THIS revival of John Frost’s 1991 Tony award-winning production of “The King and I” is spectacular, but it seems to have tied a few Australian observers into knots of guilt.
McCune and Tahu Rhodes as Anna and the king, photo by Brian Geach
It has been long-known that the Thais regard this musical depiction of their revered modernising monarch King Mongkut as a patronising caricature, but it is quite another matter for Australian arts followers to wring their hands over the casting of what is, after all, a Broadway musical of great popularity.
It needs also to be remembered that this musical was first staged in 1951, twenty years before Edward Said’s book “Orientalism” was published and at a time when our knowledge of the orient on stage didn’t go much further than “Madama Butterfly”, “The Mikado” and “Chu Chin Chow”.
In any case, a glimpse of the cast list will show that, apart from principals Teddy Tahu Rhodes as the King, Lisa McCune as Anna, Marty Rhone as the Kralahome [he played it on Broadway too) and John Adam in a double role, the cast is made up of professional singer/dancers with Chinese, Filipino, Indonesian and other backgrounds in a remarkable act of casting that tells us something about multicultural Australia.
McCune as Anna with those cute children, photo by Brian Geach
Indeed, to my mind, it is the supporting cast (and I’m not just talking about the cute Siamese children) that steal the show, with Chinese-born Australian opera singer
Shu-Cheen Yu performing and singing Lady Thiang superbly, supported by Adrian Li Donni and Jenny Liu as thwarted lovers Lun Tha and Tuptim.
Jerome Robbins’ choreography of “The Small House of Uncle Thomas” was always a highlight of the show and it is no less so here, though perhaps a little long for contemporary taste.
Like so many Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, this one has a serious book, as the king explores philosophical questions and his wish to modernise. Sadly, this occasionally deteriorates into comic taglines like the word “scientific” and the English phrase “etcetera etcetera and so forth,” but again, it needs to be remembered that this is entertainment, not real-life.
Based on Margaret Landon’s “Anna and the King of Siam,” the fictionalised story of the English governess Anna Leonowens, hired to educate King Mongkut’s children, the musical now suffers somewhat from Western paternalism, though it also sketches the relationship between Anna the king as worthy sparring partners. This lighthearted tone was well captured by Tahu Rhodes and McCune.
The strangeness in casting Tahu Rhodes as the king is not in his race, but in the fact that his fabulous baritone voice falls on the fallow ground of a role that involves almost no singing.
McCune, by contrast, though rather frigid as the governess, performs songs like “Whistle a Happy Tune”, “Hello Young Lovers” and “Getting to Know You” to perfection.
Brian Thomson’s richly exotic set, awash with elephants, users partly Thai and partly western stage conventions to bring about swift scene changes. It is that exoticism that has attracted many fans — over $9m dollars have already been taken at the box office.
It is not normally my practice to review audiences, but some commentators had it that many audience members deserted the auditorium at interval on opening night. But as I looked around me during the second half on the same night, the audience seemed to be packed to the rafters, and delivered a rousing standing ovation of the sort not often seen in the Opera Theatre.
I predict a successful season for this revival of the “King and I” thoroughly recommend the production – but leave your historical analysis at the door.
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