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Rodgers & Hammerstein Encore! OLLI Summer Term 2020 • Alan Teasley, Instructor Class 5 • The King and I (1951) Today’s Opening Number [3:28] Feedback: What you valued last time . . . Well-organized. Moved along without wasting time. Packed in a lot of information. Article by Josh Cochran was informative. (One member stated: “I really appreciated Jason Cochran's article—just what everyone should be taught about evaluating cultural icons.”) Suggested Improvements (“What would make it even better?”) Please play the whole scene and/or song (sometimes it’s rushed toward the end). Send out links for what we might listen to (for the next class) a bit earlier. Have a longer class. Can we go to 1:30 for the remaining classes? Questions from Class 4 Did Rodgers write the overtures, or did that fall to an orchestrator or arranger? Which version of South Pacific do I recommend? Why no clip of “Bali Ha’i?” Goals of the Course You will: Be familiar with five Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musicals (and be able to hum at least one song from each!) Know about the careers of these men before and after their partnership Understand the innovations that made this team’s shows revolutionary in the 1940s and 1950s Enjoy Rodgers and Hammerstein’s many contributions to the Great American Songbook

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  • Rodgers & Hammerstein Encore!

    OLLI Summer Term 2020 • Alan Teasley, Instructor

    Class 5 • The King and I (1951)

    Today’s Opening Number

    [3:28]

    Feedback: What you valued last time . . .

    Well-organized. Moved along without wasting time. Packed in a lot of information. Article by Josh Cochran was informative. (One member stated: “I really appreciated Jason Cochran's article—just what everyone should be taught about evaluating cultural icons.”)

    Suggested Improvements (“What would make it even better?”)

    Please play the whole scene and/or song (sometimes it’s rushed toward the end). Send out links for what we might listen to (for the next class) a bit earlier. Have a longer class. Can we go to 1:30 for the remaining classes?

    Questions from Class 4

    Did Rodgers write the overtures, or did that fall to an orchestrator or arranger? Which version of South Pacific do I recommend? Why no clip of “Bali Ha’i?”

    Goals of the Course

    You will: Be familiar with five Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musicals (and be able to hum at least one song from each!)

    Know about the careers of these men before and after their partnership

    Understand the innovations that made this team’s shows revolutionary in the 1940s and 1950s

    Enjoy Rodgers and Hammerstein’s many contributions to the Great American Songbook

  • Today’s Focus

    You will have: Increased knowledge of and appreciation for The King and I.

    You will understand: Why Ethan Mordden thinks The King and I “perfected” the idea of the R&H musical.

    Together we will reflect on: Why reviving The King and I might be considered “problematic” today.

    Using the Participant or Reaction button at the bottom of your screen, raise your hand or put a “thumbs up” if you watched The King and I.

    Film Adaptation 1956

    Broadway Revival 2015/2018

    R&H Chronology

    1945 State Fair (film)—Class 8* 1951 The King and I—Today 1952 Victory at Sea (TV)* 1953 Me and Juliet—Class 6* 1955 Pipe Dream—Class 6* 1957 Cinderella (TV)—Class 8* 1958 Flower Drum Song—Class 8* 1959 The Sound of Music—June 25

    *on class website under Fall 2019 Classes

    The King and I (1951)

    • Source: Anna and the King of Siam, a novel by Margaret Landon, based on memoirs of Anna Leonowens

    • Book & Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II • Score: Richard Rodgers • Director: John van Druten • Choreographer: Jerome Robbins • Scenic Design: Jo Mielziner • Costumes: Irene Sharaff • Cast: Gertrude Lawrence & Yul Brynner

    The King and I (1951) 5 Tony Awards

    • Best Musical • Best Actress (Musical): Gertrude

    Lawrence

    • Featured Actor (Musical): Yul Brynner • Scenic Design: Jo Mielziner • Costume Design: Irene Sharaff

    The King and I (2015 Revival) 4 Tony Awards

    • Best Revival of a Musical

    • Best Actress (Musical): Kelli O’Hara

    • Featured Actress (Musical): Ruthie Ann Miles

    • Costume Design (Musical: Catherine Zuber

  • The King and I (1956) Academy Awards: 9 Nominations (5 Wins)

    • Best Picture • Best Actor: Yul Brynner • Best Actress: Deborah Kerr • Best Director: Walter Lang • Costume Design: Irene Sharaff • Art Direction/Set Decoration: Lyle R. Wheeler,

    John DeCuir, Walter M. Scott, Paul S. Fox • Sound Recording: Carlton W. Faulkner • Music, Scoring: Alfred Newman, Ken Darby • Cinematography (Color): Leon Shamroy

    Focus on The King & I

    • Source material(s) • The musical sounds of Western

    and Eastern characters’ songs

    • The tragic second couple • The relationship between Anna

    and the King

    • “The work that perfects [the R&H] revolution” (Mordden)

    The King & I: Sources

    • Memoirs of Anna Leonowens (1831-1915): The English Governess at the Siamese Court, 1870, which was . . .

    • Fictionalized by Margaret Landon: Anna and the King of Siam, 1944, which was in turn . . .

