The King and I previews thread — Page 16

His performance is way ahead of hers I'd say so I wouldn't have thought so.

I saw the Saturday matinee this weekend. I really loved it - and I agree and disagree with the many comments already made! Seems like opinions are all over the board.

First off - I had terrific seats - there were 4 of us - E 201-204, which is actually the third row (in fact those 4 seats comprise a row by themselves in that section). Without trying to spoil the boat effect, we were able to see the people on the boat - but I would imagine that 1st row would not have a great view. Yes, the boat effect is extraneous in a way but it does get the audience excited in the first moments.

We were also able to see into the orchestra and what fun watching that overture is!

I'll go for the Ken Watanabe stuff first, as he was a major issue in early (and later) posts. I thought he was incredible. Truly brilliant. Diction? Well, I got about 90-95% of what he said. Less so in "Puzzlement." It didn't matter. His scene during and after the punishment of Tuptim was some of the most amazing acting I have seen in a musical. I thought I almost saw the king die during that scene. And it sets up his death so brilliantly.

Kelli O'Hara is wonderful - although I am in the camp that thinks she lacks something. Wonderful singing, good acting, but I miss whatever it was (that special something) that Donna Murphy brought to Anna. Kelli has a coolness onstage sometimes for me when I want a bit of heat.

The children and the wives are all wonderful. I literally fell apart weeping at "Getting to Know You." It was staged so beautifully - and it was perfectly sung with brilliant movement also. It just filled the stage with joy.

Ruthie Ann is also quite brilliant as Lady Thiang and certainly will receive a nomination.

I loved how Sher used the whole depth of the stage - seeing Watanabe go to the back of the stage in his first scene to sit was remarkable - you really got the distance between Anna and The King with him back there at the beginning.

I did speak to a friend in the cast after - they have 4 more weeks of previews and they are going to trim and cut, tighten, and work on it more. It's down to about 2:55 at the moment.

He also said that the R&H organization gave Sher every draft and manuscript they had and gave him free use of using different versions of scenes, lines, etc. That's why the Cambodia lines are back in - and I think that really sets up what the King is facing in this new world he is trying to cope with. Sher also added "Western People Funny" which I believe is rarely used.

All in all, I loved this production. THE KING AND I is, I think, my favorite R&H, followed by a hair by CAROUSEL. A wonderful 3 hours at the Beaumont!

"Trim and cut" more scares me. 2:55 is an appropriate running time for this meaty show. The Procession of the White Elephant is cut, and parts of the Overture. I would hate to lose the reinstated Western People Funny and Puzzlement Reprise. Hopefully that cast member was referring to some of the added dialogue.

Updated On: 3/23/15 at 11:15 AM

That makes sense! I think it will be sensational by opening night.

"I did speak to a friend in the cast after - they have 4 more weeks of previews and they are going to trim and cut, tighten, and work on it more. It's down to about 2:55 at the moment."

Ooph. I might have to go back after opening. It'll depend how much I enjoy it next week. Thanks for your review. I'm trying to balance my expectations.

I wanted to respond to what Auggie27 mentioned about Anna's loneliness, because I think the loneliness of Anna isn't at all what the show aims to highlight. Anna's loneliness is certainly part of her, but "Hello, Young Lovers" is the only time she lets any loneliness show - and it's not like Anna is completely alone; she has Louis and adores the children she teaches.

Anna's strength is the biggest part of the show, and what should be (and I would say is) the greatest standout of Kelli's performance. Anna's strength is what the King writes about in his letter when he says, "It is strange that a woman shall have been most earnest help of all." The King brought her to the palace to teach because he didn't want to be threatened by another male presence, but Anna turns out to be not a timid schoolteacher like the King had expected.

When Anna first arrives, she clearly has tenacity the Kralahome didn't expect her to have, as she bluntly says to the Kralahome's interpreter, "His business with me is in my capacity of schoolteacher to the Royal children. He has no right to pry into my personal affairs." Before Anna first meets the King, the Kralahome says to the him, "She has needed disciplining, Your Majesty. She objects to living in Palace." Then, soon after meeting the King, Anna demands, "I want my house. The house you promised me, Your Majesty." Anna arrives at the palace and doesn't care that the King is an authority figure because he has no legitimate authority over her. Most women would've never made demands and spoken as Anna did because they would've been terrified of being whipped or worse for not showing respect to the King. But in Anna's mind the worst the King can do is tell her to leave, which she has half a mind of doing already. It's Anna's strength that causes the King in Act 2 to not whip Tuptim. It's Anna's strength that influences Chulalongkorn's proclamation that bowing for the King is degrading. It's Anna's strength that is unequivocally the heart of the show.

