The Australian production was brought to Broadway by the Dodgers, landing at the Neil Simon Theatre on April 11, 1996 starring Donna Murphy, who won a Tony for her portrayal as Anna, and Lou Diamond Phillips as the King. Jose Llana played Lun Tha and Taewon Yi Kim played Lady Thiang. This production swept awards season, championing Best Revival at … Read More

In an innovative reconsideration of the original, British director Christopher Renshaw premiered a landmark production of The King and I at the Adelaide Festival Theatre in South Australia on June 11, 1991. This $5.5 million production, featuring Hayley Mills as Anna and Tony Marinyo as the King, toured throughout Australia. Renshaw and designer Brian Thomson took a research trip to … Read More

Crossing the Atlantic after a successful run in London, Yul Brynner continued to play the King in a tour across the US. At a party thrown in Los Angeles by the Rodgers and Hammerstein families on September 13, 1983, Brynner celebrated his 4,000th performance as the King. As a farewell, he brought the production back to Broadway, with Mary Beth … Read More

The second West End revival of The King and I was staged at the illustrious London Palladium. Yul Brynner returned once again as the King of Siam, this time opposite Virginia McKenna. The production would run 538 performances, opening June 12, 1979 and closing September 27, 1980.

Opening May 2, 1977, the first Broadway revival of The King and I featured Yul Brynner reviving his Tony and Academy Award-winning portrayal of the King. Director Yuriko, a member of the original Broadway company, replicated Jerome Robbins’ original choreography. Arriving on Broadway following a tour of the Northeast, the production played 719 performances at the Uris (now Gershwin) Theatre. … Read More

In the show’s first West End revival, The King and I opened on October 1, 1973 at the Adelphi Theatre, where it would play 260 performances through May 25, 1974. Under the direction of Roger Redfarn, this production featured British television star and persona Peter Wyngarde as the King, opposite star of international stage and screen Sally Ann Howes as … Read More

On June 28, 1956 (Richard Rodgers’ 54th birthday), 20th Century Fox released Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I in movie theatres across the US. The acclaimed motion picture adaptation starred Deborah Kerr and Rita Moreno and featured a legendary, Academy Award-winning reprisal of Yul Brynner’s turn as the King. Also returning for the film version were original choreographer Jerome … Read More

The King and I made its West End premiere on October 8, 1953 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where it went on to run 926 performances, through January 14, 1956. This production starred Valerie Hobson as Anna Leonowens and Herbert Lom as The King. Harold Hobson of the London Sunday Times reported on this momentous opening: “The enthusiasm of … Read More

Anticipation was high for the opening night of The King and I at Broadway’s St. James Theatre on March 29, 1951. The creative team had a challenge: how to follow South Pacific, the show that was a monster hit, winning award after award and catching the zeitgeist of post-Word War II America? The idea came from Gertrude Lawrence, who saw … Read More