#1
Posted: 12/3/11 at 8:47pm
Buying one for a Christmas present, just wanted some outside opinions.
What is the best recording of the King and I?
#2
Posted: 12/3/11 at 9:11pm
the Hollywood Studio Cast recording with julie andrews as anna, ben kingsley as the king, lea salonga as tuptim, peobo bryson as luntha and marilyn horne as lady thiang.
#3
Posted: 12/3/11 at 9:25pm
If you can find it, the London recording with Elaine Paige is wonderful.
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
#4
Posted: 12/3/11 at 9:27pm
I think Donna Murphy can do no wrong.
Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE
#5
Posted: 12/3/11 at 9:34pm
I like the revival recording with Donna Murphy and Lou Diamond Phillips. For my itunes playlist I just inserted "Small House of Uncle Thomas" from the London recording with Elaine Paige.
#6
Posted: 12/3/11 at 10:26pm
Wait to see if the current production running in Philadelphia gets recorded. I'd take Rachel York over anyone.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
#7
Posted: 12/3/11 at 10:46pm
madbrian,
As much as I love your thought, I can't imagine Walnut St ever making a recording of the current production. Bartlett Sher will just have to cast York in his revival if it ever comes to pass!
I vote for the Julie Andrews recording. A collector's item for sure.
Have you seen this video, mb?
Rachel York Video
As much as I love your thought, I can't imagine Walnut St ever making a recording of the current production. Bartlett Sher will just have to cast York in his revival if it ever comes to pass!
I vote for the Julie Andrews recording. A collector's item for sure.
Have you seen this video, mb?
Rachel York Video
#8
Posted: 12/3/11 at 10:47pm
The recordings with Elaine Paige and Donna Murphy are both fantastic. I also love the recording with Barbra Cook and Theodore Beikel.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
#9
Posted: 12/4/11 at 1:55am
The Julie Andrews version uses the orchestrations from the film, so you get the best of both worlds.
#10
Posted: 12/4/11 at 6:53am
I'm really partial to the film soundtrack with Marni Nixon, but that's because I grew up on it. She sounds fantastic and the orchestra is the best.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#11
Posted: 12/4/11 at 8:29am
Seems like everyone has a different answer! And I'll do the same. My fave is the 1977 revival recording with Yul Brynner and Constance Towers.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
#12
Posted: 12/4/11 at 3:34pm
^ I quite enjoy the 1977 recording as well. It's a treat having "Western People Funny" and "A Puzzlement" reprise.
Updated On: 12/4/11 at 03:34 PM
#13
Posted: 12/4/11 at 4:21pm
Add my vote for the 1977 version. It was a lavish and gorgeous production, and the recording is (something) wonderful.
Brynner was brilliant. He was 57, but looked 20 years younger.
Brynner was brilliant. He was 57, but looked 20 years younger.
#14
Posted: 12/4/11 at 10:44pm
The 1977 revival recording is gorgeous! And it has Brynner as the King so you can' t go wrong (not to mention the exquisite Towers as Anna).
As close as to perfection as you can get.
As close as to perfection as you can get.
#15
Posted: 12/5/11 at 6:09am
My vote also goes to the 1977 revival recording.
#16
Posted: 12/5/11 at 8:27am
I agree with the 77 recording. Martin Vidnovic is especially wonderful singing "I Have Dreamed" and "We Kiss in the Shadows".
#17
Posted: 11/29/16 at 11:58am
Is the 2015 recording good? I just saw the show on tour in SF and I want to buy one of the recordings but having a hard time choosing one.
#18
Posted: 11/29/16 at 12:34pm
Just to throw in one for the home team, The King & I was written for Gertrude Lawrence and the OBC is a memorial to her final role before diagnosis with cancer forced her to leave a short way into the show's run.
It's a shame that they could fit so little material on those 33 1/3 LPs.
The OBC might make a good 2nd string recording to have for Gertrude and historical reasons.
#19
Posted: 11/29/16 at 12:38pm
Gonna have to cast my vote to the 2015 one.
#20
Posted: 11/29/16 at 1:14pm
Funny I just stumbled upon this thread in the middle of doing some research on the various productions of "The King and I". I came across this very sexy promotional photo with Yul Brynner and Gertrude Lawrence from the original Broadway production and I just have to share it!
You Can Disagree Without Being Disagreeable
#21
Posted: 11/29/16 at 1:22pm
Oh, I almost forgot! I consider the 1977 Broadway Cast Recording to be one of the best - - - if not THE best recording of the score. Martin Vidnovic and June Angela are winning as "Lun Tha" and "Tuptim". Angela especially impresses. She reaches notes in "My Lord and Master" that are thrilling. I believe she was the youngest actress ever cast in the role. She had just come off a long stint as part of the kids singing group, "The Short Circus" on the PBS children's program, "The Electric Company" where she shared screen time with Rita Moreno who played "Tuptim" in the 1956 motion picture.
You Can Disagree Without Being Disagreeable
Updated On: 11/29/16 at 01:22 PM
#22
Posted: 11/29/16 at 1:23pm
Yul Brynner may have been one of the sexiest men who ever lived! (IMHO)... :)
#23
Posted: 12/3/16 at 3:28pm
I must be the only person alive who prefers the 1964 Lincoln Center cast album. I just love that orchestra.
Keeping BroadwayWorld Illustrated
#24
Posted: 12/3/16 at 4:55pm
I heard an anecdote once, that when The King and I was trying out in Connecticut the audience response was very flat. One night after a performance Yul and Gertrude went out to a diner for something to eat. They looked up at each other knowingly, as if each knew what the other was thinking, They agreed that one thing was lacking from the show. Beginning the next night they added the element of sexual attraction.
I wish I could remember if the source was a reliable one.
Updated On: 12/3/16 at 04:55 PM
#25
Posted: 12/3/16 at 5:04pm
Now that I think about it, the source was probably Yul Brynner himself. After he discovered that he was dying of lung cancer, he and his wife launched a public crusade to warn off others from smoking. He was frequently interviewed, and I believe that the story of The King and I in Connecticut came from these interviews.
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