THE KING AND I *** 1/2 out of ****
LINCOLN CENTER THEATER AT THE VIVIAN BEAUMONT
Western superiority has never seemed more charming than in the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical The King And I. This handsomely mounted revival helmed by Bartlett Sher boasts a clutch of great songs, beautiful singing by the cast, some adorable children and two wonderfully charismatic leads. Short of a complete overhaul of the original book, it won't get much better than this. This show can't have quite the same impact as Sher's South Pacific because that revival dusted off a classic and proved it wasn't the stodgy war horse people (like me) imagined. Here, they minimize the flaws in the story and present this romantic tale with polish and style. But the flaws remain.
A dry run of sorts for their final smash hit The Sound Of Music, this King offers the exoticism of the East via the memoirs of widow Anna Leonowens (Kelli O'Hara). She bravely ventures to Siam with her young son to serve as a tutor for the children of the King. Said King (Ken Watanabe in his English language stage debut) is admirably progressive who is learning English and wants to soak up as much knowledge as his can to prepare his country for the future rushing in on them. An early reference to geo-politics (with the French nudging in here and there) place his worries in the proper, intelligent context.
But first comes a flourish that lets you know you're at Lincoln Center and no expense will be spared. Anna and her son Louis (an admirably restrained Jake Lucas) arrive in port on a ship. Clearly, set designer Michael Yeargan was puzzling over how to capture the grandeur of a sailing ship in the 1800s and then suddenly said, "I've got it! We'll just build the damn thing!" And there appears the ship, majestically coming into view and then pulling into dock and then rather unexpectedly its prow keeps coming and coming and coming until the front of the ship extends out over the audience.
It's a well considered stunt that serves many purposes. First, it allows O'Hara to immediately establish an intimate rapport with the audience. She and her son are almost within arm's reach it seems as Anna sings "I Whistle A Happy Tune" to buck up their courage. The Vivian Beaumont is an intimate space with the audience surrounding the thrust stage but here we're closer than ever, an idea way to see the tentativeness and vulnerability of this woman who puts on a good show and is often prim and proper by necessity. That grand vessel also shows the West bursting into the world of Siam, literally jutting into their tiny, isolated kingdom. You could no more keep it out than keep out the sun, it seems. This King faces many challenges and only a fool would pretend otherwise. Yet the world is filled with fools; luckily for his country, the King is not one of them.
Happily, this huge set piece does not set the tone for the show. One of the great pleasures of this production is that the costumes of Catherine Zuber are elegant, the lighting by Donald Holder is warm but crucially the sets have scale and sophistication yet notably avoid the Orientalism that can plague The King And I.
In an excellent bit of staging and setting, the King enters his grand throne room traveling from the front of the stage all the way towards the back, servants lined up on both sides to kowtow. You get a sense of his grand presence and the beauty of the palace without any frippery. The entire show takes its cue from this, with scene changes like the schoolroom and outdoor gardens all suggested with a few hanging pillars and other modest decorations. It's theatrical, handsome and very effective.
THEATER OF 2015
Honeymoon In Vegas **
The Woodsman ***
Constellations ** 1/2
Taylor Mac's A 24 Decade History Of Popular Music 1930s-1950s ** 1/2
Let The Right One In **
Da no rating
A Month In The Country ** 1/2
Parade in Concert at Lincoln Center ** 1/2
Hamilton at the Public ***
The World Of Extreme Happiness ** 1/2
Broadway By The Year 1915-1940 **
Verite * 1/2
Fabulous! *
The Mystery Of Love & Sex **
An Octoroon at Polonsky Shakespeare Center *** 1/2
Fish In The Dark *
The Audience ***
Josephine And I ***
Posterity * 1/2
The Hunchback Of Notre Dame **
Lonesome Traveler **
On The Twentieth Century ***
Radio City Music Hall's New York Spring Spectacular ** 1/2
The Heidi Chronicles *
The Tallest Tree In The Forest * 1/2
Broadway By The Year: 1941-1965 ***
Twelfth Night by Bedlam ***
What You Will by Bedlam *** 1/2
Wolf Hall Parts I and II ** 1/2
Skylight ***
Nellie McKay at 54 Below ***
Ludic Proxy ** 1/2
It Shoulda Been You **
Finding Neverland ** 1/2
Hamlet w Peter Sarsgaard at CSC no stars
The King And I *** 1/2
_____________
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the founder and CEO of the forthcoming website BookFilter, a book lover's best friend. Trying to decide what to read next? Head to BookFilter! Need a smart and easy gift? Head to BookFilter? Wondering what new titles came out this week in your favorite categories, like cookbooks and mystery and more? Head to BookFilter! It's a website that lets you browse for books online the way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of the way. It's like a fall book preview or holiday gift guide -- but every week in every category. He's also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog. Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.
Note: Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understanding that he will be writing a review. All productions are in New York City unless otherwise indicated.
