnicity in casting, it's Sher."

Though not from Spain, Sherie Renee Scott is full-blooded Mexican. So I guess close enough there....

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 8:00pm

Jewishboy, I miss your posts! I'm so jealous you saw Donna Murphy's last performance in THE KING & I, it's one of those performances I'm so sad I didn't get to see, I still think she provides the best acted, most beautifully performed rendition of the role on a cast recording (and yes, I know, we all have our favorites, she's mine).
Audra would be sublime. Maybe in a concert version a la Brian Stokes Mitchell in SOUTH PACIFIC at Carnegie Hall? I'd kill to see her play the "Shall We Dance?" scene, Donna Murphy's reading of the simple word "yes" during that track on the cast recording sends shivers down my spine, and always brings me to the verge of tears (if I'm not in public, it just brings me to tears). Also love the idea of Victoria Clark, she should be headlining shows left and right.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 8:27pm

Is this not a return season of the 1996 Australian production that is about to tour Oz?

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 8:36pm

"Bart Sher is the same director who did WOMEN ON THE VERGE without a singular Spanish actor amongst the principal cast, cast the caucasian Kelli O'Hara as an Italian woman in THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, and who wanted the shiksa Lauren Ambrose to play Fanny Brice in FUNNY GIRL."

Requiring Spanish actors in WOMEN ON THE VERGE? What's next, requiring French actors in LES MISERABLES?

Italians, like Spaniards, ARE caucasians.*

And although many thought Ambrose was a stretch as Fanny, the issue most people had was Ambrose's looks and personality; it was not that she wasn't Jewish (there are non-Jewish actresses who would not have presented the same concerns; and there are a great many Jewish actresses whose images would have been equally far from Fanny Brice's as Lauren Ambrose's; and many Jewish actresses whose images are far more incongruent with Fanny's than Ambrose's).

You can't reasonably equate casting a gentile as Fanny with casting a non-East Asian as the King of Siam; for the simple reasons that 1) The King and I, unlike Funny Girl, is about bridging cultural divides between nationalities; and 2) there are a great many more roles available to Jewish actors than there are to East Asian actors.


*of course not all Italians or Spanish people are caucasians; neither are all English people.


Updated On: 4/7/14 at 08:36 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 8:38pm

Bart Sher is the same director who did WOMEN ON THE VERGE without a singular Spanish actor amongst the principal cast, cast the caucasian Kelli O'Hara as an Italian woman in THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, and who wanted the shiksa Lauren Ambrose to play Fanny Brice in FUNNY GIRL. If ever there was a director to be concerned about disrespecting the appropriate ethnicity in casting, it's Sher.

I completely agree that Sher does seem to make a point of ignoring ethnicity when casting shows. But as an Italian American, I must note that Italians (including natives of Italy) are considered Caucasian/White.

Updated On: 4/7/14 at 08:38 PM

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 8:57pm

The 1977 revival of The Kind and I was my second Broadway show. Unfortunately at that time, I did not care for the show at all. That could be because I couldn't understand a word Yul Brynner said (he just mumbled his lines). Then I saw the '96 revival and quickly became a fan of the show. I saw that production several times during its running, including Donna Murphy's final performance, as well as Lou Diamond Phillips last performance. Donna was magnificent. Lou Diamond Phillips got better each time I saw him (I really liked his performance).

I'm definitely looking forward to the upcoming revival.

[Simon Damon]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 9:05pm

and the production currently starring Lisa Mccune is a good one but would love a fresh take. I would not mind Rebecca Luker, Victoria Clark but would love Megan Hilty to play the role or Laura Kelly

[candydog2]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 9:08pm

Why do you say Megan Hilty? I'm just curious.

Personally I can't see her in the role at all. I mean I know actors can surprise you and many are more versatile than we give them credit for, but I would never have matched Hilty with a show like The King and I.

[TimesSquared]

Posted: 4/7/14 at 9:21pm

I would love to see Kate Baldwin play Anna too. She'd be perfect. She's beautiful and patrician, but she's got an edge. She was a feisty Sharon in Finian's Rainbow.

Anna's elegant but she's a very strong-willed woman. It's one thing to put across the sweet schoolteacher singing "Getting to Know You", but it's quite another to sell "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?" The role really requires a strong actor.