CHICAGO—It’s such a welcome pleasure to be able to enjoy a show just as its creators intended. There’s no changing of Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s masterful work in Drury Lane’s exquisite and enchanting production of “The King and I.” Indeed, this is such a glorious musical that it would be a sacrilege to change one moment of it.
Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers adapted Margaret Landon’s 1944 biographical novel of “Anna and the King of Siam” to create one of the most memorable Broadway musicals of the 1950s. With lyrics by Hammerstein and melodic songs by Rodgers, these theatrical giants crafted a grand love story about the clash and romance between two determined and stubborn individuals who hold different values and come from different cultures.
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