Background

   The King and I  is one of the greatest musicals of American theater. Richard Rodgers wrote the story and the lyrics and composed the music. The musical opened in 1951 and ran for three years. In the show Yul Brynner played the role of king  Siam, and Gertrude Lawrence starred as Anna opposite Brynner in the original production. The King and I was based off the novel "Anna and the King of Siam" by Margaret Landon. Jerome Robbins created the shows choreography, which has two of the productions highlights. The first was "The March of the Siamese Children". in this part Anna is introduced to the kings many children. the second one was "The Small House of Uncle Thomas" . The movie was filmed in 1956. Yul Brynner had his old role of the king and won the Academy Award for the best actor. Deborah Kerr got an Academy Award nomination for her performance as Anna.^[1]

Significance

The musical shows the relationship between the king and Anna. King Siam hires the Englishwoman to tutor his many children. their relationship began in hostility but they came to respect each other. A subplot shows the tragic romance between Lun Tha, who is a Burmese man, and tuptim, who is a young member of King Siam's court. Hammerstein and the Rodgers score ranks by singing the finest song in the American Musical Theater, "I Whistle a Happy Tune", "Hello, Young Lovers", and many more. However The King and I advocates racial tolerance.This film and musical shows the understanding between backgrounds of different people and the fight for freedom. Many Thai people think that it shows a false picture of their culture and the reign of King Mongkut.^[2]