One could argue that Anna's loneliness is what makes her strong, but that would literally show itself in Kelli's portrayal of Anna as a strong woman, which is where her performance currently is.

I went to see this last Friday and absolutely fell in love with it. I have never seen The King & I before or heard the score, but I did love South Pacific, so I was hoping I would enjoy this one. O'Hara is just a beautiful actor with a gorgeous voice who can absolutely do no wrong. Watanabe was equally as amazing. I didn't have any trouble understanding him.

I went to the stage door after. There weren't many people there. Only O'Hara and Ashley Park came out to sign. Others came out, but no one stopped them, so they just kept walking. Unfortunately, I'm an idiot when it comes to facial recognition so I didn't stop them either. Watanabe came out but went quickly to his car. I'm seeing Lucia tonight, so I am planning on stopping by the stage door to see if I can get a few more people.

So I was hopeful this was improving, but then I read a review of last night's preview (3/24) on Facebook. Does anyone care to respond? (This is not my review.)

The initial buzz proved to be true: the new production of The King And I is queerly draggy, without spark, saddled with dull direction; vapid second leads in the roles of Tuptim and Lun Tha; and plagued by poor sound and muddy miking. None of these problems are much-publicized star Ken Watanabe's fault, but he's ultimately the weakest link by virtue of his valiant, yet painfully uncomfortable, attempt at tackling one of the all-time iconic roles. Mr. Watanabe is unquestionably a talented and magnetic movie star, but he is strangely diminished onstage. Neither is he physically imposing -- oddly pale and not particularly muscular, he looks positively anemic when one -- as one can't help but do -- thinks of Yul Brunner, glistening, bronzed, and magnificent.

But physical anomalies aside, what really sinks Watanabe as King is his obvious struggle with both the English language and the distinct rhythmic cadences required of his dialogue AND his singing. He's trying, lord knows, but he seems ready to collapse under the strain at any minute. And he's virtually unintelligible at least 75% of the time, even though much of the dialogue and most of the lyrics are familiar to many of us.

Kelli O'Hara is close to pitch perfect as Anna, but even she is performing on low flame, as if worried that if she really gave a full-out performance, she'd embarrass her costar and throw the mediocrity of the production and the majority of her supporting cast off balance.

Besides O'Hara, the evening belongs to young Jon Viktor Corpuz as Watanabe's eldest son, the Crown Prince. Watching him strut the stage, and belt out a reprise of his father's "A Puzzlement" (which, as sung by Watanabe, could very well have been sung in Japanese or Hungarian or Martian), it was a jarring reminder of how the much-elder and more experienced Watanabe SHOULD have been commanding the stage.

As for the worst performance, that dubious honor must go to the near-catatonic Conrad Ricamora as Lun Tha, who should be awarded a bouquet of dead roses for managing to turn one of the most thrilling Rodgers and Hammerstein songs ever written (I Have Dreamed) into a mere time-filler.

Also disappointing was the relative lack of sets (the 1990s revival with Donna Murphy and Lou Diamond Philips was far more lavish), as well as the inexplicably cheap looking costumes. The show only glowed with glamour during the gorgeously staged and appointed Uncle Tom's Cabin sequence -- usually my least favorite part of the show, but in this case, a real highlight.

As it stands, this show is indestructible thanks to its peerless score; it's impossible to totally destroy it. But you CAN make it dull.

Here's an idea: If the producers of the Lincoln Center revival of The King and I are as wise and good as Mrs. Anna is supposed to be, they'll do Ken Watanabe, the audience, and themselves a huge favor if they buy out Mr. Watanabe's contract and let him go before the opening (April 16). Replace him with the actor who is currently essaying the largely thankless role of Prime Minister, Paul Nakauchi. Mr. Nakauchi (who played the King in a recent California production, see below) is a charismatic stage presence, gorgeous, tanned and muscular. He exudes confidence and sex, which is precisely what the miscast Mr. Watanabe does not.
https://www.facebook.com/todd.brandt.161/posts/10152718897232694

I adore R&H and grew up on that music. And even though the shows and music are wonderful, it strikes me that they may not last another 20 years. Once my generation of old people is gone, will anyone want to do R&H? I doubt it. Audiences are likely to demand high tech, interactive musicals, overmiked singers, a new style of dance, etc. and even the best team cannot convert a R&H musical into that. R&H musicals will become an esteemed part of musical theater history even as they are no longer performed.

