This past weekend I went to see Roger's and Hammerstein's classic musical "The King and I", which was playing at my local community theater. Now some of you may be asking yourselves why, because some of you know that I have an unbiased hatred for that show. The answer to that question is that I have a very good friend who was playing the King, who stepped in on short notice and needed the support of his friends. That being said I now know why I do not like this show.
I first developed a dislike for this show as a little (yes I was little at one time) boy when my sister would watch the movie starring Yul Brenner with some regularity. I really think it was the song "Getting to Know You" that did it for me, to this day I cannot hear that song and not cringe. But after a few years I began to reevaluate my dislike for the show and try to give it a fair shake. After all there have been many movies that I could not stand as a child that I have grown to love in my adult life, The Wizard of Oz is one that immediately springs to mind. However no matter how many times I watched it with an objective eye there was always something that grated on me about it and I never could figure it out.
This weekend however I think I know. The show is very uneven. You have arguably one of the most dynamic characters in theater in The King, surrounded by a group of under defined characters that no matter how good of actors you have to play them are always coming up short. Now before you get angry at me and misconstrue my words, I am not saying that the only person I saw that did a fantastic job on Friday was my friend the King. I have many friends in that show and I was astounded by how good some of them were. I never before realized just how good a singing voice Lady Thiang or Lun Tha had until I saw them this weekend.
What I am saying is that no matter how good they are, the characters they are playing are so underdeveloped it is painful. There is a whole story in and of itself for the Lun Tha/Tuptim relationship. Now I know that the show is about the relationship between Anna and the King, and all others are support, but it just seems to me that with a little bit of tweaking in other areas of the show it could be so much more than it is.
Anyway I have probably made no end of enemies by this post but I felt that these were things I needed to say.
'Til we meet again
Paul
P.S. A word of advice. Never play Clue with lawyers.
1 comment:
I agree that the show is uneven, plot wise that is. Can't say I loathe it entirely, even after doing it three times in my life. But there are many moments when I find myself rolling my eyes saying "Is this really necessary?" And then there are moments like "Wow, never get tired of that!" So yes, I guess uneven is a very good description. I don't think you'll make enemies with this post, and if you do, f@#k it drive on!!!!
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