The King and I - Rodgers and Hammerstein
by Claire J Rottenberg
A year after "South Pacific" opened on Broadway, Rodgers and Hammerstein II
wrote "The King and I." The play was based on the
memoirs of Anna Leonowens who, in the 1860s, was
the teacher of the King of Siam's children.
"The King and I" opened on Broadway in 1951 and it
played for 1,246 performances. The play, which
starred Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner, won the
1952 Tony award for Best Musical.
"The King and I" has songs that became very popular.
Some of these songs are "I Whistle A Happy Tune,"
"Hello Young Lovers" "Getting To Know You," and
"Shall We Dance?"
In 1956, a movie version of "The King and I" was
released, with Yul Brynner recreating his Tony award
winning performance. Deborah Kerr played Anna and a
then unknown Rita Moreno co-starred
as Tuptim. The film was nominated for an Academy
Award for Best Picture and Yul Brynner won the
award for Best Actor.
After "The King and I," Rodgers and Hammerstein had
two more movie musicals based on their stage plays -
"Flower Drum
Song"
in 1961 and the Academy Award winning
"The Sound of
Music"
in 1964.