The Stage

The King and I

Published Wednesday 8 December 2010 at 13:32 by Mark Shenton

Sometimes the oldies are still the goldies, and as thrilled as I am that Leicester’s Curve offered us the British premiere of Adam Guettel’s Light in the Piazza last year, here they are offering a prime example of Guettel’s grandfather’s craft in composer Richard Rodgers’s superb score for The King and I.

It is indeed, to steal one of lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II’s own song titles from this show, Something Wonderful to soak in the alternately warm and effervescent melodic glow of numbers like this, I Have Dreamed, Hello Young Lovers and Shall We Dance? But more than that, Hammerstein takes care to anchor each song carefully in the plot - portraying a clash of cultures and a thawing of relations when a widowed English schoolteacher arrives at the King of Siam’s palace to educate some of his many offspring - which, in the process, also sees the King as well as the teacher learning important lessons.

Paul Kerryson’s production may have one or two rather over-intrusive decorative choreographic touches, but it deftly negotiates the balance between the powerful play and the gorgeous melodies that help to advance it.

It is particularly blessed in the fine, utterly credible interplay between Janie Dee’s Mrs Anna and Chook Sibtain’s King. Dee’s feisty intelligence, effortless grace and shimmering soprano are sheer enchantment - it is a performance that marks another step in the maturing of her already expertly honed comedic and acting talent to reach somewhere deep musically as well. Sibtain partners her with a particular dignity that also exudes a playful warmth and vulnerability.

There are also vocally rich performances from Adrian Li Donni and Claire-Marie Hall as the illicit young lovers and Maya Sapone as Lady Thiang, among a company that also includes a large rotating contingent of expertly drilled local kids.