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LINCOLN CENTER THEATER AT THE VIVIAN BEAUMONT
Western superiority has never seemed more charming than in the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical The King And I. This handsomely mounted revival helmed by Bartlett Sher boasts a clutch of great songs, beautiful singing by the cast, some adorable children and two wonderfully charismatic leads. Short of a complete overhaul of the original book, it won't get much better than this. This show can't have quite the same impact as Sher's South Pacific because that revival dusted off a classic and proved it wasn't the stodgy war horse people (like me) imagined. Here, they minimize the flaws in the story and present this romantic tale with polish and style. But the flaws remain.
A dry run of sorts for their final smash hit The Sound Of Music, this King offers the exoticism of the East via the memoirs of widow Anna Leonowens (Kelli O'Hara). She bravely ventures to Siam with her young son to serve as a tutor for the children of the King. Said King (Ken Watanabe in his English language stage debut) is admirably progressive who is learning English and wants to soak up as much knowledge as his can to prepare his country for the future rushing in on them. An early reference to geo-politics (with the French nudging in here and there) place his worries in the proper, intelligent context.
But first comes a flourish that lets you know you're at Lincoln Center and no expense will be spared. Anna and her son Louis (an admirably restrained Jake Lucas) arrive in port on a ship. Clearly, set designer Michael Yeargan was puzzling over how to capture the grandeur of a sailing ship in the 1800s and then suddenly said, "I've got it! We'll just build the damn thing!" And there appears the ship, majestically coming into view and then pulling into dock and then rather unexpectedly its prow keeps coming and coming and coming until the front of the ship extends out over the audience.
It's a well considered stunt that serves many purposes. First, it allows O'Hara to immediately establish an intimate rapport with the audience. She and her son are almost within arm's reach it seems as Anna sings "I Whistle A Happy Tune" to buck up their courage. The Vivian Beaumont is an intimate space with the audience surrounding the thrust stage but here we're closer than ever, an idea way to see the tentativeness and vulnerability of this woman who puts on a good show and is often prim and proper by necessity. That grand vessel also shows the West bursting into the world of Siam, literally jutting into their tiny, isolated kingdom. You could no more keep it out than keep out the sun, it seems. This King faces many challenges and only a fool would pretend otherwise. Yet the world is filled with fools; luckily for his country, the King is not one of them.
Happily, this huge set piece does not set the tone for the show. One of the great pleasures of this production is that the costumes of Catherine Zuber are elegant, the lighting by Donald Holder is warm but crucially the sets have scale and sophistication yet notably avoid the Orientalism that can plague The King And I.
In an excellent bit of staging and setting, the King enters his grand throne room traveling from the front of the stage all the way towards the back, servants lined up on both sides to kowtow. You get a sense of his grand presence and the beauty of the palace without any frippery. The entire show takes its cue from this, with scene changes like the schoolroom and outdoor gardens all suggested with a few hanging pillars and other modest decorations. It's theatrical, handsome and very effective.
THEATER OF 2015
Honeymoon In Vegas **
The Woodsman ***
Constellations ** 1/2
Taylor Mac's A 24 Decade History Of Popular Music 1930s-1950s ** 1/2
Let The Right One In **
Da no rating
A Month In The Country ** 1/2
Parade in Concert at Lincoln Center ** 1/2
Hamilton at the Public ***
The World Of Extreme Happiness ** 1/2
Broadway By The Year 1915-1940 **
Verite * 1/2
Fabulous! *
The Mystery Of Love & Sex **
An Octoroon at Polonsky Shakespeare Center *** 1/2
Fish In The Dark *
The Audience ***
Josephine And I ***
Posterity * 1/2
The Hunchback Of Notre Dame **
Lonesome Traveler **
On The Twentieth Century ***
Radio City Music Hall's New York Spring Spectacular ** 1/2
The Heidi Chronicles *
The Tallest Tree In The Forest * 1/2
Broadway By The Year: 1941-1965 ***
Twelfth Night by Bedlam ***
What You Will by Bedlam *** 1/2
Wolf Hall Parts I and II ** 1/2
Skylight ***
Nellie McKay at 54 Below ***
Ludic Proxy ** 1/2
It Shoulda Been You **
Finding Neverland ** 1/2
Hamlet w Peter Sarsgaard at CSC no stars
The King And I *** 1/2
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the founder and CEO of the forthcoming website BookFilter, a book lover's best friend. Trying to decide what to read next? Head to BookFilter! Need a smart and easy gift? Head to BookFilter? Wondering what new titles came out this week in your favorite categories, like cookbooks and mystery and more? Head to BookFilter! It's a website that lets you browse for books online the way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of the way. It's like a fall book preview or holiday gift guide -- but every week in every category. He's also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog. Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.
Note: Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understanding that he will be writing a review. All productions are in New York City unless otherwise indicated.
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