Theater News

The King and I, Starring Kelli O'Hara and Ken Watanabe, to Release Cast Album Next Month

A new Broadway revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein’s runs at Lincoln Center Theater.

Ken Watanabe and Kelli O'Hara in The King and I on Broadway.
Ken Watanabe and Kelli O'Hara in The King and I on Broadway.
(© Paul Kolnik)

The new Tony-nominated Lincoln Center Theater production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I, starring six-time Tony nominee Kelli O'Hara and Oscar nominee Ken Watanabe, will receive a cast recording on the Decca Broadway/Universal Music Classics label, to be released digitally June 2 and in stores June 9.

Two of this year's Tony nominees, O'Hara and Watanabe, lead the 51-member cast of the classic musical as Anna Leonowens and the King of Siam. They are joined by Tony nominee Ruthie Ann Miles (Lady Thiang), Ashley Park (Tuptim), Conrad Ricamora (Lun Tha), Edward Baker-Duly (Sir Edward Ramsey), Jon Viktor Corpuz (Prince Chulalongkorn), Murphy Guyer (Captain Orton), Jake Lucas (Louis), Paul Nakauchi (Kralahome), and Marc Oka (Phra Alack).

Inspired by Margaret Landon's novel Anna and the King of Siam, The King and I features music by Richard Rodgers and a book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Set in 1860s Bangkok, the story follows the relationship of British schoolteacher Anna Leonowens and the King of Siam, who employs her as a tutor for his many wives and children. After premiering on Broadway in 1951 with a cast led by Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner, it was last seen in a 1996 revival that starred Donna Murphy and Lou Diamond Phillips.

Directed by 2015 Tony nominee Bartlett Sher, the revival features choreography by Christopher Gattelli, based on the original choreography by Jerome Robbins, as well as sets by Michael Yeargan, costumes by Catherine Zuber, lights by Donald Holder, and sound by Scott Lehrer. Music director Ted Sperling conducts a 29-piece orchestra playing the original 1951 orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett with dance and incidental music arranged by Trude Rittmann.

For tickets and more information, click here.

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