    • Adapted by Talbot Jennings & Sally Benson for the 1946 film (same title), some aspects of which were used in . . .

    • Oscar Hammerstein II’s book for The King and I.

    Anna Leonowens

    Anna & The King in Photographs

    Anna Leonowens, c. 1862 King Mongkut & Chulalongkorn, c. 1866

    “Something Wonderful: The Story

    of The King & I”

    Disc 2 Extras on the DVD Release of the 1956 Film of

    The King & I

    [12:30]

    The King and I: Anna’s Songs

    • “I Whistle A Happy Tune”* • “Hello, Young Lovers” • “Getting to Know You” • “Shall I Tell You What I Think of

    You?” • “Shall We Dance?”

    *Gertrude Lawrence [2:45]

  • The King and I: Anna’s Songs

    • “I Whistle A Happy Tune” • “Hello, Young Lovers”* • “Getting to Know You” • “Shall I Tell You What I Think of

    You?” • “Shall We Dance?”

    *Julie Andrews [3:14]1992 Studio Recording

    The King and I: Anna’s Songs

    • “I Whistle A Happy Tune” • “Hello, Young Lovers” • “Getting to Know You” • “Shall I Tell You What I Think

    of You?”* • “Shall We Dance?”

    *Kelli O’Hara [5:50]

    The King and I: Songs for The King

    • “A Puzzlement”* • “Song of the King” • “Shall We Dance?”

    *Yul Brynner [3:16]

    The King and I: Songs for The King

    • “A Puzzlement” • “Song of the King”* • “Shall We Dance?”

    *Ben Kingsley [0:42]

    The King and I: Songs for Tuptim & Lun Tha

    • “My Lord and Master” • “We Kiss in a Shadow”* • “I Have Dreamed” • “The Small House of Uncle

    Thomas”

    *Na Young Jeon & Dean John-Wilson [4:12]

    Tuptim & Lun Tha as “Second Couple”

    • Only “romantic” couple • Not comic foils as in

    Oklahoma! & Carousel • Encouraged by Anna; spied

    on by Lady Thiang • Tragic outcome • Lady Thiang as part of two

    triangles Na Young Jeon & Dean John-Wilson

  • The King and I: Songs for Lady Thiang

    • “Something Wonderful”* • “Western People Funny”

    *Ruthie Ann Miles [5:50]

    The King and I (1956): Songs Cut from the Film

    • “Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?”—scored, recorded, and filmed but deleted

    • “My Lord and Master”—scored and recorded but never filmed

    • “I Have Dreamed”—partially scored, not filmed

    The King and I (1956): “The Small House of Uncle Thomas”

    Jerome Robbins’s Original Broadway choreography closely recreated for the film

    [Back to DVD Disc 2—2:30]

    The King and I: One Song for Anna & the King

    “Shall We Dance?” [~3:00]

    Mordden’s Assessment of K&I as the “Perfection of R&H’s Revolution”

    • “[Hammerstein’s book] does center the work’s hatred of slavery, as everyone is now part of the problem [King, Kralahome, Lady Thiang] or on the side of a solution [Anna, Tuptim, Lun Tha, Chulalongkorn].

    • “[Anna and the King] must come to grips with the very core of what they cannot abide in each other—her resistance to authority and his egomania. Moreover, this happens only moments after the ‘Shall We Dance?’ scene, in which they have drawn closer to each other than ever before.”

    • “Anna and the King are the show: but Tuptim is what the show is about.”

    —Ethan Mordden, Rodgers and Hammerstein (Abrams, 1992)

    Mordden’s Assessment of K&I as the “Perfection of R&H’s Revolution”

    • “[K&I] might well be the ‘other’ R&H masterpiece, as fulfilled a composition as Carousel, less experimental but more tightly built.

    • “Of the Big Five . . . Oklahoma! is the exuberant ground breaker, Carousel the showpiece, Allegro the marvelous failure, and South Pacific the brooding treat, so mournful yet so elated.

    • “But The King and I, for all the difficulty R&H had in writing it, is the work that perfects their revolution. Only Carousel is as passionate, and even Carousel’s two leads aren’t as fascinating as Anna and the King.”

    —Ethan Mordden, Rodgers and Hammerstein (Abrams, 1992)

  • The Rules in Ethan Mordden’s “R&H Handbook”*

    1. Develop each story’s community background, culture, mores. 2. Write about people whose lives have meaning. 3. Start uniquely. 4. Anchor the score with character traction. 5. Change your genre from show to show. 6. The second act should last half as long as the first act with

    twice as much action. 7. [Don’t have rules.]

    *Anything Goes: A History of American Musical Theatre (2013)

    Course Web Site: www.musicals-101.com

    Preferred email address for questions: [email protected]

    • The 1965 film with Julie Andrews is available on Disney+ (no charge for subscribers) and Amazon Prime ($3.99 rental)

    Next Class: The Sound of Music Next Class: The Sound of Music

    • A Live Telecast starring Carrie Underwood is available for $2.99 on Amazon Prime

    • Look under “The Sound of Music: Season 1 (Episode 1)”

    Use the Chat feature to share your feedback on today’s class

    What worked for you as a learner? What would make it even better?