Enjoyable2, you bring up an always-valid concern, but I think I'm a bit more optimistic about the future of the R&H catalogue. It remains the best-known group of musical titles in the world, I'd wager. With so many local groups still doing Gilbert and Sullivan, surely South Pacific will not be forgotten in the next fifty years. Besides being good, the shows are safe. High schools do Rogers and Hammerstein shows, the Sound of Music is watched by millions of people on TV every year--it's as much a tradition as The Wizard of Oz.

Nothing stays popular forever, especially as more and more shows to choose from are added to the canon, and maybe these things come in cycles. But the R&H shows are not going anywhere soon for large non-profits hoping to bank on a recognizable title, or family audiences, or for anyone who cares about where musicals come from.

By the way, I'm just now getting into a R&H kick for the first time in my early twenties. The local productions and random songs I'd been exposed to early on made the meaterial seem TOO gloopy and accessable for my rather grungy teen tastes. I'm listening more closely now. That's thanks largely to thoughtful, intelligent, and rich revivals like this one. But it's also thanks to Stephen Sondheim's appraisals of Oscar Hammerstein's work, and Sondheim's personal stories on how the man taught him. That was my entry point more than anything.

(I'm going to leave that post there even though I'm inviting a joke from After Eight about how Sondheim musn't have been a very good student, or something. There. Did it for you.)

Updated On: 3/25/15 at 04:22 PM

Like the Facebook poster, I also saw the show last night. The poster's review strikes me as overly harsh. Unlike many here, I found the sets and costumes beautiful and in very fine taste. I did not miss a more opulent Siamese court. But I'm mixed on the production as a whole.

O"Hara is, not surprisingly, graceful, lovely and intelligent. Still, this is far from her most relaxed, commanding or remarkable work.

Watanabe runs the gamut from brilliant to unmoored; many fine moments and many in which his failures to connect (which include occasional mugging) almost match his troubles with English. Most embarrassing is that It's a Puzzlement is immediately followed by Anna's counseling her students to fully pronounce the beginnings and the ends of their English phrases.... HELLO! And, no, the defense of verisimilitude, of the King's being English-challenged resonating with his cultural exchange fatigue doesn't fly. One wants to know what is puzzling the King. If one can't understand the words, that's a problem. But more importantly when an actor, as it happens a very fine one in this case, is by necessity manifestly putting more energy into his dialect work than his performance, that's a major problem. It may be impossible for some of us not to be drawn to Watanabe as a performer, which makes his challenges with the language all the more distracting and unfortunate.

I liked Park very much and for the most part enjoyed Ricamora's sensitive performance and vocals.

The poster's swipes at Watanabe's physique are patently offensive. There is no reason why the King has to be ripped or even sexy (not to mention that Watanabe happens to be a very sexy man).

It's Miles who is giving the most fully realized performance. She deserves the most glowing praise and is likely to get it when the show opens.

Over orchestration was a big problem for me during much of the vocals.

Some of the between the scene dance interludes seemed pointless, but for the most part the staging worked very well for me. Getting to Know You was particularly charming.

I agree with the poster that young Mr. Corpuz is doing a very fine job as Chulalangkorn.

What works best in this production is its timeliness. The play resonates more than ever. Perhaps it's simply a matter of timing and the text itself, but the company seems to have its collective pulse on today's brutal tyranny and oppression as well as today's reckless imperialism and on the imperfections of those rulers who, as Mrs. Anna says, try to do their well-intentioned if limited best. This is a great moment for this revival and it was impossible for this viewer not to be deeply moved by it.

Updated On: 3/26/15 at 07:06 PM

R&H shows will never die, although not all R&H shows are created equal.

Anyone who saw Bartlett Sher's magnificent SOUTH PACIFIC, or better yet, the transformative production of CAROUSEL at Lincoln Center back in '94 will treasure those performances as long as they live. I don't feel the current KING AND I can approach that rarified level of greatness (how many shows can?), but taken on it's own terms, I found far more to treasure here than that misbegotten Facebook poster did.

I'll always love MARCH OF THE SIAMESE CHILDREN more now for having seen the care this production lavished on the subtle nuances of each child in the family. From now on I'll think of Lady Thiang as one of the most complex supporting roles in all of R&H, having seen what riches Ruthie Ann Miles discovered in the role. And there may be no finale in all of R&H so bittersweet as the lovely final 5 minutes of the show as presented here by the full company led by a thrilling Jon Viktor Corpuz as Chulalongkorn. Looking back I think Sher's production is touched with all sorts of greatness that's worth savoring.