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Broadway 'The King and I' revival comes to London
A Broadway revival of the 1951 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical “The King and I” comes to a London stage this summer with Japanese actor Ken Watanabe and Tony Award winner Kelli O’Hara.
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Actor Ken Watanabe at the 64th San Sebastian Film Festival, in the northern Spanish Basque city of San Sebastian on September 23, 2016. Watanabe will star in a Broadway revival of the 1951 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical 'The King and I' in London. (AFP/Ander Gillenea)
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Broadway revival of the 1951 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical The King and I comes to a London stage this summer with Japanese actor Ken Watanabe and Tony Award winner Kelli O’Hara reprising their roles from the New York production.
A 2015 adaptation of the musical, which tells the story of British school teacher Anna arriving in 1860s Bangkok to tutor the children of the King of Siam, had a successful run on the American stage, winning praise from critics and four Tony Awards.
Under director Bartlett Sher, it now heads to the London Palladium for a limited run, with O’Hara as Anna and Inception and The Last Samurai actor Watanabe reprising the part of the king.
“It’s like putting on an old glove, a really beautiful one,” O’Hara told Reuters in an interview about reprising the role.
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“I don’t think that we assume that because it was a success on Broadway it will be a huge success on the West End, but I do feel like we have the security of having built something that we are proud of.”
The original Broadway show by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II won Russian-born actor Yul Brynner a Tony Award for his portrayal of King Mongkut. He later picked up an Oscar for the 1956 film version.
Asked if they would like to star in a film remake of the musical, Watanabe said: “Hopefully, yes”
O’Hara said: “Yes, yes, absolutely. It’s due for a revival of a movie I think. Yes, why not?”
