"Nemmers and Aronson make The King and I something wonderful at Lyric Stage
Martha Heimberg's Turtle Creek News
The opulent costumes and lavish sets in the Lyric Stage production of The King and I are every bit as grand as a Broadway production. And the orchestration, the singing and the dramatic performances come together to create a huge and thrilling musical evening of Rodgers and Hammerstein at their most moving and melodic.
Lyric Stage founding producer Steven Jones has returned to the original Broadway score, not heard since the show was first produced – and the 35-member orchestra conducted by Jay Dias makes an exciting event of the show’s overture alone! Cheryl Denson directs a cast approaching 50 – including all the king’s children, the many wives and the dancers moving crisply to Jerome Robbins’ original choreography.
Joe Nemmers is a virile and entirely appealing King of Siam, eager to gain the respect of Western nations – especially England – and move his country into the “scientific” Victorian era. An accomplished actor on stage and in film, the King is Nemmers first musical role – and he delivers with verve and enormous presence. Nemmers’ King is fabulously fit, folding his legs into a yoga position on his throne or strutting about his palace with deliberate and weighty steps. It’s easy to see why his wives are so devoted to this smart and sexy man!
When the king hires an English schoolteacher Anna Leonowens (a lilting and lively Luann Aronson) to tutor his children, she ends up also teaching him a thing or two in the course of the evening. The sexual tension between the two – sometimes lost in less dramatically focused productions – crackles from their first encounter. Their chemistry reaches an especially provocative level in “Shall We Dance?” as the commanding king bounds barefoot around the floor, Anna in his arms, and hardly touching her enormous and luminous gown in Shall We Dance? Everyone applauded the delightful vigor and playfulness of the moment.
The King and I is a spectacular show – including the charming “March of the Siamese Children” and the lovely second-act ballet based on Uncle Tom’s Cabin – but I loved the solos and duets are the most moving numbers.
Aronson’s best turn is her rousing version of “Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?” -- an indictment of the “spoiled” king and his polygamous lifestyle – delivered in his absence and with increasing and hilarious fury. Ya Han Chang as Lady Thiang turns in an especially evocative performance, singing a touching and insightful “Something Wonderful.” Also excellent are Adrian Li Donna as Lun Tha and Jung Eun Kim as Tuptim singing “We Kiss in a Shadow.” Virtually all the performers handle the inherent weirdness of bursting from conversation into song with convincing style."
Martha Heimberg's Turtle Creek News
The opulent costumes and lavish sets in the Lyric Stage production of The King and I are every bit as grand as a Broadway production. And the orchestration, the singing and the dramatic performances come together to create a huge and thrilling musical evening of Rodgers and Hammerstein at their most moving and melodic.
Lyric Stage founding producer Steven Jones has returned to the original Broadway score, not heard since the show was first produced – and the 35-member orchestra conducted by Jay Dias makes an exciting event of the show’s overture alone! Cheryl Denson directs a cast approaching 50 – including all the king’s children, the many wives and the dancers moving crisply to Jerome Robbins’ original choreography.
Joe Nemmers is a virile and entirely appealing King of Siam, eager to gain the respect of Western nations – especially England – and move his country into the “scientific” Victorian era. An accomplished actor on stage and in film, the King is Nemmers first musical role – and he delivers with verve and enormous presence. Nemmers’ King is fabulously fit, folding his legs into a yoga position on his throne or strutting about his palace with deliberate and weighty steps. It’s easy to see why his wives are so devoted to this smart and sexy man!
When the king hires an English schoolteacher Anna Leonowens (a lilting and lively Luann Aronson) to tutor his children, she ends up also teaching him a thing or two in the course of the evening. The sexual tension between the two – sometimes lost in less dramatically focused productions – crackles from their first encounter. Their chemistry reaches an especially provocative level in “Shall We Dance?” as the commanding king bounds barefoot around the floor, Anna in his arms, and hardly touching her enormous and luminous gown in Shall We Dance? Everyone applauded the delightful vigor and playfulness of the moment.
The King and I is a spectacular show – including the charming “March of the Siamese Children” and the lovely second-act ballet based on Uncle Tom’s Cabin – but I loved the solos and duets are the most moving numbers.
Aronson’s best turn is her rousing version of “Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?” -- an indictment of the “spoiled” king and his polygamous lifestyle – delivered in his absence and with increasing and hilarious fury. Ya Han Chang as Lady Thiang turns in an especially evocative performance, singing a touching and insightful “Something Wonderful.” Also excellent are Adrian Li Donna as Lun Tha and Jung Eun Kim as Tuptim singing “We Kiss in a Shadow.” Virtually all the performers handle the inherent weirdness of bursting from conversation into song with convincing style."
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