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The King And I Original Cast 1951 MP3 Album

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  • A Decca Original Cast Album DA-876
  • Featuring Members Of The Original New York Production
  • Rogers And Hammerstein
  • present
  • Gertrude Lawrence
  • in a new musical play
  • The King And I
  • with Yul Brynner
  • Music by
  • Richard Rodgers
  • Book and lyrics by
  • Oscar Hammerstein II
  • Dorothy Sarnoff
  • Doretta Morrow
  • Larry Douglas
  • Directed by John Van Druten
  • Orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett
  • Musical Director Frederick Dvonch

    About Rodgers and Hammerstein

    When The King And I opened on March 29,1951, at the St.James Theatre in New York it was the consensus that the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II had achieved another triumph of collaboration. "The boys have done it again" was the tribute of Broadwayto the joint creators of "Oklahoma", "Carousel" and "South Pacific." I the line of it's illustreous predecessors, "The King And I" was something more than a musical. It was , in the truest sense, a musical play, a drama that was both serious and humourous, a form that differing from the European tradition, could be regognized and classified as American opera. First-nighters pointed out that it was a pleasant coincidence that "Oklahoma" opened at the same theatre exactly eight years before and ran for years to sell-out audiences.

    About "The King And I"

    "The King And I" was based on Margaret Landon's "Anna and the King of Siam." It is the story of a young English widow (Gertrude Lawrence) who has been brought to the Orient in order to impart Western culture to the king's court. She manages not only to educate the king's numerous wives and his even more numerous childrhildren - some 67 of them - but the king himself (Yul Brynner) - a stubborn, half-tyrannical, half childish, but surprising, charming and always fascinating individual. The essence of the drama is the struggle between the two leading personalities-the hoop-skirted, genteel but firm-minded teacher and the semi-barbaric, inflexible but curiusly "scientific" monarch.Apart form the semi-political, semi-romantic duel between the principals, the play is full of unexpected incidents which are not only exciting but touching. There is real pathos in the subsiduary plot, a tragig love story of the beautiful slave Tuptim (Doretta Morrow), there is genuine comedy in the schooling of the ruler's multiple offspring; and there is avital dignity in the character of Lady Thiang (Dorothy Sarnoff), the king's head wife.

    In common with the best of Rodgers and Hammerstein, the music is perfectly integrated with the play. The songs are not mere "numbers" designed to be hit tunes, although they have attained national popularity, but emerge naturally from the action of the drama and the quality of the characters. Thhe music, instrumental as well as vocal, not only illuminates the play, but is an imperative part of it. It is not necessary to see the rich, Far- Eastern colours and witness the delicately bizarre rituals to delight in some of Richard Rodgers' warmest and happiest of melodies. The score is a succession of gracious and engratiating tunes. Particularly spirited are the opening "I Whistle A Happy Tune," the wise and psychologically witty "Shall I Tell You What I Think Of You?" and the haunting waltz "Hello Young Lovers," all of which are sung by Gertude Lawrence. Scarcely less enjoyable are the captivating concerted numbers such as the tart but sprightly "March Of The Siamese Children" and the whimsical "Getting To Know You." For critical connoisseurs as well as mere music lovers there are the deeply moving measures of "Something Wonderful," sung by Dorothy Sarnoff, the poignent "My Lord And Master," sung by Doretta Morrow, the echoing "We Kiss In A Shadow" and the pursuasive and memorable duet, "I Have Dreamed" rendered by Doretta Morrow and Larry Douglas, the philosophically teasing "A Puzzlement," sung by Yul Brynner, and the brilliantly vivacious "Shall We Dance?" which brings the whole thing to a high-spirited climax. Altogether this a score to relish ... and remember. notes by Louis Untermeyer

    Gertrude Lawrence is one of the great ladies of the theatre. She has been a vivid personality ever since sh first faced an American audience in "Charlotte's Review." Before crossing the Atlantic she had served her theatrical apprenticeship in England. Originally a dancer, she graduated to singing parts, then to speaking roles, and made theatrical history when she was paired with Noel Coward in "Private Lives." The assi=ociaion extended to another celebrated production, "Tonight At Eight Thirty," a series of nine varied one- act plays which gave Miss Lawrence an excellent opportunity to display her almost incredible versatility. This was followed by another series of successes; "Susan and God," "Skylark" and "Lady In The Dark." During the war Miss Lawrence was a Lieutenant in the Red Cross Motor Corps, Colonel in the American Ambulance Corps, and Vice-President of the American Theatre Wing. She toured the Pacific as well as France and Belgium, with her own U.S.O company. In 1946 she turned author and published her autobiography, "A Star Danced"

    Yul Brynner has been seen by New York audiences in only one other production. That was in 1945-6 when he played the male lead opposite Mary Martin in "Lute Song." That occasion was just one more patch in the colourful crazy-quilt of his background. Born in the Far-East, Brynner was educated in France. He quit school in his early teens, and accompanying himself on the guitar, became a night club singer. He then joined the circus as-of all things-an acrobat and then perfected himself in the art of pantomime. Brynner next entered the legitimate theatre as an apprentice with the famous repertory company of Georges and Ludmilla Pitoeff. Here he did everything from building scenery and making props to playing leads. In his spare time he studied at the Sorbonne, and was graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Science and Philosophy. During the was he was an announcer and commentator for the United States Government. A pioneer in television, Yul Brynner was engaged as a TV director and directed the well-known Studio One and other shows. notes by Louis Untermeyer from the Original Cast Album

    1. OVERTURE
    2. I WHISTLE A HAPPY TUNE
    3. MY LORD AND MASTER
    4. HELLO YOUNG LOVERS
    5. MARCH Of THE SIAMESE CHILDREN
    6. A PUZZLEMENT
    7. GETTING TO KNOW YOU
    8. WE KISS IN A SHADOW
    9. SHALL I TELL YOU WHAT I THINK Of YOU
    10. SOMETHING WONDERFUL
    11. I HAVE DREAMED
    12. SHALL WE DANCE?

      All these tracks were transferred with a special digital high definition process for full, clearer, more natural sound by Mickey Clark

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