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a musical play in two acts by Oscar Hammerstein II based
on the novel 'Anne and the King of Siam' by Margaret Landon.
Music by Richard Rodgers. Opened at the St. James Theatre,
New York, 29 March 1951 with Gertrude Lawrence (Anna), Yul
Brynner (The King), Dorothy Sarnoff (Lady Thiang) and
Doretta Morrow (Tuptim). Opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury
Lane, London, 8 October 1953 with Valerie Hobson, Herbert
Lom, Muriel Smith and Doreen Duke. A film version was
produced by Twentieth Century-Fox in 1956 with Deborah Kerr,
Yul Brynner, Rita Moreno and Terry Saunders.
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THE STORY
Anna Leonowens, a young English widow, arrives with her
son Louis in Bangkok, capital of the kingdom of Siam, in the
early 1860's. She has been engaged by the King to teach
English and Western ideas to his family of many wives and
many more children. Anna tells Louis how she will bravely
face the dangers before them (I Whistle a Happy Tune)
- and indeed she doubts whether her decision to come was
right.
At Court, her Western ideas quickly conflict with
oriental traditions. The King's proclaiming of his belief in
Western ideals does not stop him accepting a slave girl
Tuptim as a gift from the King of Burma. Tuptim is repelled
by him (My Lord and Master) and loves Lun Tha who has
escorted her to Bangkok.
When Anna meets the King, her doubts turn to anger when
she discovers he has chosen to forget his various promises
concerning salary and particularly that he had promised her
a brick house next to the palace. She is only prevented from
leaving by meeting the King's enchanting children (The
March of the Siamese Children). She decides to stay; and
the royal wives are keen to hear of the differences between
their two cultures, and the similarity when it comes to love
and family (Hello, Young Lovers).
Anna instructs the royal children, the King's wives, even
sometimes the King himself (Getting to Know You).
They learn of the outside world, and wonders like snow, ice,
and individual freedom. The King is fascinated, yet
troubled, by these ideas (A Puzzlement). Anna has
meanwhile befriended Tuptim and lent her the new American
novel 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' but she is worried that
Tuptim and Lun Tha are meeting secretly (We Kiss in a
Shadow).
Anna admires the King's strengths, but his stubbornness
infuriates her. Lady Thiang, the King's first wife
understands this and counsels patience, for she sees how
much the King and Anna need each other. For all his
stubbornness, pride and occasional cruelty, Lady Thiang
says, he can sometimes do Something Wonderful.
The King learns that a British diplomat is on the way to
Bangkok, obviously to assess the King's hold on his country.
Anna cleverly suggests that a European dinner, with all the
Court in Western dress, and with a suitable entertainment
(which the intelligent Tuptim could devise) would give Sir
Edward Ramsay an excellent impression of an enlightened and
sophisticated society - and of the King, too. The King is so
impressed with 'his own idea' that he rewards the
strong-willed "Mrs. Anna" with a firm promise of the brick
house, as in their agreement.
The dinner is a great success; Tuptim's entertainment, a
ballet entitled The Small House of Uncle Thomas (an
outstanding feature of the score) will be her last act in
Siam because Lun Tha has arranged an escape immediately
afterwards, so they will be together for ever (I Have
Dreamed). The 'subversive' message of the ballet's story
worries the King momentarily, but Sir Edward's compliments
and generous endorsement of his regime give the King great
satisfaction.
The plan has worked. The King and Anna, alone,
congratulate each other and in the mood of celebration he
asks her to teach him the polka (Shall We Dance?) As
they dance, we see how the growing friendship is rapidly
ripening into sexual attraction, but the mood is shattered
when news comes that Lun Tha and Tuptim have been caught
escaping. The secret police kill him, and the King, suddenly
no longer a Westernised monarch, prepares to punish Tuptim
with the whip. Anna upbraids him for this regression to
barbarism, which has spoiled everything he has been striving
to achieve. His arm falls, the whip drops, but he realises
that his absolute power has evaporated and he flees the
room, a broken man.
Anna realises that she has so humiliated the King that
she must leave Siam, but she is stopped from embarking by a
note from him - he expresses his gratitude for all she has
done, but says he is dying. Shocked, she returns to the
Palace and finds him on his deathbed surrounded by wives and
children, who now beg Anna not to leave them. She is deeply
moved and realises how much she loves them and how much they
need her. The dying King commands her to take notes from his
eldest son, Prince Chulalongkorn, who will be the new King.
