The King and I is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel Anna and the King of Siam (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. The musical's plot relates the experiences of Anna, a British schoolteacher who is hired as part of the King's drive to modernize his country. The relationship between the King and Anna is marked by conflict through much of the piece, as well as by a love to which neither can admit. The musical premiered on March 29, 1951, at Broadway's St. James Theatre. It ran for nearly three years, making it the fourth-longest-running Broadway musical in history at the time, and has had many tours and revivals.
Original Broadway poster (1951)
King Mongkut (far right) with his heir Chulalongkorn seated next to him and some of his other children. A wife is seated at left.
Mongkut with Chulalongkorn, dressed in naval uniforms
Rodgers (left) and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their musical theater writing partnership has been called the greatest of the 20th century.
Rodgers (left) and Hammerstein (right) watching auditions at the St. James Theatre on Broadway in 1948
Program for Fly With Me, 1920
"What's the Use of Wond'rin' " from Carousel (1947)
The final tableau in South Pacific (1949)
