Starlight gives 'The King and I' the spectacle it deserves

The big Starlight Theatre stage is the ideal place for pageantry, and pageantry is what &#x93;The King and I&#x94; is all about. </p><p>Don&#x92;t get me wrong. This is a true Rodgers and Hammerstein classic. Richard Rodgers wrote some of his best music for this show, and the dramatic narrative and pungent lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II give it emotional depth.</p><p> But the most impressive moments can be found in segments I&#x92;m tempted to call &#x93;pure theater.&#x94;</p><p>The show bears a vague similarity to actual events that inspired it, namely the experiences of an English tutor, Anna Leonowens, who was hired by the King of Siam to teach his children English and give them a &#x93;scientific&#x94; education. Leonowens recorded her experiences in two memoirs, which in turn inspired the 1944 novel on which this show is based.</p><p>The musical is humanistic, sentimental and poignant &#x97; unless, of course, you have a problem with colonialism, which is treated rather benignly in this piece. It is Anna who civilizes the king in this version of events, which may explain why &#x93;The King and I&#x94; has been banned in Thailand for decades.</p><p>So, yes, this show by a couple of talented white guys takes a rather paternalistic view of 19th-century Siamese culture, but it&#x92;s that attitude that may have led them to create arresting bursts of pageantry that could only be done on stage.</p><p>In Act 1 it&#x92;s the introduction of the king&#x92;s children &#x97; there are dozens of them &#x97; to their new teacher from England. Set to some of Rodgers&#x92; most intoxicating orchestral music, the piece is inescapably affecting as child after child, each one beautiful in his or her innocence, bows first to the king and then to Anna.</p><p>But the most spectacular theater comes in Act 2, when the children and wives of the king stage their own version of &#x93;Uncle Tom&#x92;s Cabin,&#x94; which they interpret as &#x93;The Small House of Uncle Thomas.&#x94; Performed in masks by gifted dancers, the ballet becomes a sort of Technicolor dream that carries more dramatic weight than anything else in the show.</p><p>The visually lush Starlight production is anchored by Lou Diamond Phillips as the king. Phillips&#x92; barely adequate singing voice doesn&#x92;t take much away from an impressive performance that balances humor and emotional depth. Phillips commands the stage, but he has a terrific acting partner in Rachel Bay Jones as Anna.</p><p>Jones and Phillips have performed this show together before, and the experience pays off. They share a palpable chemistry that translates into a relaxed way of sharing space on the stage. Jones possesses a fine voice &#x97; her reading of &#x93;Hello Young Lovers&#x94; in Act 1 is stunning &#x97; and plays off Phillips&#x92; vainglorious king with a nicely nuanced performance.</p><p>This is an eye-popping show. Robert Fletcher&#x92;s costumes are radiant, and Kenneth Foy&#x92;s sets, originally built for Theatre of the Stars in Atlanta, are truly spectacular once you get past the two-dimensional ship in the opening scene. This is a show drenched in gold and red.</p><p>Kirk Bookman&#x92;s lighting makes a crucial contribution as well, but most of it can&#x92;t be appreciated until Act 2. Starlight&#x92;s 8 p.m. curtain in early summer necessitates a first act performed in twilight.</p><p>Director/choreographer Susan Kikuchi relies a bit too much on two-dimensional police-lineup blocking &#x97; a concession, perhaps, to the vastness of an 8,000-seat theater. But she paces the action well. And she has assembled a supporting cast that contributes several outstanding performances.</p><p>Ann Sanders makes a strong impression as the stately, compassionate Lady Thiang, and Raul Aranas is an authoritative presence as the Kralahome (or prime minister). The young lovers, Tuptim and Lun Tha (Diane Phelan and Joshua Dela Cruz), work well together; their rendering of &#x93;We Kiss in a Shadow&#x94; is a highlight of Act 1.</p><p>The Monday night performance was the production&#x92;s first, but it was generally glitch-free. Aside from a bit of feedback here and there, the show ran smoothly.</p><p><strong><span class="infobox-head">Next Year: &#x91;In the Heights&#x92; </span></strong><br /> Denton Yockey, Starlight Theatre&#x92;s president and executive producer, has come up with a novel way to announce the company&#x92;s 2012 summer season. He&#x92;s revealing the lineup one show at a time at each production this summer. </p><p> At the Monday opening of &#x93;The King and I,&#x94; Yockey announced that the season opener next year would be the award-winning Latin/ hip-hop musical &#x93;In the Heights,&#x94; slated to run June 5-10. The show, with a book by Quiara Alegria Hudes and music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, depicts three days in Washington Heights, a New York neighborhood populated by people from different parts of Latin America. It claimed four Tony Awards, including ones for best musical and best score.</p><p><strong><span class="infobox-head">Now onstage </span></strong><br /> &#x93;The King and I&#x94; runs through Sunday at Starlight Theatre. Call 816-363-7827 or go to <a href="http://www.kcstarlight.com">www.kcstarlight.com</a>.

SHARPISH-KANE: ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

MUSIC/ U2 TOP EARNING ACT IN THE WORLD: Forbes Magazine has released its annual list of the top earning music acts in the world. Leading the way at #1 is U2, with an estimated $195 million in earnings, with a good chunk of that coming from tour proceeds, the biggest money making tour in history. At #2 is Jon Bon Jovi with $125 milllion, followed by Elton John at #3 with $100 million. Lady Gaga is at #4 with $90 million, Michael Buble at #5 with $70 million and Paul McCartney at #6 with $67 million. The Black Eyed Peas come in at #7 with $65 million, The Eagles at #8 with $60 million and Justin Bieber at #9 with $53 million. Closing out the top 10 is Dave Matthews with $51 million. The full list, including details on the earnings, can be found on the Forbes website. hicago" at the Ambassador Theatre. DioGuardi will step into the role of merry murderess Roxie Hart for an 8 week limited engagement, September 5 to October 30. The revival of "Chicago" began life as 1 of the 3 annual Encores! presentations offered by City Center. The musical opened on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in November 1996 where it remained through February 1997. The musical transferred to the Shubert Theatre on February 11, 1997, and played that house through January 26, 2003. The revival reopened at the Ambassador Theatre, its current home, on January 29, 2003. "Chicago" won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical in 1997 as well as awards for actors Bebe Neuwirth and James Naughton, director Walter Bobbie, lighting designer Ken Billington and choreographer Ann Reinking. The original production was directed and choreographed by the late Bob Fosse. THEATRE/ "LOVE NEVER DIES" TO CLOSE IN LONDON: "The Phantom of the Opera" sequel "Love Never Dies" is to close in London on August 27. The announcement comes a little over a year since Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical 1st opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London's West End. The show opened to some poor reviews, and after substantial rewrites, was relaunched 9 months later. Although the new version gained a better critical reception, it failed to perform at the box office. A fresh production of the show opened in Melbourne, Australia, at the end of May with far more positive press. In an interview earlier this month, Lloyd-Webber attributed the show's failure to being treated for cancer during production, which meant he was unable to give it his full attention.

Carousel, a musical play

Musical Stages, An Autobiography

The King and I, based on "Anne and The King of Siam"

Billboard

The Richard Rodgers Reader