The King and I Gets Broadway Extension and National Tour | Playbill

News The King and I Gets Broadway Extension and National Tour The acclaimed Lincoln Center Theater revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I, which received glowing reviews from critics, has extended its Broadway run indefinitely, while plans are also underway to take the production across the U.S.

Bartlett Sher, who earned a Tony Award for the 2008 Lincoln Center Theater Broadway revival of South Pacific, directs The King and I, which co-stars six-time Tony Award nominee Kelli O'Hara and Tony nominee Ken Watanabe. It officially opened on Broadway April 18 after previews that began March 12.

The production was nominated for nine 2015 Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical. Lincoln Center Theater has turned limited runs into open-ended runs for several of its hits, including War Horse and South Pacific.

Read reviews here.

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Ambassador Theatre Group and NETworks Presentations LLC will present the U.S. tour that is slated to play multi-week and single week engagements throughout the 2016-17 touring season and beyond.

O'Hara (The Bridges of Madison County, South Pacific, The Light in the Piazza) stars as Anna Leonowens opposite Watanabe in his Broadway debut as the King of Siam. A 29-piece orchestra is featured and incorporated into the staging of the production's stunning opening.

Read: After 10 Years of Musicals, There's Still An Audition Kelli O'Hara Won't Let Bartlett Sher Forget

The revival also features 2015 Tony nominee Ruthie Ann Miles (Here Lies Love) as Lady Thiang and Conrad Ricamora (Here Lies Love) as Lun Tha, Ashley Park (Mamma Mia!) as Tuptim, Edward Baker-Duly (Peter and the Starcatcher) as Sir Edward Ramsey, Jon Viktor Corpuz (A Midsummer Night's Dream) as Prince Chulalongkorn, Murphy Guyer (South Pacific) as Captain Orton, Jakes Lucas (Newsies) as Louis, Paul Nakauchi (Chu Chem) as Kralahome and Marc Oka (Anything Goes) as Phra Alack.

Also featured are Aaron Albano, Adriana Braganza, Amaya Braganza, Billy Bustamante, LaMae Caparas, Hsin-Ping Chang, Andrew Cheng, Lynn Masako Cheng, Olivia Chun, Ali Ewoldt, Ethan Halford Holder, Cole Horibe, MaryAnn Hu, James Ignacio, Christie Kim, Kelvin Moon Loh, Sumie Maeda, Paul HeeSang Miller, Betsy Morgan, Rommel Pierre O’Choa, Kristen Faith Oei, Autumn Ogawa, Yuki Ozeki, Stephanie Jae Park, Diane Phelan, Sam Poon, William Poon, Brian Rivera, Bennyroyce Royon, Lainie Sakakura, Ann Sanders, Ian Saraceni, Atsuhisa Shinomiya, Michiko Takemasa, Kei Tsuruharatani, Christopher Vo, Rocco Wu and Timothy Yang.

The revival has choreography by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli (South Pacific, Newsies) based on the original choreography by Jerome Robbins. The original Robert Russell Bennett orchestrations are also being used with dance and incidental music arranged by Trude Rittmann.

The King and I reunites Sher with his Tony-winning South Pacific creative team, including scenic designer Michael Yeargan, costume designer Catherine Zuber, lighting designer Donald Holder, sound designer Scott Lehrer and musical director Ted Sperling. Casting is by Telsey + Company/Abbie Brady-Dalton, CSA.

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Ashley Park and Conrad Ricamora Photo by Paul Kolnik

O'Hara's history with Lincoln Center Theater includes the Sher-directed productions of The Light in the Piazza and South Pacific. She most recently collaborated with Sher on The Bridges of Madison County. Her stage appearances also include Sweet Smell of Success, The Pajama Game and Nice Work If You Can Get It.

The King and I marks Watanabe's American stage debut. His film work includes "The Last Samurai," "Inception," "Letters from Iwo Jima," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Batman Begins" and "Godzilla." His Japanese theatre credits include Dialogue with Horowitz, Hamlet, Shitayamannen-cho monogatari, The Lion in Winter and The Royal Hunt of the Sun.

The Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical, based on the life of Anna Leonowens as well as Margaret Landon's 1944 novel "Anna and the King of Siam," includes classics such as "Hello Young Lovers," "I Whistle A Happy Tune," "Shall We Dance?" and "Getting To Know You."

The original production opened March 29, 1951, at the St. James Theatre. It starred Yul Brynner and Gertrude Lawrence and ran for 1,246 performances. The King and I has been revived on Broadway three times; the most recent production starred Donna Murphy and Lou Diamond Phillips.

According to LCT, "Set in 1860's Bangkok, the musical tells the story of the unconventional and tempestuous relationship that develops between the King of Siam and Anna Leonowens, a British schoolteacher, whom the imperious King brings to Siam to tutor his many wives and children."

Visit KingandIBroadway.com.

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