The Hale Center Theater in Orem is fond of doing Cecil B. DeMille-sized productions on its tiny stage, and the results have generally been successful. The latest attempt is “The King and I,” and though the show lacks some of the magic and charm that is supposedly inherent in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s hoary old “classic,” it is mostly entertaining and fitfully amusing.
It’s the 1860s, and a widowed young Brit named Anna (M’Lisa Hansen) gets a job in Siam, teaching English to the king’s several dozen children and his almost-as-numerous polygamous wives. The king (Rex Kocherhans) is a gruff fellow, and he doesn’t exactly take a shine to Anna’s head-strong ways and feminist views, especially when she keeps bugging him with the fact that he promised to build her a house to live in while she’s there. (This is, like, a MAJOR concern of hers, or I wouldn’t even bring it up.)
Well, Anna starts to win the king over, especially when it’s reported that he’s a barbarian and she helps him convince the visiting Sir Ramsey (Vic Groves) that he’s not. How does she do this? By making all the Siamese (i.e., “strange”) gals dress up and act like Europeans (i.e., “normal people”), of course. They even perform a little play they wrote, based on “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” that manages to make offensive farces out of both Harriet Beecher Stowe’s classic novel, as well as East-Asian culture. Hooray for Europe; boo for all other cultures; that’s the message of “The King and I.”
Finally, there’s a reasonably happy ending, though with more death and mayhem than the numbingly tranquil two hours that proceed it might lead you to believe.
Hansen plays Anna with admirable pluck and fortitude, with “Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?” best showcasing her strong stage presence and fantastic singing voice. Kocherhans’s king is cryptic and aloof, but also rather endearing, and the many kids are as cute as kids get.
Beautiful Natalie Hill and hunky Jason Celaya play Tuptim and Lun Tha, two ill-fated star-crossed lovers, with charisma. Their singing voices are also top-notch.
At two hours and 40 minutes, the show drags a bit, particularly with more than a few lengthy songs that just don’t hold up very well anymore — like “I Whistle a Happy Tune,” a paean to self-delusion that encourages folks to PRETEND they’re happy as a way of actually BECOMING happy (“When I fool the people I fear/ I fool myself as well,” etc.).
Mary Linda Thomas’s choreography is at first clunky, but thoroughly redeems itself with the aforementioned “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” thing. That whole scene is weird and culturally insensitive — did I mention some of the characters even have caricature African-American masks on? — but the avant-garde dancing done by the talented performers (Lindsay Killpack and Shelly Tucker among them) is notably good.
Director Syd Riggs has done a number of excellent shows for Utah County, and while “The King and I” is not the best of them, it’s not the worst way you could spend an evening, either.