Musicals Blog

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.