The Prince, who has learned his lessons well from Anna,
announces that there will no more bowing and scraping before
him, but as his father dies and all present prostrate
themselves, their obeisance is not only to the dead King but
to the new one.
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Characters
Cast: 4 men, 3 women, 2 boys, chorus
Anna Leonowens |
A young widow, in whose heart the
pain of bereavement is still very strong. She is compassionate
but business-like, and - almost - completely undaunted by the
regal magnificence of her employer. She is presented in word,
deed and song as an entirely sympathetic person. |
Louis Leonowens |
Her young teenage son, keen to acclimatise
to the strange lifestyle at an Eastern Court and fiercely fond
of his mother. |
The Kralahome |
The Prime Minister. A hard and bigoted official
who obviously cannot understand why his master is flirting with
Western ideas. |
The King |
He deserves our admiration for his efforts
in trying to come to terms with Western ideas and ways of life,
but the conflict between Eastern and Western values, combined
with his inbred sense of being a Supreme Ruler, ultimately destroys
him |
Lady Thiang |
Wise, composed and understanding, she can see
clearly both sides of the King's nature and thus of her country's
standing in the world. |
Tuptim
Lun Tha |
Star-crossed lovers who are pawns in the game
of the giant rulers of the Far East. |
Prince Chulalongkorn |
The heir to the throne, whose mixture of filial
piety and awareness of the need to change are partly a result
of Anna's teaching and partly inherited from both his parents. |
Sir Edward Ramsay |
Anna's old flame and an important player in the diplomatic
game for the friendship of Siam. |
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Scenes and Settings:
The Play is Divided into Two Acts.
The Action Passes in and Around the King's Palace, Bangkok, Siam.
Time: Early Eighteen Sixties.
Musical Numbers:
Act I
- OVERTURE
- OPENING ACT I (Arrival at Bangkok)
- I WHISTLE A HAPPY TUNE - Anna, Louis
- INCIDENTAL FOR DIALOGUE (Entrance of Kralahome)
- EXIT: I WHISTLE A HAPPY TUNE
- VIGNETTES AND DANCE
- MY LORD AND MASTER - Tuptim
- INCIDENTAL FOR DIALOGUE
- HELLO, YOUNG LOVERS - Anna
- ENCORE: HELLO, YOUNG LOVERS
- THE MARCH OF SIAMESE CHILDREN
- POSTLUDE TO THE MARCH OF SIAMESE CHILDREN
- SCENE BEFORE CURTAIN (Priests and Children)
- A PUZZLEMENT - King
- SCHOOL-ROOM SCENE - Children and Wives
- GETTING TO KNOW YOU - Anna, Wives &
Children
- INCIDENTAL (King)
- WE KISS IN A SHADOW (Tuptim and Lun Tha)
- REPRISE: A PUZZLEMENT (Prince and Louis)
- SHALL I TELL YOU WHAT I THINK OF YOU? - Anna
- SOMETHING WONDERFUL - Lady Thiang
- CHANGE OF SCENE (Pantomime)
- REPRISE: SOMETHING WONDERFUL - Lady Thiang
- CHANGE OF SCENE (Postlude to "Something Wonderful")
- SCENE (Anna and King planning party)
- FIREWORKS
- FINALE ACT I - Company
Act II
- ENTR'ACTE
- OPENING ACT II
- WESTERN PEOPLE FUNNY - Lady Thiang and Wives
- EXIT OF WIVES
- DANCE OF ANNA AND SIR EDWARD
- EXIT OF ANNA, KING AND SIR EDWARD
- INCIDENTAL "WE KISS IN A SHADOW"
- I HAVE DREAMED - Lun Tha, Tuptim
- REPRISE: "HELLO, YOUNG LOVERS" - Anna
- THE SMALL HOUSE OF UNCLE THOMAS (Ballet)
- POSTLUDE OF BALLET
- INCIDENTAL (Change of Scene)
- SONG OF THE KING - King
- SHALL WE DANCE? - Anna, King
- MELOS: MY LORD AND MASTER
- PROCESSIONAL
- REPRISE: SOMETHING WONDERFUL (Letter Reading)
- POLKA DOLOROSO
- REPRISE: I WHISTLE A HAPPY TUNE - Anna
- FINALE ULTIMO
- EXIT MUSIC
Instrumentation:
2 flutes (2nd db. piccolo), oboe db. cor anglais, 3 clarinets (3rd
db. bass clarinet), bassoon, 3 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba,
2 percussion, harp, piano, strings
Two Piano Arrangement available instead of orchestration
Discography:
 Original
London Cast Recording - click picture to buy.
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THE KING AND I 