Ann Treneman: What a treat. The shimmering curtain opens to reveal a meticulously detailed sailing ship. On board is a certain Anna Leonowens. Kelli O'Hara does not just play Anna, she owns the part...
Dominic Cavendish: Can you love The King and I wholly and unreservedly? I don’t think it’s getting too absurdly politically correct to suggest that it ranks as one of the most problematic musicals of the 20th century American canon...
Tim Bano: What sets this production apart...is the way these actors perform beyond the script. Their blanks are filled in, so that in moments when they’re not speaking or singing they are still existing...
Mark Shenton: Sure, it's old-fashioned and a bit creaky. But The King and I is also - to quote one of its utterly glorious catalogue of standards - something wonderful...a great addition to the summer theatrical roster for the West End.
Jessica Weinstein: The King and I is a play about revolution and change. Themes cover education, abolitionism, polygamy, authoritarianism and feminism.
Douglas Mayo: Played with bombastic exuberance and a touch of mischief by Ken Watanabe, this King is a worthy successor to those who have come before him...O’Hara imbues Rodger’s timeless melodies with lyrical subtlety and dramatic honesty that makes her every moment on stage a joy.
Michael Billington: Fine acting, handsome staging and inescapable overtones of western imperialism...the musical itself, however, remains, a problem to be solved as much as a show to be enjoyed.
Claire Allfree: With an opulent score and gorgeous sets drenched in ochre and cobalt, the production never fails to deliver sensory pleasure...
Andrzej Lukowski: Like an elderly relative who you make allowances for on grounds of age, classic musical ‘The King and I’ is kind of racist, but difficult to entirely hold to modern standards...It is an often fairly amusing production, which perhaps blunts the eventual tragedy a little, but also takes the edge off some more problematic moments.
Quickly find Twitter cast list and social media directory for the Lincoln Center's THE KING AND I, the class Broadway musical coming to the London Palladium with original cast members Kelli O'Hara and Ken Watanabe
